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It’s time our politicians paid the piper

No work, no pay. That’s the way it should be for members of the House and Senate. If they want to shut down the government and have a hissy fit then do, but do it without pay. Not only without pay, but for every day the government is shut down, they have to pay a penalty of $1,000 each, from their own pocket, not their budget account. I bet you a year’s salary that the shutdown won’t last longer than tomorrow.

Therefore I propose the following:

First: no work, no pay.

Second: pay a penalty of $1,000 each day per politician.

Third: members of the House and Senate be paid at an hourly rate. There will no longer be any inflated yearly salaries for doing nothing. If they don’t produce the work then they don’t get paid.

Considering the waste in salaries now, this would save us, the taxpayers, hundreds of thousands of dollars every year and effectively weed out the chafe from the wheat. It would also lessen the debt that is the cost to fund our over-inflated, engorged, bloated institution that our government has become.

Next on the agenda: every politician will be subjected to a worker evaluation rating every six months during his elected term.

This way when they say, “How am I doing?” We can tell them.

If said pol gets a negative evaluation, then said wages are cut proportionately. If there are enough negative evaluations at the end of said term then the pol is barred from running for that position in the future. This will solve the problem of the “lifers” that sit in Washington, earning a fat pay check and a generous pension year after year while not accomplishing a blessed solitary thing.

Not for Nuthin™, but it’s time for all of us, we the people, to take an active part in our government and remind our politicians that they work for us and not the other way around.

That includes you, Mr. President.

Follow me on Twitter @JDelBuono.com

Joanna DelBuono writes about national issues every Wednesday on BrooklynDaily.com. E-mail her at jdelbuono@cnglocal.com.