Vikes choke

I. You go into a game, knowing that it’ll be decided by turnovers. Then you fumble six times, losing the ball three of them, and throw two interceptions. The Vikes deserved to lose that game, and let’s be fair: it wasn’t Favre’s final baffling interception that lost it. It was the fumbles. The only reason we still held in was Favre.

II. Two weeks in a row, the Saints’ defensive scheme was explicitly to knock the opposing quarterback out of the game. The hits may have been largely legal, but they were shitty. Seriously, does beating up on 38- and 40-year-olds make you a good team?

III. Never mind that, let’s look forward to next year here.

a. On the offense, Berrian, Rice, Harvin, Shiancoe, and Harvin are all returning; Chester Taylor will likely leave, which does hurt. He was the ultimate utility back this year.

b. The problem—repeatedly—was the offensive line. When you look at AP’s dropoff, it really came down to the o-line; when you look at Favre’s handful of bad games, it came down to the o-line. Losing Matt Birk was a big deal. That’s where they need to draft, and draft hard.

c. Quarterback…of course we don’t know, but Favre’s likely done, and neither T-Jack nor Rosenfels is the solution. Here’s a place to look at trading and free agency; with the weapons they have in place, you don’t want to wait for a QB to develop.

d. There’s not a lot of good choices on the market, but what about McNabb? He and Childress should fit together well. His biggest problem is injuries, which brings us back to the o-line.

e. And on that note, we’re stuck with Childress.

f. On the defense, is everyone returning? I think so…Winfield will be back to full health, which is big. They also need to look at middle linebacker; if Henderson comes back at full strength, he’s a great player, but that was one helluva injury.

IV. Super Bowl pick—the Colts. They won’t fumble, and Manning will pick apart the Saints D.

Email is the highest form of reason

Got this jewel in my email yesterday…

I am sending this to my e-mail list and that includes conservatives, liberals, and everybody in between. Even though we disagree on a number of issues, I count all of you as friends. My friend and neighbor wants to promote a "Congressional Reform Act of 2010." It would contain eight provisions, all of which would probably be strongly endorsed by those who drafted the Constitution and the Bill of Rights..

I know many of you will say, "this is impossible." Let me remind you, Congress has the lowest approval of any entity in Government, now is the time when Americans can join together to reform Congress - the entity that "represents" us.

We need to get a Senator to introduce this bill in the U.S. Senate and a Representative to introduce a similar bill in the U.S. House. These people will become American hero's.

Thanks,

A Fellow American

***********************************


Congressional Reform Act of 2010

1. Term Limits: 12 years only, one of the possible options below.

A. Two Six year Senate terms
B. Six Two year House terms
C. One Six year Senate term and three Two Year House terms

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

2. No Tenure / No Pension:

A congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.
Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career.. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

3. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security:

All funds in the Congressional retirement fund moves to the Social Security system immediately.
All future funds flow into the Social Security system, Congress participates with the American people.
Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, server your term(s), then go home and back to work.

4. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan just as all Americans.

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

5. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

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

6. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

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

7. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

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

8. All contracts with past and present congressmen are void effective 1/1/2011.

The American people did not make this contract with congressmen, congressmen made all these contracts for themselves.
Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

If you agree with the above, pass it on to all in your address list. If not, just delete.

From a fellow American:

I. Term Limits: 12 years only, one of the possible options below.

a. Repeatedly, federal term limits are unconstitutional; they cannot be imposed by an act of Congress. “This would be endorsed by those who drafted the Constitution”? Really? Because they had the chance, and didn’t…

b. Every old guy is not worthless, and every new guy is not great. Seriously, you’d be throwing out some good with some bad, and replacing it with some good and some bad.

c. If a majority of the voters in the district vote for the long-term incumbent, that’s democracy. Imposing term limits effectively does an end-run around democracy; it prevents the voters from voting for the person of their choice. You need a political solution, not a legal one.

d. If you’re unhappy with long-term incumbents, look at the electoral process instead. The vast majority come from uncontested primaries and little-contested general elections, due to extreme gerrymandering. If you really want to hold incumbents accountable, then support legislation to end the rigging of congressional districts and make elections competitive.

II. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

a. Um, that’s already law… “But they’re not!” So your solution is to tap them on the shoulder and tell them again?

b. How about practical suggestions, like beefed-up anti-corruption laws, ethics investigations, or the granddaddy: if a member of Congress isn’t abiding by the law, vote them out of office!

c. And if a majority of the voters re-elect the member of Congress, guess what? That’s democracy, warts and all.

III. All contracts with past and present congressmen are void effective 1/1/2011.

a. This one is my favorite. What the hell are they even talking about? “This contract?” What contract? This proposal is void due to vagueness…

IV. Financial suggestions:

a. No Tenure / No Pension: A congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.

b. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security, rather than the congressional retirement fund.

c. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan just as all Americans.

d. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

e. The catches:

f. No one runs for Congress for the money and financial benefits. They’re just not that great.

g. Cutting financial benefits has one of two logical consequences:

i. It restricts public office to the independently wealthy, which results in a thoroughly unrepresentative body that lacks an understanding of lower/middle class economic concerns.

ii. It opens them up members of Congress to increased influence from lobbyists who can offer lucrative jobs later on.

h. Lengthy factual history has demonstrated that well-paid public servants tend be less corrupt and more independent from the very industries that they regulate. You do not want to have the head of the Senate Finance Committee dependent on the good will of Wall Street for his future salary (Sen. Chris Dodd…).

V. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

a. This is typically a progressive idea, so you’d think I’d support it. But here’s my view:

i. If you put Congress completely in the open market pool, industry companies will give them favorable policies in exchange for favorable legislation.

ii. I think the answer isn’t to strip Congress of their insurance, but it is to reduce their benefits to the average tier for government employees.

VI. Finally, the whole proposal is based on the assertion that “Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.” While I agree with the notion that it is an honor, here’s a couple points to consider:

a. The Founders were not monolithic in their beliefs and visions for the country.

b. The Federalist branch—John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, et. al.—did believe in having a class of professionals handling government. The Democratic-Republicans (the Jeffersonian side) was closer to the citizen-legislator ideal, but even they envisioned a “natural aristocracy.”

c. Amateur politicians tend to be more inept; and as it is, a professional class of legislative aides handles the real business of drafting legislation.

d. Citizen-legislators, as detailed above, are easier to buy off with promises of lucrative jobs later on.

e. The Constitution quite simply contains no such statement of principle. None, nada, nilch. And the Constitution is the highest statement of the Founders’ intentions.