Curmudgeon's Corner

Is It Time?

Posted by Al Campbell on March 18, 2010

Political, Quality of Life, U.S.

Is it time to push for Amendment #28 to the Constitution of the United States of America?  

It is not uncommon to read of exemptions to laws that are promulgated by Congress.  Those exemptions often apply to Congress.  They tell us how we are to act but they do not permit themselves to be controlled in the same manner.

We just know, for example, that the members of Congress will continue to enjoy their special Federal Employees Health Benefit Plan (FEHBP) programs even though they may pass laws telling us what our health insurance coverage will be and won’t be.  They qualify for full pensions for life if they serve a minimum of five years in office.  We don’t fare nearly so well. 

The proposed 28^th Amendment would read as follows:

  "Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply equally to the Senators and/or Representatives; and, Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators and/or Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States ".

It seems as though this might help us all.  If the members of Congress come to understand that they will not be exempted from their legislative antics, the silliness that has become Washington, D.C. should be kept in check…for awhile, at least, until they find another loophole.

I suspect that the current health care reform debate may have taken on a whole different aura had this Amendment been passed some time ago.

A final thought:  isn’t it sad that something of this nature is even necessary to consider?

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The Curmudgeon Blog today is titled "Massachusetts Test Tube".