Letter to the Editor: Root Cause By Bob Scofield

Before I retired, I was involved in many corporate efforts to identify the “Root Cause” of a problem.  The root cause is determined by digging deeper and deeper into the problem until you identify the core problem, i.e. the primary cause.

It’s comparable to going to the doctor with a fever.  The doctor can treat this by prescribing aspirin and bed rest (i.e. treating the symptoms) or can do further tests to determine what is causing the fever, and then treating the core infection that is causing the fever.

Now many surveys of Americans have shown that the country is generally unhappy with the Federal Government.  This has manifested itself in electing presidents from many different backgrounds, all promising to “fix” the problem.  Unfortunately, it has not resulted in much change in Congress.  Since 2000, we have elected a former governor (George Bush), a former senator (Barack Obama), a businessperson with no government experience (Donald Trump) and a career government person (Joe Biden).  None of them were successful in implementing the change that the population seems to want, and the dissatisfaction continues.  So now we return to Donald Trump again, who promises to “fix” everything in short order!  (I’ve heard that before.)

It seems to me that all these elections of presidents are treating the symptom of our problem and not dealing with the root cause.  While Presidents are important leaders, their role is to implement the laws passed by Congress.  In my opinion, the root cause of our dissatisfaction is Congress.  Congress seems unable to really do anything to solve long term problems.  (Some would say to really do anything at all!)  Global warming and the environment are long term problems that have gone largely untouched (note the California fires).  How about the deficit and government spending?  Instead of solving the problem Congress argues and fights for weeks about the debt ceiling (which only authorizes the Treasury to borrow money to pay for things Congress has already purchased).  Then at the last minute, they pass legislation to push the problem down the road for 3 or so months.  What in heaven’s name will change in three months that will enable them to agree.  My final example is that Social Security and Medicare will run out of money in about a decade if nothing is done.  Have you seen any action on this?  No!!

In addition, Congress uses gimmicks and tricks to make their political party more powerful, and to stay in power longer.

• Filibusters are a prime example.
• The Senate can leave one or two local members to come in every day, gavel the body into Session, report no business and adjourn 5 minutes later with nothing done so that the Senate does not to go into recess.
• One Senator can advise Senate leadership they will vote to oppose a Presidential nominee, and this causes a “hold” on a floor vote on the nominee. This can be totally secret.

All of this makes people disgusted with “government”.  But they are not necessarily disgusted with all government, just the government that they see, and that is often Congress.

So here is a list of possible suggestions to try to make Congress more responsive.

• Term limits. We need to get fresh ideas, and legislators in their eighth and ninth decades of life don’t have them.
• No legislator can run for office after their 70^th
• Find a way to eliminate “pay for play” where legislators fund their re-elections from large donors who then often expect favors in return.
• Congress should be in session from 9AM till 5PM 5 days a week, just like a normal workday for other Americans
• Legislators should not be able to accept any gift, meal, trip or any other item of value in excess of $10. No more trips, free meals and vacations paid for by others.
• Congress should meet every other month outside of Washington so local people can attend and see what they are doing. Cities have hotels and convention centers that can accommodate the size of Congress.  Rotate these cities around so over time every state gets to host.  (I know this will take years, but so be it.)
• Institute a pay for performance system. Federal legislators have a base salary of $174,000.  How many of us make that kind of money?  Their pay should in part be determined by a well-run survey of Americans on whether we are happy with their performance.  If not, they lose some of their pay.  After all, many of us were evaluated each year by our bosses to determine the size of our annual increases.  Why not Congress members.

Don’t count on any current legislator to try to implement these things.  They are happy with the status quo.  We need to elect a whole new cadre of legislators who actually work to make the country better instead of feathering their own personal nests.

Bob Scofield

Kennedyville