Step 2: 5-Minute Solution -- Implementation approaches

usmbguest5318

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Instructions/Thread Topic:
In this thread -- 5-Minute Solution for fixing the deficit....I think this would work. Seriously. -- I shared an idea put forth by Warren Buffet. There seems to a bit of interest in the idea. Accordingly, I'm commencing with the next step which is to initiate a discussion about how to go about bringing the idea to fruition.

I've posed one approach that I just brainstormed. I'm not "married" to it; I don't think it's perfect. It's a starting point. In this thread members as called to propose specific modifications or enhancements to my idea or propose their own similarly comprehensive approach of their own. Try to keep it "high level" as I have done in this thread's OP. We don't need to get too deep into the weeds, so to speak.

For now, just go with "accountability measure" even if you think Warren's GDP growth-based measure isn't the measure of accountability you'd see implemented. If this this thread is productive, we can move to step 3 and get into qualitative discussions about what should the specific bases of measurement. [1}

NOTE:
  1. I may need to use Step 3 to elicit some form of pluralistic or majority agreement on the high level approach and then use Step 4 to "get into the weeds" of "accountability measure specifics.


My Initial Proposal:
What will it actually take -- in terms of the process -- to bring Buffett's suggestion to fruition. As I see it, it's going to take what I'd call a "single issue" year or several of them. What's that mean?

It means the movement to make accountability be required will have to be started at the grassroots level and pursued first in state legislatures and then at the national level, and it may require that voters take one congressional election year and emplace only federal representatives who unequivocally commit to voting for the accountability measure..
  1. Movement forms and builds support and renown.
  2. Write the measure and obtain support for it as written among the movement membership.
  3. Movement puts on state legislature ballots (or on referendum ballots in states where the legislature cannot overturn passed referendum measures) candidates who are committed to voting for an accountability measure in their state. Within each state, the measure defines that an accountability eligibility requirement must have been met by incumbents seeking re-election to national office by the states voters. (For now, and for this discussion, we'll go with Buffett's stipulation.)

    NOTE: I could be wrong about whether states have the power to do that. I know they can't do much to stop who votes (14th & 15th Amend + VRA), but I think they can do a lot to control who can run from the state in question. Requiring that someone have been effective seems reasonable to me....but I'm not a legal scholar. Just be forewarned....I'm not a legal scholar or lawyer, but I know where to look if folks start saying stuff that doesn't "pass the sniff test;" for one topic, I can become very knowledgeable very quickly, just as anyone can.
  4. Voters elect state level representatives who support the measure as written or voters pass state referenda.
  5. "Single issue year" -- Once approved at the state level in a mix of states, take the movement to the next level: federal. This is when the "single issue year" may need to happen. By that I mean that voters may have to "waste" a year and vote for whoever it is in their state that's running and is committed to voting for the accountability measure. Voting on this single issue may be necessary to get the measure passed in Congress so that whomever voters send to Congress after them will be held accountable.
 
For reference, the original proposal was:
."I could end the deficit in five minutes," Warren 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."
Remember that the focus is accountability, not the deficit. The deficit is just a lever, a bar by which Congressional performance be measured.
 

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