[bufbupa]

if we're making a wish list, I also want:

- term limits for congress

- voter day national holiday

- if budget isn't balanced all members of congress become ineligible for election

- repeal citizens united (maybe covered by op)

- and change all fines/tickets to paid in human hours of community service rather than money

[knappe]

- if budget isn't balanced all members of congress become ineligible for election

Ask Colorado how TABOR[0] is going. The answer is a 1.5 BILLION[1] deficit because TABOR restricts how money is collected and spent by the state.

A balanced budget isn't actually all it is cracked up to be. The deficit spending at the federal level we have now is bonkers, but a balanced budget every year is just unrealistic. Learn from Colorado and do not put yourself into an unrealistic corner. A budget will grow and shrink with the economy -- a balanced budget over X years seems much more realistic. It would mean we could have never, at a federal level, done the kind of spending necessary to cope with COVID, for example.

What I'd like to see is Congress be entirely unable to draw a paycheck while the government is shutdown. Shutdowns are a last resort, but are now so common we have normalized them. This is immensely unfair to federal workers and everything downstream that depends on a functioning government, like SNAP benefits. If the government shuts down over budget issues, make the people who made that decision pay HEAVILY for the action.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxpayer_Bill_of_Rights [1] https://coloradosun.com/2026/03/19/colorado-budget-shortfall...

[delecti]

> What I'd like to see is Congress be entirely unable to draw a paycheck while the government is shutdown

Rich congresspeople already don't need their paycheck. I want more people in congress who need their paycheck, not more who don't.

[knappe]

Yep, so do I. But there has to be at least some consequences for their actions. This seems like the bare minimum and a good place to start.

[JumpCrisscross]

Most of this can be done through statute.

I’d strongly argue against the community-service bit, however. That’s just job loss for those who earn income from labor and an inconvenience for those who earn it from capital.

[ncallaway]

Yea, I think a better option would be to make fines proportional to income, and then give a flat hourly rate that you can earn for fines from community service as an option

[pasc1878]

No that does not fix the issue.

If you have capital rather than income then this is still better for you.

e.g. a retiree has capital but not income and for someone like Musk will have plenty of capital but proportionally much ledd income as that will be the best way to avoid tax.

[ncallaway]

Sure, tying it to net worth instead of income is fine too.

[delecti]

> term limits for congress

Then the most knowledgeable and experienced people in the room are lobbyists. And at its root, lobbying is just "asking congress for things".