Well, it really depends on one thing; I'm talking about their reason for becoming a congressman. If I were to become a congressman, my reason would be to help Californians express their opinions better. However this is my reason. Different people have millions of other reasons. I think there are three major reasons for becoming a congressman: represent his/her state, power, or money. I don't believe that most people get into Congress for the money.
I believe most people that become congressmen want their state to be heard, and they want to improve it. However not everybody is so good some people are in it purely for power, usually power means money. I do not believe their salaries should be lowered, because if they feel they don't get what they deserve, they might not do their best in the office, they might abuse their privileges, etc. If they don't get paid enough they become more susceptible to taking bribes; this is the first sign of corruption. This might explain the paying less part, however it doesn't say much about raising their salary. I've considered the idea of raising their salary, however after a careful examination of facts, I didn't think raising it would improve much.
As I have mentioned before, people (the Congressmen) don't do it for the money. Basically money isn't their primary concern. What would happen if you say doubled their salaries? People are not perfect, nobody is...
if you pay them a lot more, chances are they might become greedy; when the only thing a person cares about is money, nothing ever gets accomplished. Greed is a terrible "sickness," even though you have a lot of something, in this case money, you want more, and more, and more, this craving never stops. The last thing you'd want is a greedy congressman. It is very likely that a greedy congressman would take bribes, and use his office to make even more profits, any way possible.
A greedy congressman would probably forget his responsibilities, and duties as a congressman; this would only make it worse for that particular state.
The excerpt “Congress: The Electoral Connection” written by David Mayhew centers around the fundamental arguments that discusses how members of congress are self-interested for reelection. Mayhew further elaborates on his idea by discussing the electoral activities that congress members devote their time into and resource from, which are advertising, credit-claiming, and position taking. Mayhew’s excerpt further examines the framework in how congress operates which contributes to the explanation of how and why congress partakes in the certain electoral activities.
In the past century, people continued to express an increasingly discontent view of Congress especially true when one looks back before the Clinton Impeachment debacle As the size of the nation and the number of congressman have grown, the congress has come under attack by both public influences and congressman themselves. Yet looking at one congressman's relationship with his or her constituents, it would be hard to believe that this is the branch of government that has come under suspect. In “If Ralph Nader says congress is 'The broken branch,' how come we love our congressman so much?” author Richard F. Fenno, Jr., provides insight into this view and why, through congress coming under fire, constituents still feel positively about there congressmen. Although congress is often criticized, its fine tuned functioning is essential in checking the power of congress without hindering the making of legislation.
Power is the main influence on Congress members. Without power there would not be a need of money, people wanting the best career for reasons other than to be successful, and Republican and Democratic parties who dominate all parties who have other views. Power is great or marked ability to do or act, strength, might, force. A certain member or party who has a lot of force in Congress can persuade other Congress men or women to vote for what they are told. The people who are tricked into schemes tend to be young members or those seeking approval and power themselves. These plans and wishes for control can cause loss of confidence and criticism of government, not only Congress. If members are found guilty of pressuring, paying money, among other things they can be brought to trial. In the end, this costs the country money to hold a trial that will most likely go to supreme court who have enough trials to take care of. Not all Congress members play mind games and vote for what they believe is best for the public good. The hard part is voting for who you believe is the best fit to make those decisions.
Congressional committees are the part of the iron triangle that puts bills into the legislative process after they work with interest groups. A member of a congressional committee proposes a bill into the committee to be voted on. Members of congressional committees are members of the legislative branch, so when they propose the bill into their committee they work with the other members to get it passed. If one member doesn't like the bill they can try to get the bill maker to change it to his liking so he will vote for it. For example in my congressional committee, the judiciary committee, congressman Mclenan proposed a bill to give tax cuts to banks who approve a certain amount of low income people's loans. We all thought that other people that needed loans might be overlooked just because they were not low income people. We made him make guidelines for that issue, so we could vote for it.
Congress has an extremely vital role in our government and their responsibilities give the American people guidance in many ways. They are responsible for making laws, declaring war, and the approval or disapproval of the appointed officials proposed by the president, such as Supreme Court Justices ("The House Explained"). They are also given the duty of impeachment of the President of the United States if necessary.
