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| Photo (c) Rafael Ben-Ari/Chameleons Eye / Depositphotos.com |
2/8/2020
Our political elites, both Democratic and Republican, seem to be under the mistaken impression that we voted them to be our elected parents. Putting them in office because we lack the good sense and judgement to manage our money and other affairs wisely and in our own best interests.
Along those same lines, they seem to assume that being elected officials and political elites automatically makes them somehow smarter than all other citizens.
This sense of being above the rest of us, at least with Congress, is reinforced by their passing laws from which they are exempt.
For instance, the much debated minimum wage requirements don't apply to Congress. The minimum wage and other mandated employee workplace rights are covered in The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Congress made themselves exempt from the FLSA. So, they don't have to pay minimum wage or worry about whether or not an employee is exempt or not exempt from the FLSA, because they made all Congressional employees exempt from the act, regardless of how little they may be paid.
Why is Congress exempt from the FLSA? Perhaps they felt that being who they are, they would always do the right things by their employees and so, such regulation was unnecessary for them, but just, fair, and right to impose on everyone else.
Don't get me wrong. I am not opposed to the FLSA. I am opposed to Congress making laws from which they exempt themselves. If it is good for the rest of the country, then it is good for Congress. If it is bad for Congress, then it is bad for the rest of the country. There is no magical dome surrounding the Capitol which causes the laws to behave differently there than elsewhere - except the one erected by Congress.
Another of those regulations that are good for the country, but bad for Congress is the Occupational Safety and Hazards Act (OSHA). OSHA has subjected countless businesses across the country to inspections and remediation costs, not based on any complaints or accidents, but solely because an OSHA inspector decided to walk into an establishment and assert his or her authority under this act. But our Congress isn't subject to OSHA, so they will never suffer an unwarranted inspection, fines, and mandatory remediation of workplace safety hazards no matter how many people get hurt in the halls of the Capitol because OSHA might result in frivolous lawsuits against Congress. Once again, those frivolous suits won't happen to business, only to Congress, so Congress must be exempt from OSHA. Of course that it utter nonsense. Laws that are bad for Congress is bad for the country, and laws that are good for the country is good for Congress.
Congress too is exempt from the Affordable Health Care Act (also known as ObamaCare). Many on Capitol Hill continue to sing the praises of how wonderful this program is for America while they made themselves exempt from the provisions of the act that would have taxed their own "Cadillac Health Care Plan" which they enjoy.
To add insult to injury, Congress is exempt from Social Security. They don't have to pay Social Security taxes. And, their retirement plan is to die for. If you get elected to just two terms as a Representative or just one term as a Senator, and then you retire, you get full pay for life. With as little as four years or six years on the job our Congress gets to retire at full pay for the rest of their lives. And they each get six-figure salaries.
Again, don't get me wrong here. I am not opposed to our Congress getting paid six-figure salaries. Getting the job requires that they maintain a household in their home state and one in the Washington, DC area. That is not cheap. What I object to is them having any retirement plan other than Social Security and an ordinary 401K, like the rest of us can get after working four to six years.
Most corporate retirement plans won't pay you anything if you only work for a company four to six years.
I believe one of the best ways to return our elected officials back into public servants is to deny them any retirement program outside of what is available to ordinary citizens, in other words, Social Security, a 401K, and an IRA.
Some might say, but what about those guys and gals who labor 20 years or more in DC for us? I say, what about them? They shouldn't be living off the public for that much time, and when they quit, they should be on their own. There should be no other retirement plan for elected officials except Social Security and any private investments they make in their 401K or IRA accounts. Once they leave office, they should no longer be fed at taxpayer expense.
All of these self-directed exemptions from the laws that govern ordinary citizens has the natural effect of making them believe they are an elite for whom the laws don't apply, because they have made that into a self-fulfilling prophecy. Strip them of the ability to make themselves exempt from the laws they write and they will be in the same regulatory boat as the rest of us. Strip them of their amazing health plan and make them buy one in the open market. Strip them of a fat-cat retirement program and make them both pay into Social Security and have to live by what they get from that instead of giving them taxpayer money for life.
If we do that, perhaps we will come a little closer to helping them understand they are us. They aren't better, smarter, or wiser than us. We elected them to represent us, not to rule over us.
We elect representatives, not rulers, or parents.
