Rep. William Lacy Clay's district begins literally across the street from me (thank God I have Todd Akin). Given the demographics of his district I'm reasonably sure that a very small minority of the population is actually aware of this. This would amount to giving Illegal Aliens representation in Congress since Congressional seats are awarded based on population. Anyone who believes in the rule of law should be absolutely outraged by this. Rep. Clay should be forced to resign his seat on the Census Subcommittee.

I know of a few kool-aid drinkers who are starting to see the light (albeit with my incessant reminders). We just have to remain grounded in our principles and let our voices be heard and we can win back some ground in 2010.

7. Restoration of the rule of law. In our nation today, the government can seemingly break contracts at will and ignore the framework within which it was designed to operate. The societal compact between the government and its citizens has been broken. Government must be constrained by the bounds under which it was envisioned and government power should not intrude upon the private sector. The rule of law provides for a stable and predictable society that functions smoothly and allows equal OPPORTUNITY for ALL.

8. Phase out social security by gradually increasing the age of eligibility and decreasing the benefits. Eliminate the social security tax effective immediately and give no future benefits to anyone currently under the age of 25 (I'm 22 and I'm willing to make this sacrifice).

9. Ensure that healthcare stays in the private sector.

10. Invest in a set of dentures for Barney Frank. I'm still not convinced he has teeth.

6. Increase Congress' accountability to their constituents by shortening term length; a single year is sufficient for Representatives and four years instead of six are sufficient for Senators. I believe term limits on Congress would be inefficient and would decrease accountability. Were Congressmen limited to only one or two terms, they would have no incentive of re-election to do the bidding of their constituents. They could use their final term as an oppportunity to legislate however they see fit without being subject to the ultimate judgement of their constituents. Term limits would also negatively impact true public servants who would be forced to retire despite their immaculate service record. However, ultimately the solution to this question is in the vigilance of the average American citizen. In the America envisioned by our founders, the average citizen is informed and involved. Too many people are either uninformed or apathetic. As long as that is the case, our liberty is in jeopardy. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.

3. Institute a balanced budget statute. This statute would cap the federal budget as a percent of GDP and index it to inflation. It would differ from pay-go in that it would not be biased towards raising taxes as opposed to cutting spending.

4. Reform Medicare and Medicaid. The time for action is now. It's time to stop playing politics and address their dire financial situation. We can never substantially decrease our deficit if we do not limit or eliminate the explosive costs of these well-intended but poorly designed programs.

5. Ban earmarks.

1. Institute a "fair tax." It would raise tax revenue for the government by broadening the tax base and eliminating loopholes. One effect that eliminating loopholes would have is to reduce the influence of lobbyists by eliminating their ability to obtain tax credits for their constituencies. It would also encourage savings and investment as opposed to consumption. Since capital gains and dividend taxes would be eliminated investing would immediately become more profitable as consumption would be discouraged through the imposition of a national sales tax.

1A. If the logistics of collecting a sales tax prove to be unworkable, a flat tax would be an equally acceptable course of action.

2. A crackdown on lobbyists. We need new regulations limiting the influence of lobbyists on the legislative process; no more back room deals. As Glenn says, we the people are the ultimate special interest group. Pandering to special interests only increases the size, scope, and inefficiency of the federal government.

This reminds me of the steroids in baseball hearings a few years back. Politicians pretended to be outraged and acted important while taking up what amounts to "make-work." In retrospect, that time could have been much better spent pouring over the cooked books at Fanny and Freddie.