By Harry Kallshian
Kallshian’s Korner
The other day a “friend” asked me why I don’t run for Congress. He thought I would fit right in. I’m still recovering. He then asked: If you could be a benevolent dictator for no more than two years, what would you do to stop the slide of our great nation?
If I were a benevolent dictator for two years here are some things I would do:
Get rid of the present Congress of 535 members (House and Senate), and their 20,000 employees that cost us over $2 billion annually.
Elect four congressmen from each state, for a total of 200. Why do we need more congressmen just because there are more people? Ninety-five percent of us never contact our representatives.
Congress should concentrate on what is good for our country, not what is good for our district. Let special interests stand in line. Maybe they would give up and go home!
Congress will serve two six-year terms. We need public servants with management skills, not professional politicians with “take the public” skills.
Get rid of the electoral college. Why do we have a group of people who get together and elect the president after we go to the polls to elect the president? Most of our voters don’t know what the electoral college is and don’t care.
Do away with political parties. Have people run for office based on their convictions and attitudes related to the 10 or 12 specific issues facing our nation. How much difference is there between a liberal Republican and a conservative Democrat? Hardly any! Politicians in both parties hide behind the nonsense of: “I’m a fiscal conservative and social moderate.” That is in a class with the political hoodwink of “win-win” nonsense!
Do away with primary elections. Why do we have two elections that cost millions? If one candidate gets over 50 percent of the votes, that’s it. In 1888, Cleveland got more votes than Harrison, over 50 percent of the popular vote, but Harrison got more electoral votes and became president.
Campaigns will be limited to 60 days. Candidates no longer ride horses and trains to meet the voters. Each candidate would get, say, 10 hours of TV exposure to tell us how good they are and how they stand on critical issues - one-syllable words, no euphemisms.
What do we care about debating ability? Presidents spend more time golfing than debating. Lets consider their golf handicap along with their ability to talk without saying anything.
Limit immigration to those who have a skill we need. No one enters who has a net worth that is less than our national average. We are short of funds for education and health. We have homeless, hungry and diseased. We are depleting our natural resources, water, forests, oil, clean air, etc. Is there a correlation between density and enviornmental problems?
No more foreign aid until there is a classroom and teacher for every child, a home for every homeless and food for the undernourished.
Congress, all 100 of them, get a pay cut each year the budget is not balanced.
More later, if your luck holds out.
Kallshian, a former Los Altos mayor, is a longtime Los Altos resident.
