• Please be sure to read the rules and adhere to them. Some banned members have complained that they are not spammers. But they spammed us. Some even tried to redirect our members to other forums. Duh. Be smart. Read the rules and adhere to them and we will all get along just fine. Cheers. :beer: Link to the rules: https://www.forumsforums.com/threads/forum-rules-info.2974/

Constitutional Amendment Idea

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Sounds GREAT to me.


Warren Buffett, in a recent interview with CNBC, offers one of the
best quotes about the debt ceiling:

"I could end the deficit in 5 minutes," he told CNBC. "You just pass a
law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of
GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election.

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, e-mail, cell phones,
etc.

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


_*Congressional Reform Act of 2011*_

1. No Tenure / No Pension.

A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives
no
pay when they're out of office.

2. 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
the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the
American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.

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

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

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

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

7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void
effective 1/1/12. The American people did not make this
contract with Congressmen/women.

Congressmen/women 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.
 

SShepherd

New member
Re: Constitutional Amendment Idea from Warren Buffet

Bingo!!

but you know this would NEVER see the light of day with those leeches
 

sunlover

New member
Re: Constitutional Amendment Idea from Warren Buffet

If only! Always did like that Mr Buffet fella...:biggrin:
 

SShepherd

New member
Re: Constitutional Amendment Idea from Warren Buffet

buffet has good ideas for people ( as long as it doesn't conflict with his goals)
 

AAUTOFAB1

Bronze Member
SUPER Site Supporter
Re: Constitutional Amendment Idea from Warren Buffet

Easy for Warren to say,maybe he could just buy the next congress,ones he thinks will reduce the deficit,then we could just blame him for not buying the right congress.:whistling:
 

sunlover

New member
Re: Constitutional Amendment Idea from Warren Buffet

I don't know the man personally but i've always thought he had good ideas, period. Hey, nobody is perfect. Of course the government won't listen to him anymore then it does to the rest of us that may have voted them into office. No worries...:whistling:
 

Kane

New member
Re: Constitutional Amendment Idea from Warren Buffet

Of course the government won't listen to him anymore then it does to the rest of us that may have voted them into office. No worries...:whistling:

It's not the ones that voted them into office you need to worry about. They are called Americans.

It's the ones that bought them into office that are the problem. They are called lobbyists.

But you are right, Doc. Serving the people was intended to be a privilege, not a profession.

.
 

sunlover

New member
Re: Constitutional Amendment Idea from Warren Buffet

It's not the ones that voted them into office you need to worry about. They are called Americans.

It's the ones that bought them into office that are the problem. They are called lobbyists.


Thanks for straightening me out and enlightening me as to what i really need to worry about and where the real problem is. lol I feel better now...:wink:
 

fogtender

Now a Published Author
Site Supporter
Re: Constitutional Amendment Idea from Warren Buffet

Buffet owes some thing like a billion dollars in back taxes, yet he wants everyone who pays theirs to pay more, which is really special!

As cool as that sounds, since he didn't say with his lips on youtube where we could see him Mouth those words, I'd wager a whole nickel he didn't say that. Some Internet poster wrote it and in an effort to either make Buffet look good or just to piss him off!
 

Cowboy

Wait for it.
GOLD Site Supporter
Re: Constitutional Amendment Idea from Warren Buffet

Buffet owes some thing like a billion dollars in back taxes, yet he wants everyone who pays theirs to pay more, which is really special!

As cool as that sounds, since he didn't say with his lips on youtube where we could see him Mouth those words, I'd wager a whole nickel he didn't say that. Some Internet poster wrote it and in an effort to either make Buffet look good or just to piss him off!
You would be mostly right Foggy. :wink:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/43670783/Warren_Buffett_s_5_Minute_Plan_to_Fix_the_Deficit
http://www.snopes.com/politics/medical/28thamendment.asp
 

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Re: Constitutional Amendment Idea from Warren Buffet

snopes says the constitutional idea was not buffets but the quote attributed to him at the beginning of the post is accurate and makes sense.

Warren Buffett, in a recent interview with CNBC, offers one of the
best quotes about the debt ceiling:

"I could end the deficit in 5 minutes," he told CNBC. "You just pass a
law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of
GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/43670783/Warren_Buffett_s_5_Minute_Plan_to_Fix_the_Deficit

I modified the title of this thread to take out the idea that the constitutional amendment idea was buffet's since we all know now that is not the case.
 

tiredretired

The Old Salt
SUPER Site Supporter
I like it with just one minor adjustment. Point #4. They get a raise when Social Security recipients get one. Same time, same percentage rate. Fair enough.
 

Danang Sailor

nullius in verba
GOLD Site Supporter
I too would like to see Congress return to the Framer's concept of a citizen organization (ie, no career Congressmen), but at
least some of the "proposed amendment" is just plain wrong.

Point 2: It is not true that members of congress don't pay into Social Security; it's been required of them since 1983.
Congress does have its own retirement plan which does pay a generous pension to retired members of congress
plus they are eligible for the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), but this 401k-type investment program is also available to
all other federal employees.

Depending on a person's length of service, it is possible to retire with annual income that is equivalent to a
Congressional salary, but no member of Congress automatically retires with his or her salary being paid
as pension.

The final sentence is accurate: SSA funds must be held separate from the General Fund, as they used to be.

Point 5: What system is meant here? ObamaCare? This one won't fly, as the health care system for Congress, while
quite good, is contributory, the same as many private health care plans: the member pays a percentage of the cost,
and the employer pays the remainder. The only difference here is that the employer is the government.

Point 7: This sounds good, but it would establish a very, very bad precedent. If we can retroactively invalidate promises
made in good faith at the time they were made, it would certainly happen in short order that other promises made would
also be on the chopping block. Remember the one about free medical care for life for service members who
stayed in for a career? How about the one that said government employees (not just Congressmen) who
stayed for a career would have a pension at the end? If we start breaking promises that people relied on when
planning their lives, where does it end? If this sort of reform needs to be made, a future point in time must be chosen;
from that point on the new rules will be in effect for those hired on and after that date. It would be unconscionable
to yank the rug from beneath those who have already dedicated their lives based on the solemn promises made to them.

{/Rant}

 
Top