The Failed Congress

Observe for the record that the Republican-led Congress is primed to pass tax legislation that few members of Congress have read, much less debated. The American government system is supposed to vet and vigorously review the law. If Congress doesn't do that, they are derelict in their duty.

When members of Congress fail to uphold their oath by performing responsibly, they should be impeached, and surely removed from office.

My book, How to Select an American President by James A. George and James A. Rodger (c) 2017, describes the duties of President and addresses members of Congress. Here is a review.

To perform the responsibility as a citizen to recruit, evaluate, and select candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives, I propose the following process:

1.              Define the job
2.              Derive skill, knowledge, and experience requirements
3.              Solicit candidate resumes
4.              Compare resumes with the requirements and seek to verify the candidate's claims
5.              Score the resumes
6.              Select the highest scoring candidates

First, begin by understanding the Job Model for a US Member of the House of Representatives.

“As per the Constitution, the U.S. House of Representatives makes and passes federal laws. The House is one of Congress’s two chambers (the other is the U.S. Senate) and part of the federal government’s legislative branch. The number of voting representatives in the House is fixed by law at no more than 435, proportionally representing the population of the 50 states.”
 http://www.house.gov/content/learn/

Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution sets three qualifications for representatives. Each representative must: (1) be at least twenty-five years old; (2) have been a citizen of the United States for the past seven years; and (3) be (at the time of the election) an inhabitant of the state they represent.

As with other Constitutionally-defined requirements, they are out of date and wholly inadequate. Yet, leave it to Congress to correct that. They won’t.

We the People and our political parties can force changes and improvements.

Understand that at the time of the birth of the nation, citizens didn’t live that long and rose to maturity in life early. The economy was largely agrarian, and the population was sparse. The nation has grown and is vastly more complex as are the needs of the people.

Job Model of a US Member of the House of Representatives

“Whether working on Capitol Hill or in his/her congressional district, a representative’s schedule is extremely busy. Often beginning early in the morning with topical briefings, most representatives move quickly among caucus and committee meetings and hearings. They vote on bills, speak with constituents and other groups, and review constituent mail, press clips and various reports. Work can continue into the evening with receptions or fundraising events.” 

 http://www.house.gov/content/learn/ 

Task 1: Represent the needs and issues of constituents of their respective Districts.
Subtask 1.1: Meet with and listen to constituents
Subtask 1.2: Communicate with constituents
Subtask 1.3: Share their sources and contributors to legislative content

Task 2: Create laws, amend, and retire them.
2.1: Create implementation schedules.
2.2. Define systems for implementing laws and regulations.
2.3. Enact budgets and funding mechanisms.

Task 3: Caucus and participate in Committee meetings.
Subtask 3.1: Collaborate with members
Subtask 3.2: Acquire knowledge about legislative topics through participation
Subtask 3.3: Negotiate and compromise

Task 4: Research and review sources of legislative input.
Subtask 4.1: Engage external sources of expertise
Subtask 4.2: Consult with Department Heads
Subtask 4.3: Engaged representatives of the Executive Branch

Task 5: Vote for or against political measures, motions, and bills

Task 6: Impeach as necessary.

“The House is charged with the passage of federal legislation, known as bills, which, after concurrence by the Senate, are sent to the President for consideration. In addition to this basic power, the House has certain exclusive powers which include the power to initiate all bills related to revenue, the impeachment of federal officers, who are sent to trial in the Senate, and in cases wherein no candidate receives a majority of electors for President, the duty falls upon the House to elect one of the top three recipients of electors for that office, with one vote given to each state for that purpose.
The presiding officer is the Speaker of the House, who is elected by the members thereof and is therefore traditionally the leader of the controlling party. He or she and other floor leaders are chosen by the Democratic Caucus or the Republican Conferences, depending on whichever party has more voting members. The House meets in the south wing of the United States Capitol."

Please Read Part 2.