Along those same lines, they seem to assume that being elected officials and political elites automatically makes them somehow smarter than all other citizens.
This sense of being above the rest of us, at least with Congress, is reinforced by their passing laws from which they are exempt.
For instance, the much debated minimum wage requirements don't apply to Congress. The minimum wage and other mandated employee workplace rights are covered in The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Congress made themselves exempt from the FLSA. So, they don't have to pay minimum wage or worry about whether or not an employee is exempt or not exempt from the FLSA, because they made all Congressional employees exempt from the act, regardless of how little they may be paid.
Why is Congress exempt from the FLSA? Perhaps they felt that being who they are, they would always do the right things by their employees and so, such regulation was unnecessary for them, but just, fair, and right to impose on everyone else.
Don't get me wrong. I am not opposed to the FLSA. I am opposed to Congress making laws from which they exempt themselves. If it is good for the rest of the country, then it is good for Congress. If it is bad for Congress, then it is bad for the rest of the country. There is no magical dome surrounding the Capitol which causes the laws to behave differently there than elsewhere - except the one erected by Congress.
Another of those regulations that are good for the country, but bad for Congress is the Occupational Safety and Hazards Act (OSHA). OSHA has subjected countless businesses across the country to inspections and remediation costs, not based on any complaints or accidents, but solely because an OSHA inspector decided to walk into an establishment and assert his or her authority under this act. But our Congress isn't subject to OSHA, so they will never suffer an unwarranted inspection, fines, and mandatory remediation of workplace safety hazards no matter how many people get hurt in the halls of the Capitol because OSHA might result in frivolous lawsuits against Congress. Once again, those frivolous suits won't happen to business, only to Congress, so Congress must be exempt from OSHA. Of course that it utter nonsense. Laws that are bad for Congress is bad for the country, and laws that are good for the country is good for Congress.
Congress too is exempt from the Affordable Health Care Act (also known as ObamaCare). Many on Capitol Hill continue to sing the praises of how wonderful this program is for America while they made themselves exempt from the provisions of the act that would have taxed their own "Cadillac Health Care Plan" which they enjoy.
To add insult to injury, Congress is exempt from Social Security. They don't have to pay Social Security taxes. And, their retirement plan is to die for. If you get elected to just two terms as a Representative or just one term as a Senator, and then you retire, you get full pay for life. With as little as four years or six years on the job our Congress gets to retire at full pay for the rest of their lives. And they each get six-figure salaries.
Again, don't get me wrong here. I am not opposed to our Congress getting paid six-figure salaries. Getting the job requires that they maintain a household in their home state and one in the Washington, DC area. That is not cheap. What I object to is them having any retirement plan other than Social Security and an ordinary 401K, like the rest of us can get after working four to six years.
Most corporate retirement plans won't pay you anything if you only work for a company four to six years.
I believe one of the best ways to return our elected officials back into public servants is to deny them any retirement program outside of what is available to ordinary citizens, in other words, Social Security, a 401K, and an IRA.
Some might say, but what about those guys and gals who labor 20 years or more in DC for us? I say, what about them? They shouldn't be living off the public for that much time, and when they quit, they should be on their own. There should be no other retirement plan for elected officials except Social Security and any private investments they make in their 401K or IRA accounts. Once they leave office, they should no longer be fed at taxpayer expense.
All of these self-directed exemptions from the laws that govern ordinary citizens has the natural effect of making them believe they are an elite for whom the laws don't apply, because they have made that into a self-fulfilling prophecy. Strip them of the ability to make themselves exempt from the laws they write and they will be in the same regulatory boat as the rest of us. Strip them of their amazing health plan and make them buy one in the open market. Strip them of a fat-cat retirement program and make them both pay into Social Security and have to live by what they get from that instead of giving them taxpayer money for life.
If we do that, perhaps we will come a little closer to helping them understand they are us. They aren't better, smarter, or wiser than us. We elected them to represent us, not to rule over us.
We elect representatives, not rulers, or parents.
Tom Sheppard is a business consultant and coach to small business owners and individuals. He is a recognized author with dozens of titles in business and fiction to his credit. One of his endeavors is to help those who want to see their own book in print. He does this through his trademarked Book Whispering Process (TM).
The author is not an official spokesperson for any organization or person mentioned herein.
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If you believe that Government is NOT the answer to all our problems, thenyou will want to read Godvernment: Government as God
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