Single Issue Legislation

I hear so much rhetoric ". . That if our Congress was ethical, responsible and selfless, then . ."

It's time we wake up. Congress members will NEVER be completely Ethical, Responsible, or Selfless as long as they have to bargain with other Congress members and Senators to get their cause completed! Spending will NEVER be controlled unless "We the people" do something about it.

The solution is a Constitutional Amendment that disallows a bill to deal with more than one issue. I truly believe it's that simple. Members of Congress that want to give presidents line item veto power just don't get the simple Common Sense of "Balance of Power." Congress has the responsibility for spending, not the executive branch. Congress has to stop the pork barrel politics! The only way to stop it is to prevent them from doing it.

Here's a made up example (and I'm not picking on any state or any similar recent situation): Let's say a Defense Bill is being considered. Then building a bridge in Alaska has nothing to do with defense. Building bridges belongs in a Transportation Bill. So putting bridge financing in a defense bill would be a violation of the Constitutional Amendment. By keeping spending bills to one issue (and I concede that Congress will probably be very creative in connecting their pet issues to a bill under discussion) "we the people" will not be taxed as much and spending will be controlled. Line item veto power in the hands of the president allows too much power to the executive branch of our government. Although the idea seems like a way to control spending, it would be unconstitutional.

Agreed! The Amendment would have to be crafted very well to prevent creative connections. Using my earlier example, a congress member from Alaska could say that a certain bridge would improve traffic to a military base and is, therefore, a defense issue. The Amendment must not allow such connections.

We are, at present, a long way from getting this kind of thinking into Congress. It starts with "We the people" and ends by electing Representatives and Senators that will do what we want them to do!

And that's how I see it. . .