The Power of Email FWDs On Social Changes

Now and then most people receive an email Forward (FWD) containing worthy ideas, and they pass them along to friends and acquaintances, and thus social changes evolve -- sometimes slowly, sometimes at lightening speed.

The FWD included here is one such that I feel very strongly merits serious consideration, thus I'm taking the liberty to publish it as my way of reaching as many people as possible. Readers are invited to share their forwards with The North Palouse Washington e-Newscast via a blog (*See Contact & Submit page for rules.)

This is the nitty gritty of one worthwhile idea that many Americans really believe should be enacted, and the idea is circulating widely via a FWD. (If you read to the end you'll see how I passed it along, too, with a modification.)   Mona Vanek, Editor,  The North Palouse Washington e-Newscast, www.palousenewscast.com.

Here's the basic pitch of the FWD:

Congressional Reform Act of 2011

1. Term Limits.

• 12 years only, one of the possible options below.
• A. Two Six-year Senate terms
• B. Six Two-year House terms
• C. One Six-year Senate term and three Two-Year House terms

2. No Tenure / No Pension.

• A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.

3. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.

• All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into theSocial Security system, and Congress participates with the American people.

4. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.

5. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

6. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

7. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

8. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/12.

The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen. Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.

Below is the The Lets do this ....  FWD  (feel free to copy and pass it along.)

Lets do this - - - -

(I didn't devise this idea, but I modified the FWD I received - see highlighted text - to include taking action that might help: Send the request to elected officials in hopes that some of them will agree and take action. Mona Vanek, Editor, The North Palouse Washington e-Newscast, www.palousenewscast.com.)

I am not sure this is exactly the right formula.  There could be some constitutional and legal issues here that need to be addressed also.  12 years may be too long but the point here is to begin the

dialogue.  We need to rethink part of our system.  For the most part, it is the greatest form of government ever devised but our Founders never expected our Representatives to be full time legislators. The issue here is to get people thinking and pushing for some sort of change.  There are term limits on the presidency (22nd Amendment), so there is a precedent for this already.  Read this, think about it, come up with your own suggestions and pass it on. This is something I believe in and I hope you read it all the way through and then take action .... don't just forward it to friends ...

Please consider sending a copy of the following "Congressional Reform Act of 2011" to all elected government officials if you agree. You can locate them here, http://www.usa.gov/Contact.shtml.


The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only 3 months & 8 days to be ratified! Why? Simple! The people demanded it. That was in 1971...before computers, before e-mail,

before cell phones, etc.

Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took 1 year or less to become the law of the land...all because of public pressure.

I'm asking each addressee to forward this email to a minimum of twenty people on their address list; in turn ask each of those to do likewise.

In three days, most people in The United States of America will have the message. This is one idea that really should be passed around.

Congressional Reform Act of 2011

1. Term Limits.

12 years only, one of the possible options below.
A. Two Six-year Senate terms
B. Six Two-year House terms
C. One Six-year Senate term and three Two-Year House terms

2. No Tenure / No Pension.
A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.

3. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.
All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into theSocial Security system, and Congress participates with the American people.

4. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.

5. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

6. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

7. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

8. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/12.

The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen. Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.
End of FWD.

The North Palouse Washington e-Newscast, http://palousenewscast.com