Resolving the Deficit Problems

Warren Buffet, in an interview with CNBC, offers one of the best quotes about the debt ceiling:

"I could end the deficit in 5 minutes," he 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."

Beyond that, here are his thoughts for the Congressional Reform Act of 2013:

1. No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they're out of office.
2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.
3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.
4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.
5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.
6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.
7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void effective 12/1/13. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen/women. Congress made all these contracts for themselves.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.

Looks to me like this would work. Its only drawback is that the chances of passage by our current Congresscritters are somewhere south of zero. The only way this will happen is if it is forced on them.

In the Shutdown, Obama Targets Catholics

Received by e-mail, and posted in a slightly edited version:

If he can do it to Catholics, will the Protestants be next? Catholic priests in military face arrest for celebrating Mass.

This is a verified news report. This is to my mind the most outrageous thing the Obama Administration has done yet during the shutdown. It even surpasses what Obama did to our WWII vets, and that was outrageous.

I hope everyone understands what this means. Obama is saying Catholic religious services are "non-essential". So much in fact that Obama is willing to jail priests even if they offer Mass "voluntarily" — for free, as part of their duties as Catholis priests imposed at their ordination. Everyone should also understand that this was done only to the Catholics but not to the Protestants or the Jews or the Muslims or any of the other religious groups.

If you need a Catholic sacrament - nonessential and disallowed. Communion - nonessential and disallowed. Confession - nonessential and disallowed. Baptism - nonessential and disallowed. Confirmation - nonessential and disallowed. Marriage - nonessential and disallowed. Extreme unction (last rights) - nonessential and disallowed. Catholics - nonessential and disallowed.

I wish every Catholic who voted for Obama could see this. This is an outright attack on the Catholic faith, plain and simple.

Even if Obama is forced to take this order back, we must never forget that he actually did it and wanted to do it. This affront to Catholics is beyond the pale. It’s a crystal clear religious freedom violation and as far as I am concerned, this by itself is an impeachable offense. It ought not go unpunished and it better never be forgotten.

I saw this during the shutdown. Even though it's now late, it's still worth posting.

Reality

Just a little review of this fall's reality.