End government 'of the select'

Thanks to the many past and present self-serving members of Congress and other government officials, what used to be a government “of the people, by the people, for the people” is now a government “of the select, by the taxpayers, for the privileged.” Reforms have been presented to restore the integrity of our nation, some with merit and some with questionable motives.

A good start would be to eliminate the class distinction between lawmakers and citizens that has been introduced into our laws, most recently by the health care reform package. A good start to the reform process would be to add a 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution to say: Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that exempts or does not apply equally to the President, Vice President, and Senators and Representatives in the Congress; and Congress shall make no law that applies to the President, Vice President, and Senators and Representatives in the Congress that does not apply equally, without exception, to the citizens of the United States.

The amendment would be a big move to start the reform process, but other reforms are needed to truly turn us around, such as term limits, outlawing lobbying and political contributions, influence peddling, etc. Sure there are problems to be reconciled to implement reforms, but in view of the billions we are now spending to save us from the self-serving interests that got us into the current mess, we can certainly spend a few million to fund lasting reform.

Donald Cavi

Rolling Meadows