Warren Buffet ends the Deficit.
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- BozMan
My family emailed this to me and then I did little investigation and found this very interesting.
Warren Buffett, "I could end the deficit in 5 minutes," he told CNBC. "You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election. The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only 3 months & 8 days to be ratified! Why? Simple! The people demanded it. That was in 1971...before computers, e-mail, cell phones, etc. Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took 1 year or less to become the law of the land...all because of public pressure.
Warren Buffet is asking the public to inform their friends and colleagues about this.
*Congressional Reform Act of 2011*
1. No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.
2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.
3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.
4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.
5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.
6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people. <--- WTF they don't now?!
7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/12. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen. Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term's), then go home and back to work.
If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people then it will only take three days for most people (in the U.S.) to receive the message. Maybe it is time.
- Handel0
I must say, I like this.
- i_monk0
Couldn't he also end the deficit by writing a cheque?
- nomonospaced
- that just helps end a symptom, not mend the problemmonospaced
- he'd have to write two checks then...omg
- vaxorcist0
this is probably a send-around, probably not written by Buffet....
BUT my chief worry would be number 1 / Pension....
Much as I hate to give retiring congressmen a pension, I think if we don't, they will be captive to whatever company promises them a job when they retire, and/or whoever gives them a nice house on the seashore....
as long as they're not independly wealthy.... and we don't need a congress of all rich people...
- retired congressman are already "captive" to whatever company promises them a job and/or gives them $doesnotexist
- yes... maybe we'd have to PROHIBIT anyone from giving them jobs or $$... that's harder..vaxorcist
- bulletfactory0
- sort of... read the URL... the first part yes, the rest (the list) no...vaxorcist
- ThePublics0
"Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career"
Is this guy retarded?
- No.Handel
- career politicians have lost all touch with society that they represent. fuck off._niko
- and the alternative to career politicians is what? Career capitalists who moonlight?ThePublics
- until you can completely eliminate money from the election process, such measures only beget corruption
ThePublics - no replace them with you and i. like in ancient athens, serve our term and go back to being potters_niko
- Seriously, any level-headed citizen should be able to be involved in politics without making it a careermonospaced
- Yup
KneeDragger
- BozMan0
Lets all be honest. Most politicians only care about one person and that's themselves. Most are too old to care about the future.
- kinda defeats the purpose of a democracy, doesn't it?monospaced
- jon_d0
Where do I sign?
- bainbridge0
- Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert CamachoHandel
- not liking the future pepsi rebranddrgs
- It has electrolytesKneeDragger
- drgs0
Give me their addresses, and I will kill all congress men
- raf0
"1. No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office."
Nice corruption booster. Loot while you can!
- drgs0
what a shitty 3rd world place you guy live in
- fate0
3% of GDP? That's a joke.
It's a joke because the average american is in debt 150% (and sometimes far more) of their annual income.
But America is scared of 3%? what the fuck?
- i'm in debt for zero. as long as a mortgage doesn't count.johnny_wobble
- hahaha. No, sure it doesn't; Over 100k in debt and you don't own any of the equity you've paid in until the final day of 25 years.mikotondria3
- ok, i'm just over 100% then. :)johnny_wobble
- mathinc0
^ US debt is near 100% of GDP. I heard a podcast a while back (Planet Money) that was saying that the magic number is 90%, once a country goes over the magic number then bond rates start to rise significantly and the economy gets harder and harder to control. By comparison I believe Greece is at/near 150%. Italy is at 120%.
- Beeswax0
It should also be illegal to be the lapdog of corporations.
It won't make a change other then raising up their paychecks given by the corporations.
- formed0
Yeah, that wouldn't be Buffet.
3%...what happens when the economy goes down and needs stimulus? There needs to be spending when intake is low, often times it is needed more.
What about wars? Them cost a ton, should be really need to go to war, it wouldn't happen if this was adopted (I know, I know, the word "need" certainly hasn't been real since WWII, but you never know).
Like most of the budget 'magic solutions', it is a good sound bite but the reality just isn't there (like flat taxes, 9-9-9, all "sound" good, but in reality it just doesn't work).
- omg0