Debt ceiling thoughts - maybe time for a referendum?

The debt ceiling has been raised, Armageddon has been averted, for now. Brinkmanship is the new catch phrase in the media as our representatives brought us directly to H hour before coming up with an agreement that none of them were comfortable with. This agreement will supposedly give Congress the necessary wiggle room to assume yet greater debt to run the US government until the 2012 election.

This was quite a process for a group of people who profess to be professional policy makers. Perhaps this is our problem in Washington DC. These professionals are anything but. Legislators are intended to be elected representatives performing a service role, not holding a strict line in order to retain a job. These past few months have served only to show that not a single representative on Capitol Hill was interested in averting a debt crisis, or legitimately reducing the overhead required to run the federal government. They were instead worried about their so-called careers, and their reelections.

The American people have been led to believe over the course of several decades that the longer a person serves in the Senate the more capable they become of navigating its intricacies and standing up for the people he or she represents. This latest Washington debacle has proved otherwise. The representatives in Washington, regardless of the length of their tenure have shown only that they lack the capability or know how to effectively compromise or develop meaningful legislation. They took the nation “to the brink” and then once there, handed over a shoddy piece of work.

The rating agency Standard and Poors was correct to downgrade American debt after the event. True, we have more capability to finance our debt, and US Treasuries remain a safe place for investment in an unsure global economy, but our government is ineffective and ill equipped to manage it. Any investor should feel a slight tinge of worry that the US financial management is in sorry hands indeed.

If anything, the great debt debate should have proven that longevity in the House or Senate does not prove utility. The men and women who are attempting to manage the debt crisis are ill-equipped despite their years of expertise. There is no reason why term limits should not be instituted to keep fresh blood and new ideas in the houses of Congress, while ensuring that duplicity, tight relationships and back hallway deals do not. With term limits the capabilities for including earmarks in legislation as well as the longevity needed to assist gerrymandering of districts are also removed.

Service to the nation by representation must be reestablished. The “jobs” created by the present legislators should be abolished to allow true service-minded men and women to take their place. Citizens interested in service to the nation should have their say; they certainly cannot perform worse than our present leaders.

Unfortunately the present parties in Washington, despite their governmental ineptitude, have the US electorate firmly under control. The expense of running for office and the wealth these parties can generate makes it almost impossible for the average citizen to compete against the incumbent candidates. The big boys club in Washington makes it realistically impossible for an independent candidate to compete against these well-greased machines.

It is time for a vote of no-confidence in the US legislature. Both bodies of the legislature have lower approval ratings than any president ever. They also have the lowest approval ratings that they have ever received. With their recent performance they cannot expect them rise anytime soon. Now is the time for a referendum to extract governance of the United States of America from the clutches of a powerful group gone wrong.

Remove the present government and its ineptitude. Put in naïve servicemen who may fare just as badly but who have not entitled themselves to the same absurd compensation, meager schedules, perks for non-performance and job security. It is time to put someone in office who can be removed from office.