The American story is the story of realizing happiness
when harmony AND diversity occupy the same time and place!
Ryan C. Struthers offers
Selected CooperationTechniques
intended for the
United States House of Representatives
My name is Ryan C. Struthers!
I'm running for election to Congress as US Representative by Write In from Denver, Colorado on Tuesday, November 6th, 2012.
I believe that we CAN AND WILL find Cooperative Political Adventure again!
We simply need to use a few practical cooperation techniques.
Here I'll focus on three main approaches to cooperation.
the physical environment of the Chamber of the US House, the scheduling technology that we ought to use, and the ways I believe US Representatives can contribute to successful, responsible, and mature legislating.
I Refresh and Modernize: Renew The Physical Environment: The Chamber of the US House of Representatives
We Americans Deserve a Room to Match Our Ambitions!
Key Questions: Is the chamber physically suitable for all 435 US Representatives? Should we build a larger space? Should each member have a desk? Should the chairs be more comfortable so that Representatives literally want to come sit in them?
Is the space that is the House a good place to talk? Literally, is the room a place that empowers general discussion, or is it basically a lecture hall, physically geared for hundreds to listen while a few address the many? Are the Representatives literally repelled from the chamber because it's as cramped as a standing-room bus when everyone actually shows up to work?! Should the seating arrangements be permanent, or should they be flexible to allow general discussion in the round at times and joint assemblies and addresses at other times? Should the parties sit together in the chamber, or meet together outside the chamber, and then intermix while in the chamber?
Is the chamber modern enough? Are we able to use modern technology with efficiciency and good effect in the chamber? Or, are people drawn out of the chamber simply due to desire to connect with their databases and communications?!
Are we efficiently using technology to bring information and connectivity into the chamber, or do we need large and ambitious modernizations to bring the room up to speed?
Ryan's view is that the House is significant -- it is the center of a government of the people, for the people, and by the people.
II The Scheduling Techniques of a Successful House of Representatives
Happy and Well-Rested Legislators Are Better, More Productive Federal Workers!
Do we need to work on scheduling conventions before we work on laws? Should there be a reduction in the number of days Representatives are meant to be "in session"? Should legislative weeks features just four days in Washington, D.C. to allow Representatives to travel back to their districts? Should Congress convene just two months out of every quarter to enable better connections with incumbents and more rested legislators?
Should we set a legislative focus for each week?! Should we anticipate cooperation between House and Senate by sharing a weekly or monthly focus?
Should Congress meet for just fifty minutes at a time so that everyone is interested and focused at the same time? Should Representatives take a two and a half hour lunch so that they can meet with their staffs at midday?
Should we deliberately leave open an hour or two -- or even a whole week -- here and there unstructured as scheduling "shock absorbers" to help us with the unexpected news of the week and to bring additional time to tricky debates?
We should talk and decide about this together -- literally "in Congress" with one another!!
III The Qualities of Successful Representatives
Who Makes a Good Representative, Anyway?!
Ryan believes that the House of Representatives serves many roles, but that American voters can still elect a body of Representatives equal to these tasks.
Ryan believes most Representatives should indeed be generalists and politicians. Ryan believes that America will be well served by her House when her Representatives are men and women who are centers of social networks and people capable of discussion on diverse subjects. Ryan believes that most of all, Representatives should be ready to bring in specialists and experts to inform the business of the whole, united, and physically, concurrently present House. We are a nation of more than 300 million souls: the House should be an excellent, effective, and decisive body of lawmakers and leaders.
Still, there is room in the House for specialized businessmen and scientists, and craftsmen and home-makers. A real and substantiated social and economic diversity within the total population of 435 U.S. Representatives brings fullness, reality, and normalcy to each and every House meeting. The government for the people should indeed include at least a few people from "every walk of life." Such people should even come to the House from states such as Wyoming and Vermont (each with just one US Representative for a whole state) -- as well as they can come from the hosts of Representatives from mighty California, New York, Florida, and Texas.
I predict -- and want to promise -- that if we talk about these practical considerations first for a while, that good laws about healthcare, the federal aviation system, and foreign wars will follow!
