Congress as unproductive career

The American experiment was supposed to include relegating politics to a temporary service to the community. Politics, under the United States Constitution, should not have become a career. Yet become a career it has, and nowhere more so than in the United States Congress. And the only way to put a stop to this, is with your vote.

The model of the citizen legislator

Originally the Founders and Framers wanted citizen legislators. This was their most significant departure from the Roman political model from which they copied things like:

1. The Senate of the United States, and
2. The instrument of the Presidential veto (from the Latin veto, vetare, vetavi, vetatum I forbid, to forbid, I forbade, forbidden).

But Roman Senators won their office by first earning one million sesterces (forty backpack loads of silver) a year from farming and ranching only, then having one of two magistrates called Censors add their names permanently to the Senate’s rolls. United States Senators (and Representatives) would stand regularly for re-election. (And again, State legislators chose Senators, because Senators were State ambassadors, not representatives-at-large of all the people in their States.) And each Member of Congress, or of any State legislature, had a regular living apart from their salaries. Finally – and this could be crucial – Congress and State legislatures met part time. Many State legislatures still do. The General Assembly of Virginia meets in the first half of every year. The Texas Legislature does the Virginia General Assembly one better: theymeet in the first half of every other year.

Congress changes everything

But Congress decided to become a full-time service. That they still recess in August is a leftover custom from the pre-air-conditioning days. They do this so that Members can campaign.

And therein lies the problem. Even before a new Member takes office, already he is in campaign mode for his next term. This applies especially to Representatives but also applies to Senators. For although a Senator serves for six years, he must campaign over a wider area and reach a larger population. (Unless he represents a State like Alaska, with only one at-large Representative for the entire State.)

The Caucus Dues problem

The John Birch Society tells us of an even worse problem: caucus dues. Every Member of Congress or any State legislature pays them. Their respective National Committees then dole out committee assignments to dues-payers. The problem: caucus dues amount to a member’s annual salary! So the member must cultivate a particular lobbyist or lobby group who will guarantee their caucus dues in return for political favors. That, even more than the ownership of the common (or preferred) stock of companies doing business with the government, ties members to these lobbies and compels them to do the lobbys’ bidding.

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) most likely refused to join formally the Senate Democratic Conference on this ground. True, CNAV finds his politics execrable. But he can say of himself, as did the late Representative Shirley Chisholm (D-N.Y.-12th), that he is unbought and unbossed. (Such was Rep. Chisholm’s campaign slogan, but information on her stance on caucus dues is sorely lacking.)

And on the Republican side, one State legislator, to the knowledge of CNAV, absolutely refuses to pay Republican caucus dues. Senator Amanda F. Chase (R-Chesterfield Co.) pointedly told the Virginia Senate Republican Caucus that she would not play the “pay to play” game. So they expelled her from the caucus and refused her any help in staying in the Senate. Nevertheless she is serving her second term and will likely campaign for, and win, a third.

CNAV has formerly endorsed her to run for Vice-President in the Election of 2024.

The only way to redeem Congress

The only way to stop these vile practices and make Congress a citizen legislature again, is with your vote. Today, candidates like Amanda F. Chase are few and far between. But that’s only because such candidates don’t get the national exposure their examples need.

But suppose, for example, that State Senator Chase became a United States Senator. As it happens, neither U.S. Senator from Virginia need stand for re-election in next Midterms. But in each of the next two Federal elections, a Virginia Senator will defend his seat. If Amanda Chase seeks to break into national politics short of being Donald Trump’s running mate, her chance will come in 2024.

And that example would start to crack at least one dubious Congressional custom. CNAV fully expects her to refuse to pay United States Senate caucus dues. She might then decide to serve one term in the U.S. Senate and retire. But in that term she might be able to accomplish more for reform than most Senators even try to accomplish in a career in politics. She would have motive (a passion for reform) and opportunity (a reform-minded President).

People, step up!

But it is up to you, the people of the United States, to find and support the Amanda Chases in your community. These are your friends. Those who make a career in politics while still owning stock in companies that vie for government contracts, are not. (Perhaps Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.-14th, had her Broken Clock Moment. She proposed a new House Rule to forbid any Member of the House of Representatives, or the spouse of a Member, to own so much as one share of common or preferred stock in any joint-stock corporation, no matter where chartered.

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) proposed a similar Senate rule. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.-8th, quashed that motion. Could it be because her husband trades stock, and even does so as an insider?)

Similarly, those who pay caucus dues and get lobbyists to pay their salaries are not your friends either.

Why should would-be Communists, who after all want to abolish joint-stock corporations completely and hold all things in common, lead the way on reform of Congress? They do it because those who love freedom and the Constitution have been lazy in this regard. Either that stops, or liberty stops. Make your choice.