Ben Franklin on what Congresspersons should be...
We certainly let *that* slip away...
"They are of the people, and return again to mix with the people, having no more durable preeminence than the different grains of sand in an hourglass. Such an assembly cannot easily become dangerous to liberty. They are the servants of the people, sent together to do the people's business, and promote the public welfare; their powers must be sufficient, or their duties cannot be performed. They have no profitable appointments, but a mere payment of daily wages, such as are scarcely equivalent to their expences; so that, having no chance for great places, and enormous salaries or pensions, as in some countries, there is no triguing or bribing for elections." --Benjamin Franklin, letter to George Whatley, 1785
We certainly let *that* slip away...
I'd forgotten that reference, so thanks.
Aside: I've said we should be picking them from the jury pool - letting them live exactly as our military does while in DC, etc. But then I believe in unicorns and the like...
You don't need me to say it, you already know. This is just for historical context. POTUS is doing nothing, but following his predecessors' patterns of actions.
Your congress needs fixing even more than the President.
For the first time in my life, *I* was the one overdressed.........
"When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion – when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing – when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors – when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you – when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice – you may know that your society is doomed." Ayn Rand