Dream to clean up voting process for America

It’s difficult to find anyone, at least those with a functioning brain, who doesn’t think our federal government is rife with corruption. The exceptions are those who think the corrupt politicians support their political dogma, so they turn a blind eye. The question is, what do we, the people, do about it? Yes, we have the vote, but the chicanery we have seen in the electoral process makes one wonder if that really matters.

Here’s my dream(s): The voting process should be cleaned up immediately. Increase the term of the House of Representatives to 4 years, decrease the term of a Senator to 4 years, institute term limits (2 terms) and have a national election every 4 years. It couldn’t be completely accomplished until 2024, even if it was put in place immediately because of senators elected this year (6 year terms) but it could be phased in starting in 2020. The overly generous (to put it mildly) benefits they all get could, and should, be addressed right away.

Here’s the catch: We, the voters, can’t do those things all by ourselves; the politicians will need to cooperate. The only way to get them to do that is to insist — make them promise — to agree to vote for those changes. Anyone who won’t agree won’t get our vote, and anyone who agrees, and then doesn’t, is voted out in the next election.

We, the people, deserve elected officials who are dedicated to the interests of their constituents; we don’t need career politicians, many of whom have not only long since lost touch with the people, but think of us as nuisances that they have to placate every few years in order to get our vote.

Like I said, those are dreams, but…

GENE LEMON Yuma