Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Keep congressmen at home and out of trouble

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I agree with the editorial in the July 25 paper regarding the need to eliminate the archaic electoral college ("Electoral College must go"). This holdover from two centuries ago is an end-around a true electoral process in which all votes count, and is being used by politicians and their parties to bypass the true intentions of our founding fathers. One citizen, one vote.

But there is another item that needs to be addressed to truly have an honest election in this country. Since the late 18th century through the 19th and into the early 20th, we have sent our representatives to Washington, D.C., to vote on bills. This was a necessity, then.

Now in the 21st century we need to end this archaic and expensive practice. Our representatives in Washington are costing us a fortune to keep them there with housing, transportation and large staffs, not to mention also their families and the security needed to "protect" the representatives and their families. Also, the undue influences of special interests and lobbyists is a monkey wrench in the whole process.

It's time to keep our representatives at home where we can keep an eye on them and their connections to influences such as lobbies.

With the technology we now have, secure lines for communications between the representatives and to vote on issues can be provided. To budget this and a small reasonable staff would not only save a lot of money but also eliminate the shady influences that now essentially run what is going on in Washington.

Come on, if we really are a free democracy where a vote counts, let's make these overdue and necessary changes. To see how much this archaic practice of sending our representatives to D.C. costs us, just check the Congressional Record—you'll be flabbergasted at what you find.

Richard L. Parnell

Bellevue

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