The first of the fundamental tenants for the reform that America needs is "Direct Representation of the People by Citizen Servants." What does this mean?
The original House of Representatives and the Senate were made up of true citizen servants - people who came to the Capitol once a year for a few weeks to do the business of the people. Then they went home to live with the people that they represented. Today, we have Representatives and Senators that are "servants" in name only. A "lifetime of service" for an elected Washington Representative usually means living most of their life in Washingston, having several residences well above the standard of their constituents, and rarely outside of campaign season do they hold a meaningful conversation with anyone that they allegedly represent.
The House of Representatives currently has 435 members, who are supposed to represent 305,000,000 people. This means each Representative is responsible to vote on behalf of 701,149 people. Is THIS representative democracy?! I don't think so!
Technology has reached a point where it is reasonable to return to citizen servants that represent the people of their community. I believe that each Representative should represent 20,000 people. This would mean 15,250 Representatives. Also, each State should get 30 Senators, not two. Voting would be carried out using a secured network accessible from PC's & cell phones (votes would be cross-validated and checked before finalized). Representatives and Senators would only have to come to Washington once a year, and would spend the rest of their time living with the people they are supposed to represent. They would not be able to make a living off of their career, as pay would be greatly reduced from what it is today. They would have something our current system lacks - accountability to those that they govern.
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