Congress unbound | The Salt Lake Tribune

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Wanted: 535 men and women willing to sacrifice their political careers for the good of the country. They must announce that they no longer want money, votes or party support because they will never again run for public office. Further, they must announce that they will never accept employment from a supporter.

Freed from the need to satisfy supporters, constituents, party and political base, they can work together to determine what is best for the country, constrained only by their beliefs and conscience. There will still be differences of opinion, but they must work through them and reach a compromise, which cannot be done now because of the desire to be re-elected.

These 535 men and women are the members of Congress. I am not asking them to sacrifice their lives, which thousands of Americans have done in recent years, just their careers. They are intelligent and capable — they can easily find other careers with higher incomes — so the sacrifice is not really that great.

Will this happen? We all know the answer, but it is nice to dream, isn't it.

Clyde Coller

Salt Lake City