I have seen some comments the house not entertaining to vote to pass a ban on members trading stocks. My representative Ashley Hinson expressed disappointment that the action is stalled.

I heard Speaker Mike Johnson’s comment that with the costs of being a representative in relation to the pay you will get no one to run.  Johnson specifically mentioned the need to have a place to stay in Washington while working.

In 2008 when James Oberweis was an Illinois resident and was running for House seat in the 14^th district which was was by Bill Foster I saw Oberweis while he was campaigning at the Amboy Illinois Depot days. I had one question for him.  The question was this.  Would he be running for the office is when he got to Washington DC he would live in a place where he the room was supplied with two beds, two desks with chairs, two closets, and a roommate from the other party would you run?  His answer was yes.  I then asked him in followup do you think that Ted Kennedy would do the same?  He honestly said with a slight chuckle ask him.

The legislature in the early times of the country met every other year and received a per diem for meeting attendance.  Along the way they decided to meet every year and eventually it morphed into a full time job.  The issue of where of live then became an issue. Johnson says the need for both district residency and DC working. So instead of creating a need for making extra money and striking the importance of not being swayed by impropriety, build two dormitories, one for the Senate and one for the house.  Implement the no trading rules.

The business of the federal government is to not be so complicated. The federal government is not supposed to be what it has morphed into. Give legislators the reason for it to be a part time job.

Make the dormitories bland but safe and functional.  Include a cafeteria to force the members to eat what is supplied at the times specified.  This setup gets most colleges students completed in four years and it should get the legislatures done and out of there.  Call them once a year for session then only on emergency.  Have a specific timeline with deadlines for regular actions.  No budget, no pay and you are locked in.  Get the budget done, leave no time for lobbyists.

As it is our members are corruptible.  We should prevent this.