525,600 Minutes x437,000

More than 437,000 years, that's how long it would take to pay off the national debt if we paid $1/second toward it and didn't increase it anymore. That's basically inconceivable, and it illustrates that there are some serious problems with our government/governmental system. Now I'm not specifically talking about any one politician/president/political party, etc... I'm talking about the whole thing. This is something that my brother, cousin, friends, and I have been talking about recently. There needs to be a serious overhaul of our governmental system because it is failing.

Here are some of the ideas that we have come up with to improve things:

• Campaign Fundraising should not be allowed. If you are going to be elected it should be on the basis of your credentials and what you can do for the city/state/nation you are representing, not on how much money you have. There was recently a campaign fundraiser in Albuquerque. It was a $10k-a-plate dinner. Now, I don't know how many plates were present, but I'm pretty sure there were several hundred thousands of dollars dropped at this dinner to support the campaign of a single man, and this was just one event on one day in one city. Imagine how many millions of dollars are being pumped toward campaigning, and then issues like poverty, economy, unemployment, small bussinesses, etc... are discussed ad nauseam. What if all of the politicians took these millions of dollars and applied them toward fixing some of the issues?
• Anyone who can benefit directly based on whether or not a bill passes should have no place voting on it or holding that office. Our Representatives and leaders should be governing and leading based on what is best for the nation and the people they are representing, not on what can get them more money or power. There are way too many Congressmen, Senators, etc... who have vested interests in corporations that clouds how they vote, and this should not be allowed.
• Political positions should be voluntary and unpaid. There is already enough temptation for corruption being in a position of extreme power. There is no need to add to that by paying a huge sum of money to hold this position of power. Members of Congress/Senate make anywhere from $175,000 - $223,000 and the President makes $400,000. These are very large sums to pay out, and are sure to entice temptation. Now I understand the argument that these men/women should be paid for the service they are giving our country, but I wonder, how many would continue to serve if they were not paid? Might we get people in office who actually care about making a difference if that was the only reason to serve? Or, at the very least, if we are going to pay for these positions, why not set the salary the same as the average American?
• Prohibit nesting issues within bills. There are far too many problems that are never resolved because politicians spend so much time arguing and fighting over bills. Even if everyone agrees on the main issue, there are so many small issues that are tacked on to almost every bill that they effectively kill any progress or forward motion. If we need to vote on a specific budget reform, then vote on that alone, and not tack on issues about funding for a bridge or abortion or healthcare or anything else. If you want to pass a Healthcare bill, that should be the only thing being voted on. If you want to pass a bill to increase Border security, there should not have to be a month long debate over whether or not you can also agree to set aside 200,000 acres of land to protect a rare beetle and the finances that go into it. The Nesting of issues only serves to stop all progress and allow members of opposing parties to blame the other one for not allowing things to be done.
• There should be no political parties.  I get that people will have different thoughts, opinions, and convictions, and that people will tend to gravitate toward others that feel the same way, but there is a problem with our system today. If you are not either Republican or Democrat you have no hope of becoming President, and almost no hope of getting into Congress or the Senate. In addition, what if there are 3 "Democrats" who are all better, more qualified candidates than any Republican, Independent, Green, etc...? All 3 will never have the opportunity to run because only 1 gets the party endoresement. There should be no party endoresement. We should have people running against people, whether that is 2 candidates or 20, and it shouldn't matter what their "party" affiliation is. We always hear about "reaching across the aisle," so why don't we just get rid of the aisle entirely. Stand or Fall based on you, not your party or money.
• Prohibit Smear campaigns. I am sure everyone is sick of these, but I can't stand all of the smear campaigns. Sure, we are humans, and we will always talk down against our opponent, but if I am going to vote for you for a political position, I'm going to vote FOR you, not against someone else. I don't care what your opponent has or hasn't done, what are you going to do? As the old saying goes, "If you can't say something good, don't say anything at all."
• Get out of debt. The fact that our nation is over $13,000,000,000,000 in debt is insane, and what is even more insane is that every year we sign into law a budget with an operational defecit. If you or I were insanely drowning in debt and we went to a financial advisor, we would never be told, "figure out what your annual salary is and then budget to spend well above that every year. Go out and get a few more credit cards, buy a new car, go on vacation, etc..." If we are in debt we have to cut our spending, get rid of non-essential expenses, cut back, and yet as a nation, we do the exact opposite. We spend more than we have make, and encourage our citizens to do the same, creating a never ending cycle of debt in our nation. We need to stop this, and we need to get out of debt, which will require a serious overhaul of the government as a whole.

So there you have it, a few ideas to improve our nation. There are more, I'm sure, and if you have ideas go ahead and leave them in a comment. The question now, however, is what can we actually do to make a change?