Want to clean up corruption in Washington? Lobby for this.

If Washington won't police itself (and it won't), then we need to do it for them. And guess what, it may take a Constitutional Convention to make it happen. But here is what is needed IMHO.

1. Term limits - 8 years (4 terms max) for Congress; 12 years (2 terms max) for Senate. This will get rid of the career politicians and largely eliminate the seniority system that controls the legislative process.
2. Publicly funded campaigns- forbid any public money of any kind from entering the process. All major party candidates will be given a set amount of money to run both their primary campaigns and run for the general election and that is it. They will also be forbidden from putting their own money into the campaign. This will level the playing field and open up the doors to all candidates, especially in the Senate, which is dominated by multi-millionaires.
3. Make lobbyist money/gift (cash, in-kind, etc.) absolutely illegal and punishable by fine and jail time (both to the politician accepting it and the lobbyist giving it)
4. All elected reps will be required to survey their constituents electronically (email, text message) prior to each major vote and must report the results of that survey prior to voting. This can be done just like the game shows where people are given a window of opportunity to vote. If the rep votes against the majority it will be instantly known to all and published. This will force them to be accountable to us.

1 is debatable. I don't know if you want COMPLETE inexperience every eight years. Some seniority if quality is an excellent thing. Otherwise, things could be much worse.

4 is silly. I know what you are getting at, but the public is NOT necessarily more informed on every issue. Plus, the Founding Fathers chose a representative democracy instead of direct BECAUSE it is unwieldy and undesirable to have every person effectively vote on every bill. I mean shit, 40% of this country STILL believes that Iraq had something to do with 9/11. We need to send intelligent, well rounded, well intended representatives to Washington and supply them with good staff. But PLEASE GOD do not poll my idiotic neighbors on the intricacy of trade bills, renewals of MFN status, the omnibus spending bill or tax policy. The idiot masses are too easily swayed by gimmicky names and slogans and misinformation. Just ask yourself for a minute if the public was polled on a flat tax, just how scary the result might be.

To me, media ownership reform, publicly funded campaigns, banning lobbyist contributions/gifts/trips of ANY kind, and EXTREME jail and civil penalties for violators both in and out of Congress are the ticket.

And reps would have to supply constitutents with a balanced summary of the bill at least one week in advance of the vote. If we don't start involving people in the process they will remain a bunch of mushrooms. One of the reasons people turn away is that they feel out of control and don't believe that their voice counts. This can change all of that.

Accountability would take care of 1, 2 and 3 in a heartbeat.
BHN

I can understand fully why people like the idea of Term Limits.

California and other states who tried this found they created
more problems. There was not enough member with historical
memory to guide new members.

I think many problems could be solved if there was public financing
of campaigns. This way we could find some real challengers to
members who are not fulfilling their responsiblity. If you knew there was a person willing to take your job, I think this would create
an attitude change real fast.

We need to foster an attitude of doing what is best for the country
and not just one>s district or state.