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VIDEO: Gov Jindal: ‘Make Congressmen Part-time’

By: Jason Mattera (Diary)  |  November 23rd, 2010 at 06:30 PM  | 

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It seems like an insurmountable task for GOP candidates to take out the liberal fixtures of Nancy Pelosi, Charlie Rangel, and Barney Frank in congressional elections, but how about making them part-time workers instead? Perhaps that’s one way to minimize the amount of unpopular legislation coming out of Washington these days. Bobby Jindal thinks so. According to him, it’s about time we slice and dice the number of hours lawmakers have in a work day.

“We used to pay farmers not to grow crops, let’s make congressman stay out of Washington, D.C.,” the Louisiana Governor said in an exclusive interview with HUMAN EVENTS. “Our liberty, our wallets are safest when the legislature’s not in session,” he added, borrowing the line from Mark Twain.



As Jindal describes in his new book Leadership and Crisis, Twain’s warning was precocious. “Right now, each American ‘owes’ $45,000 on the national debt, and that figure is set to rise much higher,” writes Jindal. “The 2009 budget deficit was nearly the size of the entire federal budget in 2000.”

While Jindal’s proposal may come across as overly ambitious, he points out that for most of America’s existence, Congress was indeed regarded as a part-time institution. In fact, some states, including Pennsylvania, even codified provisions in their constitutions that mandated lawmakers to hold down separate jobs from their legislature duties in order to “preserve [their] independence” and to ensure that they weren’t tempted to use their position of power to rake in personal riches.

“Make [politicians] part-time. Give them term limits. Don’t let them become lobbyists. When they have to live under the same rules and laws they passed for the rest of us, maybe you’d see some more common sense coming out of Washington, D.C. Instead you got a permanent governing political class.”

***Stay tuned for more segments of our exclusive interview with the Louisiana Governor, including his thoughts on Steven Seagal, the need for a “smart” immigration policy, and how the administration’s “social justice” approach to fighting terrorists has left the country vulnerable.

Cross-posted from Human Events.

Mr. Mattera is the editor of HUMAN EVENTS and the author ofObama Zombies: How the Liberal Machine Brainwashed My Generation (Simon & Schuster).He also hostsThe Jason Mattera ShowonNews Talk Radio 77WABC. Previously, he was the Spokesman for Young America’s Foundation and a TV correspondent for Michelle Malkin. Follow Jason onTwitter,Facebook, andYouTube.

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  • http://charlemagne-the-hammer.blogspot.com/ DerKrieger

    How much junk legislation do these masterminds create annually? Do we really need more laws? My state’s (AR) meets only once every other year for three months. Doesn’t leave time for mischief making. How Manu Red states have part time legislatures and how many insolvent, er, Blue states have full time mischief makers like CA and NY? The only risk to this is the full time bureaucracy.

    • banzaibob

      That is the same here in Texas. The Fedeal Government and other states should be the same. The people of California should use their ballot initiative to change their legislature back to being part time. That way they would have to live off the miserable economy they have created.

  • toothpick

    …I think you mean “prescient,” not “precocious.” :)

    • http://www.redstate.com/tnjim TNJim

      I seem to remember Congress was indeed intended to be a part time job, with members holding down their previous employment so they actually could spend at least half or more of their time in their districts with their constituents so they would not lose touch with said constituents’ concerns. But these days most or all of them stay cocooned in DC, hoping they get invited to the next party or lobbyist gathering.

      Constituents? What constituents? Oh, the people who voted for me? Eh, they’ll be alright. They just need to realize what we’re doing for them here in DC.

      Yeah, right.

      • nhbuckeye

        Our government is rife with corruption. How to minimize it:
        1. Term limits
        2. No earmarks
        3. Balanced budget amendment
        4. An amendment outlining a stricter interpretation of the commerce clause
        5. Corruption should not be met with “censure” and heartfelt speeches of disappointment. Corruption should be met with an escort to the door and a curt, “Goodbye Mr. Rangel,” placing the appropriate name there.

        Instead of the government limiting our power and consolidating it to itself, we need to put a bigger leash on the government. Politicians have been running amuck for so long now that they feel entitled to their power and as though they have a moral imperative to control our behavior. They are aristocrats in their own minds. To me, they are nothing but a corrupt and prideful group bent on replacing God with the state, with themselves running that all-powerful state.