Every citizen, as incumbent citizens within the State of Texas, has certain responsibilities and undertakings to consider. Included in such considerations are the roles we are slated with when selecting an elected official for our Congressional District. This Congressional District representative is a person elected by “the people”, such as those in a city or county, in hopes that they will have a voice to represent the decisions designed to impact their areas, respectfully. One such Congressional District representative is Lamar Seeligson Smith.
The legislative branch of government is a complex system that is separated into two branches, the House of Representatives and the Senate. Both which have different tasks. The favored branch of the public is the House of Representatives because the people feel that they can relate more with their congressmen then their senators. This is another important aspect of the role that congressmen have, representing their constituents. Congressmen are elected to be the voice of their constituency and people rely on them to get their issues heard and resolved. In the book, Lee Hamilton speaks of a gentleman named Wilbur Mills, who is a powerful legislator from Arkansas. As they were walking in D.C he spoke of how he was going to some small town in Arkansas to hold a public meeting with about twenty people. He told Hamilton, "Lee, don't ever forget your constituents. Nothing, nothing comes before them." (p.53) It is very important for congressmen to keep in touch with their constituents, not only are they the people that are keeping them in office but also they are the people that are counting on him/her to voice their thoughts and concerns.
Stephen Medvic, In Defense of Politicians, discusses why Americans feel that politicians are dishonest. In 2007, a Gallup poll about honesty and ethical standards for occupations, showed that only 12 and 9 percent of people felt that Congressmen and State office holders held high standards, (Medvic p. 2). In addition, Americans tend to like their representatives more than the members of Congress because they view them as actual people. Americans view Congress as a group of politicians who are greedy and not representing their interests, (Medvic p. 4).
There have been many perspectives of the Congress, especially whether members of congress should have term limits or not. This issue has been controversial and has been wanted since a very long time, but why? Well to start off the Congress, which is the legislative branch of the federal government, represents the American people and makes the nation's laws. While it only has the only 1/3 the power of the federal government Congress under Article I of the constitution Congress has the power to: make laws, declare war, raise and provide public, impeach and try federal officers, approve presidential appointments, approve treaties negotiated by the executive branch, and oversight investigations. Reasonably the citizens of America would elect members of congress who would do their best to support the needs of America citizens while keeping the country in a stable condition, but Americans trust in Congress has diminished and has brought up the issue of whether Congressmen should have term limits.
That’s why we keep them there because we don’t want to have to train someone new every so many years. You have to think about the other side, though: these politicians stay in Congress for so long that they have no deadline to see their plans and ideas come into action; they have no motivation. We elect these people in hopes that they will change the way things are at that moment and we wait on these changes to happen while they just sit there are earn money for not doing anything. They make careers out of doing nothing and helping no one.
Lobbyists advocate on behalf of the group's interests. Lobbying can be done directly or indirectly, and can be aimed at any branch or level of government. Generally, lobbyists contact members of Congress to give them information about their cause. They give details about the effects of legislation they wish to pass or enforce. Lobbyists must present the information in the most factual way possible, while trying to convince the legislator of their point of view. The information given cannot be misleading as a lobbyist wants to keep a level of confidence with the politician. Among the information given, a lobbyist must include not only basic information about the issue but also why their position is best. They must tell why and how taking their position will benefit the legislator. Lobbyists must give the politicians political cues, telling them what they have at stake and how the issue relates to their other known inter...
In his article, “Homestyle,” Richard Fenno seeks to answer one question: How does an elected representative's view of his/her district affect his or her political behavior? To answer this question, Fenno identifies what a Member of Congress’s
For example, Alaska only has 1 representative, California has the most in the USA. Members are elected by the people for 2-year terms, all terms running for the same period of time.. Both the Senators and the Representatives must be residents of the State from which they are chosen. In addition, a Senator must be at. least 30 years of age and must have been a citizen of the United States.
Some might see this as a great expense with an increase of taxes. Yet, Congress
If you leave one person in congress for too long then they will never change their views and nothing new will ever get done. If there was a three of four term limit then people would work harder to get things done faster and pass bills that benefit the people because they know that they will only get reelected now because of that. With term limits in place, Congress will be more responsible toward their constituents because they will soon be constituents themselves. They...