Political Setup of Congress

There is a serious problem with how congress makes political decisions and how many resources it consumes. First of all here are a few numbers.

1. 100 senators and 435 in the house of representatives
2. 30,000 congressional staff
3. 35,000 lobbyists (which attempt to influence the congress)
4. $2.4 billion spent in lobbying activity and campaign contributions

Furthermore, many of these congressmen have no power and are controlled by a few congressmen at the top. Furthermore, since these congressmen are placed in office by concentrated power, its debatable how much any of these congressmen is executing free will. The top congressmen chair and are on the powerful committees, however they often have no previous experience in the subjects that they cover.

Many Better Ways

There are several things that could be changed which would make the legislative process logical and would allow it serve the public interest.

1. Have 50 congressmen and have them elected nationally, that is every person in the US votes for an elects all 50 congressmen. (this way they will not support parochial interests, but could look for the broader public interest)
2. Have 10 major areas of legislation segmented (eg. defense and national security, agriculture, energy policy, education, health, infrastructure, etc), and have each area managed by 5 congressmen. The congressmen can be run and be elected based upon their experience in these areas, so experts can be selected for each committee
3. Make congressional elections 100% government supported, so that there is no money involved
4. Pay each congressman $250,000 a year for their service, and then an extra $250,000 for each year for the next 5 years after their term, and bar them from work after their tenure. This will prevent the congressmen from being bought by moving into industry after their government work.
5. Limit each congressman to 20 aides. There is no reason for a staff of more than 25 for each of these congressmen. This would bring the total congressional employment down to 1000. That would be a dramatic cut from 30,000. With no one to give money to, the lobbying industry would greatly shrink as well.

References

http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/index.php

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/21/AR2005062101632.html