To truly represent their constituents, elected representatives to the federal Senate and House of Representative must share the lives of the citizens. The financial affairs of Senators and Congresspeople must be transparent and annually audited and the results posted on-line. They must not be exempt from any law they make in regard to privilege of office, taxes or spending cuts.

Government employees salaries continually grow unfairly even during down times, while private sector employees face reductions in pay. Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that federal employees in occupations that exist in both the public and private sectors made an average salary of $67,691 in 2008, USA Today reports. The per capita personal income in the United States was $39,138, down from $39,392 two years earlier, according to data released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis in March of 2010. The per capita personal income in the Unites States shrunk by more than half a percentage point, or $254 a year, from 2007 through 2009, according to the U.S. Dept. of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis. And, members of the House and Senate saw their salaries go up by more than 5 percent, or $8,800, from the time the recession began through 2009, according to the federal government. The Congress pay figures do not include the generous perks and health benefits provided to lawmakers. Benefits and other compensations are rarely reported as part of the compensatory package received by government employees. Government data shows federal workers received benefits valued at $40,785, compared with benefits valued at $9,882 for private sector workers. *March 5, 2010 3:27 PM "Does the Government Pay More than the Private Sector?" By Stephanie Condon CBS News Considering cutbacks within NASA and the space program, engineers within the US government continue to benefit, while in the private sector where most engineering jobs have moved overseas, engineers now make less than $25-$35/hour, versus $48/hour in 2009 . For instance, those employed by the US petroleum and natural gas industry had a median income of $120,000, and engineers in communications services made $115,576. Those working in the US transportation services industry had a median income of $87,000. Meanwhile, private sector workers in those occupations made $60,046. *March 5, 2010 3:27 PM Does the Government Pay More than the Private Sector? By Stephanie Condon CBS News Earnings for federal political offices are as follows: Congress Members (Representatives and Senators): $174,000 Senate and House Majority/Minority Leaders: $193,400 Cabinet Members: $199,700 Speaker of the House: $223,500 Vice President: $230,700 President: $400,000 According to PayScale.com, the median earnings for people in the US between the ages of 55-64 (which is the median age of US Congress and Cabinet members) who hold at least a bachelor's degree and work full-time is $73,700. This income is far below what Congress and Cabinet members earn. Those with the biggest pay boosts are the 31 senators and representatives who have only a high school diploma, certificate or associate’s degrees. Others earning more than expected are the 13 members of Congress with master’s degrees in social work, education, or divinity. Twenty three million Americans are unemployed in 2012., Nearly 10% of American households are hungry.Young adults age 25-34, living with their parents, had an official poverty rate of 8.4 percent, but if their poverty status were determined using their own income, 45.3 percent had an income below the poverty threshold for a single person under age 65. *US Census Bureau We want our US elected officials to put in place a bill that regulates government pay and compensation to match that of the private sector. The upward increase of salaries by those employed by federal and state agencies is bankrupting the country in much the same way as California's retirement pensions have bankrupted the state. Three million employees at an average of $67,000 reaches an annual debt of $201,000,000,000 (two hundred and one billion) dollars. Remember, this is not the governments money to spend on itself, but should be used to rebuild our infrastructure and economy!

There have been serious questions raised about the mental state of some of the more "senior" members of the Legislature. This Act would allow Congress or the Executive to initiate proceedings to replace those representatives deemed "impaired" by special election.

It is an outrage that our legislators, in their attempts to reduce the federal budget, seem to be able to justify the continued spending of millions of dollars on the decimation of our nation's wildlife but cannot seem to justify the spending of millions of dollars on school lunches for the poorest children in our nation.

The median salary is a livable income. Setting politicians' (congressmen, senators, cabinet members, etc.) salary at that rate makes it so that they actually take an interest in helping the nation, rather than just claiming that they do. Taking the median rather than the average makes it so that they can't raise their own wages by raising the earnings of the very rich. It forces them to take an interest in making everybody richer, without redistributing wealth.

It is very apparent that the ability for members of Congress to serve multiple and consecutive terms has proven not to be beneficial for the American people. Many of them today use this ability for their personal financial and political party gain instead of being representatives of the majority of the people. Therefore, I firmly believe it's time for a change. A two consecutive term limit seems to work very well for the office of president. Why not apply this same condition to members of Congress?

Tell your legislators that we all need to work to overturn Citizens United.Corporations should not expect to be treated as people unless they are willing to be treated as individuals under law

Laws have become so complex and long many are passed without reading by those voting in Congress.

Laws have become so complex and long many are passed without reading by those voting in Congress,. Therefore I have started a petition to clean up the mess.

No member of the House or Senate may vote on any bill that he has not physically listened to the complete aural out-loud reading of in the chamber of the House or Senate.

The Patriot Act (P.A.) has taken away my Constitutional Rights as an American. My fore fathers fought against outside government takeovers. And the P.A. does that and even more unconstitutional things against the citizens Bill Of Rights. Therefore repealing the P.A. would then restore our sovournty(sp)? Back to where out once was. No one group of representatives should have the right to change the Constitutions Perameters or Framework of a Historical Document we have lived by as a peaceful nation. In doing this repeal we will also be attempting to change the Protocal of the C.I.A. & Homeland Security preventing them from staging and performing accidents at home and abroad to give our government a reason to retaliate.

The federal government thinks they aren't doing their job unless they're creating new programs and agencies that rely on taxpayer funding. We're broke! The ability to spend money collected under force of law is a sacred trust which has been repeatedly and habitually violated for decades. Not only do they need to stop creating new programs, but they need to phase out everything that is not mandated by the U.S. Constitution.