Oligarchical Plutocracy

Senator David Vitter (R-LA) wasted no time as he proposed a series of government reform bills almost immediately upon the opening of the 114th congress. 

In a Tuesday press release, Vitter touted the seven bills, which include measures that he has long advocated.

Here’s the breakdown of Vitter’s proposed legislation:

1. End the exemption to Obamacare that members of  Congress, all Congressional staff, the President, Vice-President, and all political appointees within the administration now enjoy.  The bill would force them to buy their health insurance from the Obamacare exchanges and they would receive the same financial support for Obamacare subsidies as Americans who do not work for the government.
2. End automatic pay raises for members of Congress.
3. Term limits.  Vitter’s bill would limit the number of terms that members of the House of Representatives are allowed to serve to three and limit the number of terms US Senators can serve to two.
4. Prohibit the ability of spouses and immediate family members to receive payments from a political candidate’s PAC or individual campaign funds.
5. Require the Treasury Department to provide Congress with their balance sheets and “Eliminate the Treasury Department’s ability to use extraordinary measures to extend U.S. borrowing authority.”
6. In the event that the debt limit is reached Social Security payments would be given priority when it comes to government expenditures.
7. Guarantee that local subcontractors are responsible for debris removal or demolition in response to a natural disaster.

Obviously each of these bills would mean big changes for the way that Washington does business. While it is unclear that they could pass the Senate, even with a GOP majority, Vitter does have some experience in passing sweeping reforms.

While a member of the Louisiana State Legislature Vitter successfully led the charge in establishing term limits for politicians.

But Vitter makes clear in his press release that the main target of these new reforms is the Obamacare exemption.

“Unlike Members of Congress, folks across the country can’t create a special loophole to sidestep Obamacare or count on automatic pay raises each year,” Vitter said. “Americans of all backgrounds think that Washington is on a different planet, and Members of Congress just don’t get it. We need to get back to the best traditions of our democracy – including electing citizen legislators, making sure they don’t put themselves into a separate ruling class, and implementing term limits so individuals don’t remain in office for an eternity. Washington should be treated the same as the rest of America, and we can start to fix this by requiring Member of Congress to publicly vote on their pay raises and end their special exemption from Obamacare.”

Senator Vitter is running for governor of Louisiana this year.