        Of course the best start to ridding ourselves of corruption is to demand and vote for candidates of character. We must never again exclude ourselves from the political process. Then we can put into the law the restrictions above that will keep the government small and tame.

  • http://teapartyconstitutionalists.ning.com/ russellpdavis

    Make sure they have time to read the legislation they are voting on.

  • christinakfjeffrey

    Good long term goal. When we get government much, much smaller, and restore checks and balances, Congress should be part-time.
    dismantling our huge Government bureaucracy rationally, and restoring balance by balancing the two Imperial branches, the Judiciary and the Presidency will take some time – now that we have a Republican majority is not the time to go part-time!

    However, a simple change in Rule 21 could make it possible for them to vote from their home offices – maybe with an audience and some fanfare?

    We want to give the grassroots more access to their members and deny the lobbyists the influence they now enjoy. Make the lobbyists get on planes (after being violated – hmmm, maybe then they would do something useful, like lobby to reform TSA) and come to our districts instead of vice-versa.

  • johncox

    Gov. Jindal is on the right track. If we look at the last 70-80 years, we see two things; a growth in media and a growth in government. The two are connected by a common thread.

    Congressional districts started growing in size after a change in law in the early 20th Century to fix Congress at 435 members and allow the districts to grow in population. Now, these districts are 700,000 and require millions to run a decent campaign; more to unseat an incumbent. Politicians spend most of their time selling their vote and vacuuming up contributions.

    The answer? Check out New Hampshire. They have 400 members of their House. They make $100 a year. They each represent 3000 people. They spend a max of $1000 on a campaign. There is no Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid there. No statewide taxes. No corruption to speak of. No huge debt and deficit.

    When districts are this small, legislators are part time. They know their constituents. The rich don’t have an advantage; anyone can run.

    Legislators don’t have to go to a state capitol or DC. You and I know they go there to see their mistresses and raise money. With small districts money raising would not be an issue. Issues would predominate. The will of the people would win the day.

    Voting and hearings could be done over the internet.

    This could also apply to the US Congress. The original Constitution limited the size of districts to 30,000; it is now 700,000. It takes too much money; the media has too much power. Votes are bought and sold.

    An initiative like this – to eliminate legislative salaries, benefits and offices – and at the same time eliminate money from politics could succeed in this environment.

    Politicians won’t give up their perks and power easily. The media will help them as they enjoy their power (and the ad revenue) too much.

    It is up to us to do this. The Tea Party is a great start. But it needs something that will REALLY change things, not replace one group of spenders and power seekers with another set.

    John Cox

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  • brubey

    “They are of the people, and return again to mix with the people, having no more durable pre-eminence than the different grains of sand in an hourglass. Such an assembly cannot easily become dangerous to liberty. They are the servants of the people, sent together to do the people’s business, and promote the public welfare; their powers must be sufficient, or their duties cannot be performed. They have no profitable appointments, but a mere payment of daily wages, such as are scarcely equivalent to their expences; so that, having no chance for great places, and enormous salaries or pensions, as in some countries, there is no triguing or bribing for elections.” –Benjamin Franklin, letter to George Whatley, 1785

  • cam1

    to citizen legislatures. It is a great idea. But, I can’t imagine them relinquishing their power, that’s why 99% of them are there.

  • ihateliberals

    failings of the Founding Fathers. If they had just thought to do that in the beginning things would have been so different. Now it will be near impossible to get implemented. Career politicians are as evil as the old Royalty systems. Bad ones get into power like Kennedy, Byrd, Reid and Pelosi just to name a few and things can get really bad for everyone.

  • sapwolf

    Sarah/Bobby 2012 & 2016
    Bobby/? 2020 & 2024

    The Golden Age of Limited Government, Fiscal Responsibility, Free Enterprise, a Stable Dollar, Overturn of Roe vs. Wade, Prudent use of Military, Repeal/REAL Reform of Healthcare.

    Come on and let’s DO IT!

  • itrytobenice

    Congresscritters didn’t decide to settle in and make graft and corruption a full time job until they could do it in the cool. DC gets pretty steamy about July and August. Make them sweat it out or get out.