Innovate on Terms
There
is a lot of clamoring for reform these days.
It turns out that the clamor needs to get infused with fresh ideas, some
more radical than others, in order to jump start the conversation. Innovation and expansion of ideas are
necessary ingredients for reform. A
wild idea can take root itself or spawn other ideas or inspire action. Companies and organizations that innovate
find success and growth, and those that do not innovate find stagnation and
decline. Brainstorming has to push the
limits a little (or a lot) to get to real actionable ideas, and that’s where
I’m taking you over the next couple essays – innovation to the brink of ridiculous
in order to jump start the collective idea factory of our brains.
It
seems that regardless of the year on the calendar, the US political system is
under scrutiny from its constituents.
The problem is that the system isn’t designed to fix itself. Taxpayers, along with the non-taxpaying
elite [see last week’s blog for the reference] and impoverished citizens,
continually ask Congress to fix itself and enact legislation to manage
themselves. So, the elected officials
examine the country’s problems, and then they decide to vote themselves pay
raises and comprehensive healthcare coverage.
So much for the system fixing itself, right? Congress is just not currently designed to
do anything about itself. When it
comes to reform ideas, the same options are debated and tossed around and
ultimately shelved for a few years, then dusted off and recycled, reshelved,
and retired without action. We the people need to innovate on
behalf of our Congress!
Term
limits for elected officials is as good a place to start as any. You’ve heard this before? Well, let’s look at term length and term
limit this time. Over the past 235
years, the USA has had 44 different presidents, which when you do the math,
comes to an average of 5 years + 4 months per president. Let’s start at the top then, and amend the
Constitution to change the Presidential term from 2 x 4-year terms to 1 x
6-year term. Just one. Six years, and then a new President is
sworn in. What could this possibly
accomplish? Well, for starters, the
opposite Party members in Congress wouldn’t be spending the bulk of their
efforts trying to tear down the President in hopes of derailing his (or her)
reelection campaign. They can focus on
the business at hand. The President
would not spend half of the first term campaigning for the next term in
office. I would bet that most 2-term
Presidents have been more successful in their 2nd term than their
first — it seems that way from the recent presidential terms of Presidents
Reagan and Clinton – and this is likely because they are focused on the duties
of the Presidency, not the rigors of the campaign trail.
Similarly,
a little shake up for Congress would be in order. Representatives would get 4 years per term
(instead of the current 2), and be limited to 3 terms in the House; Senators would
remain with 6-year terms, but be capped at 2 terms. A savvy and effective politician could end
up in this scenario with 12 years in the House, 12 years in the Senate, and 6
years in the White House – a decent 30-year career based on advancement and progress,
not mired in the status quo. Having
Representatives run for reelection every 2 years hardly allows them to
establish a meaningful track record; and Congressional leaders whose chairs are
molded in the shape of their butts would then know that effective leadership
will establish their legacy, not simply longevity.
It
would also be my recommendation that each Senator and Representative receive
his or her salary, benefits, and pensions from the respective State that is
represented. The President and Veep
would get their benefits via the DOD, which means the same benefits as
military personnel. The States that
have comprehensive medical insurance programs, like Massachusetts and Illinois,
would have their Congressmen signed up under those plans, and States without
health insurance options can have their Congressmen on either private
insurance, the national health care plan, or Medicaid. A State would establish salary for its
Congressional delegates, too (perhaps equal to the sitting Governor’s salary
for Senators and some fractional or comparable rate for the Reps). Congress should not have unchecked authority
to manage its own salaries and benefits – this should be the right and
responsibility of the constituents whom the Congressman represents.
As a country, we need
to innovate! Innovation can be the
application of new ideas, new uses for existing technology or systems, or
reinvention of concepts in a new environment.
Innovation is NOT shouting “You suck!” at someone with whom you disagree. Innovation is NOT refusing to cooperate and
it is NOT waiting for someone else to do something else. I worked for a company whose leadership
believes that innovation is “working harder” at doing the same tasks in the
same way; currently theirs is a floundering operation. Innovation is an active, involved, and
integrative process, whether it’s at your desk, in your kitchen, or in
Washington D.C. Be engaged and express
your ideas. What innovations do you
have for your company? What innovations
do you have for yourselves? What
innovations do you have for Congress?
Send them to your Congressman! Or send them to me!
...From 30,000 Feet 
…and, really, shouldn’t they all be one-term presidents?
I used to believe that we needed “experienced” legislators who would become more nuanced and less political as they spent more time serving the public interest. I no longer believe that. In the mid-1990s there was a movement to limit terms. It did not gain much traction. Perhaps it will rise again. However, the majority party at any particular time is not motivated to limit their own terms.