Rick Perry’s poll numbers have been slipping by the day, so he needed a bold, last-ditch proposal to stay in the race. And during his “Uproot and Overhaul Washington” speech today, he laid out several:
1. End lifetime appointments for federal judges.
2. Cut congressional pay, working hours and office budgets in half. Freeze congressional and agency salaries until budget is balanced.
3. End bank bailouts and earmarks.
4. Reduce spending to 18 percent of GDP.
5. Advocate for Balanced Budget Amendment.
6. Privatize Fannie and Freddie.
7. Get rid of Commerce, Energy and Department of Education. Restructure Dept. of Homeland Security. Hand over airport security to the private sector.
8. Moratorium on every pending federal regulation, and full audit of the last five years of new regulations.
We’ve heard many of these from Perry before, but it’s his proposal to create a “part-time Congress” that’s been getting the most attention today:
We send members of Congress to look out for America, not enrich themselves. But too often, they are taken captive by the Washington culture.
That’s why we need a part-time Congress. I say send them home to live under the laws they pass among the people they represent.
That would mean slashing the annual salary to $87,000, and cutting the number of days Congress is in session to just 62 per year. Why again does Perry think this is a good idea? And doesn’t he need Congress around to pass his other proposals, like installing a balanced budget amendment and capping spending at 18 percent of GDP?
We already have a method for making sure members of Congress look out for our interests, and it’s called elections. If the point is to reduce corruption, a part-time Congress wouldn’t have prevented the insider trading issues that Perry mentioned in his speech. A better (and much simpler) idea would be to enforce stricter rules on congressional trading.
Plus, like some of Perry’s other proposals – i.e., eliminating the Department of Education – there is almost no chance of this ever actually happening. He would have done better to steer clear of gimmicks.
