Draining the Swamp - BRILLIANT Solution to Kill DC Corruption

I would credit by name the person and/or the radio show I heard the germ of this on if I could remember either one, but I don't.  Let me be clear: I've fleshed it out below, but the germ of this idea is not mine.  I wish it were (!), but it's not.

It's merely brilliant, (essentially) free, and will save big, huge, buckets of wasted dollars.


Have all members of the House and the Senate come to Washington only once every quarter, or even only two or three times a year, including the State of the Union, which the Constitution requires they be present for, and that's it.  With all the technology available to us it would be easy for them to do their jobs, teleconference and vote from home state offices, where they really belong.  The bonus to all of this, the real, overriding reason to do it more than any other, is that it would shut down K Street.  

K Street is where most lobbyists set up shop.  Most of the corruption we all abhor starts there and goes right to the Russell Office Building and Capitol Hill.

All members would be issued government Blackberries, computers, and teleconferencing equipment.  Absolutely every syllable would be public record.  Every phone call.   Every email.  Every teleconference.

Now that's not to say that they couldn't call their cash carrying pals on their wife's phone and cut a crooked deal "off the grid" but that would be fairly easy to trace forensically if we discover a piece of legislation in which the public record is clean, but the coffers are fat.

I've been thinking about this off and on for months since I first heard it and I can't come up with a single reason why it's not only feasible, but preferable. It would keep these folks close to their constituents.


Further, I would require that they log "x" amount of hours annually to either office hours or "town hall" type availability.  If there is a fixed, finite amount of time that they are required to be accessible to their constituents, they wouldn't be able to hide from them like they do when they hide out in Washington.  It doesn't have to be draconian.  Just, I dunno, a number that works out to maybe 5 hours per week.  That's not much.  I mean, after all, with 2,700 page bills to read, we can't devote all their time to constituent service!

Look, I was born at night, but not last night, so I know the chances of getting this passed are zero, but wouldn't it be fun to find just one Senator.... like Scott Brown... to propose it and shame them into doing it?

I know.  I know.  They're immune to shame.  I know....

But I also know there are brilliant ideas out there to expand and improve on this, and nothing ever gets done unless someone tries.   Email me! annie@mcjusa.com