Normally I, like some people, try to avoid politics. But this government shutdown is just too much to ignore. So some thoughts.

Shut down Congress first. The actors in television shows about teachers who turn into mean-spirited meth dealers are more popular than our elected Congressmen. And every week we learn something new and unpleasant about those in our legislative branch of government. I am not referring to just those who text improper pictures. Congress is exempt from the new Affordable Care Act because they have a much better, super medical plan. Congressmen and women who serve one term get this medical plan for life along with their salary as a lifetime pension. Then this last week we learned that when one of them dies, even years out of office, their spouse gets another one year salary as a death benefit. Why do they get all these things? Because they pass the laws that allow them to get them. We complain how corporate executives have too many benefits but at least a Board of Directors is involved, whereas here it is self awarded.

So shut down Congress without pay or benefits.  Not just their staffs who are being gradually placed on leave, but the big bosses.  As my wife would say, give some of this money to those who have served in our military services. We would still save money and we would not lose much if they were all gone for awhile.

The other related thought was to prohibit the President and Congress from talking to any media person until this budget issue is fixed. Without our never ending, 24/7, on 200 channels, news coverage, I am not sure we would even have a Sequester problem. Could you image some of our forefathers scheduling news conferences to rattle on about all this. Not Andrew Jackson, nicknamed Old Hickory; he fought duels with rivals not shout-outs on CNN or Fox. Most of our early Congressmen had real jobs or farms to work and could not afford to waste the endless media time that our current crop eagerly does. This plan might cost some young newscasters their jobs but I am wiling to take that risk.

Finally, I have believed forever that although we are the most fortunate and wonderful country in the world, we may be one of the most amateurishly managed one as well. We elect and often re-elect felons to office. Our main criteria seems to be that they are almost all lawyers by background but who rarely worked in the practice of law or anything else for that matter. We generally hate to elect business people or self-made successful people of any kind.

Maybe we need to re-evaluate our criteria for our elected officials. Less lawyers. Avoid those who love the media. Elect those who have really done something useful in their prior careers. Having them at least wrestle on YouTube would also be fun and make them more popular!

Thanks for listening. I feel better!