HEY TRENT, THANKS A LOTT!

BY MICHAEL LINN JONES

So Senator Trent Lott is resigning before the end of the year. What an odd bit of timing, I first thought.

But, silly 'ole me. I have to be educated the hard way about how Washington really works. My first reaction was: do voters have a CLUE as to how the future-soon-to-be-former senator will get along?

I know that the rumor mill started off immediately with a bit about some kind of gay escort service and all that. As if that is a scandal compared to what is going to happen. Congressional salaries/pensions/etc. are a scam; a sham, and a rip-off.

Both parties do it; this is not an indictment of one political party so much as it is a glaring example of how much chutzpah exists among the so-called "servants of the people." Where else in America can one work a job for 5 years and get 80% of their pay for the rest of their lives? Oh, and don't forget the COLA's (Cost of living adjustments) that can (and DO) raise a retired congressperson's income ABOVE what they were earning while in office.

To add insult to injury, the royals elites have devised a scheme known as "ethics," which is always good for a laugh in Washington. See, it might appear to us rubes down on the farm that leaving Congress and then going right to work for the people who were buying lobbying you for all those years as a little questionable.

But not to worry. Currently, those leaving office have to survive one entire year on their pensions, which is 80% of $175,000. Some bright spark decided to increase that to TWO years! What is going on here, folks? Two entire years on such miserable pay? I think such a scenario is more than most millionaires (and their minions) can take.

BUT.....if Trent Lott resigns before the end of 2007.....hooray!, he is limited to only the one year in the poorhouse before signing on to millions in compensation from some lobbying firm. The two-year requirement starts after the new year. It also explains why Dennis Hastert is resigning, too.

I've come to the sad conclusion that the only hope for the future of representative government in the U.S. is a radical change from our current system. Members of Congress should serve just like anyone else does in a jury. You're summoned and you have to do it. One term and you can go home, but in the meantime you'll have to sacrifice your normal life for a while for the greater good of the country.

You know, like those 150,000 odd people in Afghanistan and Iraq right now. Of course it won't ever happen. Like Senator Clinton says, we can't afford to have the U.S. government be a learning center for newbies. No, we need professionals like herself, her husband, Mr. Hastert, Mr. Lott, ET AL.

They've done such a fine job so far.

The question is: for whom, though?
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Cross-posted at Michael Linn Jones.com

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