We are about to get a new President in 22-days, who’s reign will last at least four years. We are also seating new Senators and Representatives, both Republicans and Democrats, some for two years and some for four years. We voted for these politicians on the promise of change and to work for the people of the United States. They are, in essence, new employees of the people. We hired them to do a job, that being to represent us in Congress. We’ve hired new employees on the state and local level, all mandated to represent the people who voted for them. We were lucky enough to toss out a few bad apples but not enough.

Throughout the history of the United States, we’ve been saddled with people only in office for themselves, to make lucrative contacts, accept bribes and help pass legislation benefiting only a few. As one out-going Congressman said, “That’s how business is done in Washington.” That’s why lobbyists enjoy a booming business and their job is to influence Senators in favor of their employer, and it isn’t the American people. Each year the federal budget contains thousands of special interest projects, called pork, that cost the American people millions, if not billions, of dollars for special interests.

At every election, the candidate speaks out for transparency in government, in truth in dealing with the people’s affairs and a promise to do the people’s bidding and every year, these promises are broken. In the private sector, if a potential employee lied to the employer in the same manner, said employee would be fired immediately, with no severance package. Yet we have this same situation with Congress and do nothing about it. Why? Because only the rest of Congress can bring charges, have a trial and either impeach or banish. It isn’t the employer who controls the action but fellow employees. Other Congressmen are reluctant to bring such action as they fear that they might next in line. It’s time for the People of the United States to do what Congress won’t do. The Speaker of the House has had impeachment articles concerning President Bush on her desk for two years and has failed to follow through.

The detailed articles of impeachment speaks for itself, President Bush, and VP Cheney has engaged in actions strictly against the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and are considered criminals by the World Court. The people of the United States consider him unfit for office yet he is still there, for 22 more days. It is time for the American people to take matters in their own hands and control Congress, as it should be.

I propose the following, that each new Senator and Representative be given one year to follow through on their campaign promises, to prove to the voters that they are trustworthy of the privilege of serving the people. If, at the end of 360 days, they haven’t been significant in serving, they can be removed at the will of the people, their contract cancelled. The Constitution states that Representatives serve for two years and Senators serve for four years before needing to stand for reelection. A corrupt politician can do a lot of damage in two and four years, and have many times.

Their voting record would be in the public domain, nothing secret. It would be examined for votes on each issue and how they voted, was it for the good of the people, along party lines or for a special interest. Democrats, Republicans and Independents all have the same mandate, serve the people, not the party, not the President and certainly not special interests. Were they receptive to the opinions of the people? It is evident that our elected leaders think little of our opinion and ignore them completely. That was proven when we voiced our opinion on the corporate bailout, we didn’t want it but President Bush threatened them with martial law if they did pass it. The cowards voted for the trillion dollar bailout, even in the face of evidence that it wasn’t wanted or needed. We said loudly, let them fail or succeed on their own, not bail them out of a mess they made themselves. We were ignored. It is a situation like this that demands that we take action and recall the bums but our hands are tied, we aren’t allowed to intervene with the actions of Congress.

I’ve heard the argument that we aren’t smart enough to understand the mechanics of Congress or national economics. Secretary of the Preasury Paulson testified that if AIG, J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs were allowed to fail, it would severely impact the world economy. I may not be up on my world economics but it appears to me that the only ones suffering are the American people. Intelligence does play into this situation but common sense should prevail and common sense is something Congress is severely lacking. Common sense says that if an employee isn’t doing their share of the work, get rid of them.

Congress isn’t doing their job.