IS PAPA NECESSARY?

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What is PAPA and What Will It Do?

1.  PAPA is an acronym for the 'Political Advisory Panel of America'. It is a proposal to improve communications and collaboration between elected federal officials and their constituents.  PAPA can also deliver improvements to states when implemented on a state level (e.g.: PAPA for Texas).

The Political Advisory Panel of America (PAPA) will be a virtual advisory panel to organize and centralize constituent advice.  PAPA will be analogous to legislators holding continuous virtual town halls to gather a diversity of opinions from CONSTITUENTS on most any business that comes before each chamber of Congress such as bills, resolutions, nominations, and other business as time and security permit.  Legislators can then blend their constituents’ advice in a transparent fashion to work towards the principles stated in the preamble of the U.S. Constitution – “to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, secure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare…" .  PAPA will also include the ability for constituents to press their representatives to introduce new legislation, and appraise that legislative progress.  

PAPA's web hosted application will permit legislatures to return their secondary efforts back to SEEKING VOTES RATHER THAN MONEY to remain in office, assuming their primary goal is already to do what is best for America, not themselves, their party, or some other entity. PAPA will transform Congress into a body of legislators well connected with their constituents: 

• A body that can break political deadlocks to more quickly generate bills for the President’s signature – bills more aligned with the needs of the people.
• A body transformed from a do-nothing Congress that kicks big problems and their required solutions down the road; into an attentive, innovative, early-solutions oriented Congress. 
• A body performing as fiduciaries for constituents, while minimizing influence on legislation from corporations, special interest groups, and political parties that promise money in return for favors.

2.  The Political Advisory Panel of America (PAPA) will deliver structure along with transparency tools to U.S. voting citizens to help maximize influence on legislation by those that hold the power of the vote, and help remove influence from those who promise money and positions of power.  Just as a father, or papa, of a family should rightfully exercise greater influence over those he guides - over and above the influences of employers, schools, governments, and other entities; so too should the vote of the individual citizen hold greater influence on that individual’s elected federal and state legislators - over and above the influences of lobbyists, corporations, and political parties. PAPA will permit the country’s narrative to once again be set by its citizens, NOT by politicians, special interest groups, the media, or other entities.

3.  PAPA will provide citizens more transparency in the legislative process, to gain more trust in their government.  With more transparency and more trust will come more citizen involvement and the hope for better representation.   

4.  In 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the first national Thanksgiving Day in America, he did so during the time of greatest division in our country.  Yet he referred to the country as "the whole American People", not this division or that division.  Similarly, today citizens must resist the divisive labels the media and political groups place on America.  Instead we should keep our perspective of 'a whole America', casting votes to strengthen the country, not any particular political viewpoint.  PAPA will strengthen the whole American People through improved communications and transparent processes, permitting citizens to be better able to advise THEIR elected officials and to be better able to evaluate the voting records of their INDIVIDUAL representatives and senators, NOT the political party to which they belong  (or the arbitrarily labeled group to which others say they belong).  For congressmen are NOT the arms of political parties, but rather congressmen are the arms, hands, feet, and mouth of the PEOPLE who elected them into office!

5. It is safe to assume that today most American citizens are frustrated and disappointed with the U.S. Congress. The evidence is clear that Congress is poorly representing the people who elected them (see poll discussions in the next section).  Congress needs help to improve their performance executing their constitutional roles. The Political Advisory Panel of America (PAPA) will provide solutions  to improve their performance and to overcome constituents’ frustrations and disappointments with their elected officials in Congress.

Citizens’ frustrations and their failing evaluation of Congress may be due to many reasons, some of which are offered below.    

• Some legislators run for office promising to vote one way but actually vote the opposite – then fail to explain their actions.  PAPA will limit this deception by providing the means to highlight who legislators truly represent – constituents or someone else. 
• Congress appears to have abandoned its constitutional duty to stay appraised of constituent needs by building and maintaining relationships. Congress has neglected this responsibility to the point where biased media and biased political parties have assumed most of Congress’ relationship role with constituents.  PAPA will provide direct communications between constituents and their elected officials.  
• Rather than focusing on their constituents, many legislators appear to pay more attention to special interest group lobbyists, political parties, or others who promise them money or positions of power in return for legislative favors.  PAPA will keep legislators focused on their constituents.  
• When contacted, legislators’ responses are typically general in nature, non-committal, and rarely include indicators of how others in their district or state are directing them on the issues.  PAPA will provide inquiring constituents with some of the additional information they expect. 
• Congress appears to make policy based on their prediction of media responses instead of basing policy on their constituency’s needs.  PAPA will help Congress understand the needs of their constituency. 
• Some constituents feel the framers of the Constitution didn’t provide sufficient structure for citizens to actively and frequently advise & evaluate their elected representatives, creating a citizens’ empowerment gap.  PAPA will help close this citizens’ empowerment gap. 
• Institutions, procedures, and positions of questionable constitutionality have been established that circumvent our constitutional system, making it difficult for Congress to perform as the framers intended.  PAPA will help citizens realign our government with the Constitution. 
• Factions in the federal government referred to as ‘the deep state’ are blocking legislative efforts.   PAPA will facilitate draining the proverbial swamp of these elements.
• Some constituents feel that it’s difficult or confusing to provide their input to legislators.  PAPA will simplify and streamline communications between constituents and their legislators. 
• Or  constituents become frustrated with Congress  simply because individuals in the seats of our government are human and they have succumbed to temptations of wealth, power, or other vices we as humans can face.  PAPA will keep constituents forefront in the minds of their representatives and senators. 

These frustrations and failures can leave constituents feeling marginalized or abandoned. Citizens want, need, and deserve a closer and better relationship with those whose duty it is to represent them in Congress.  

Why Is PAPA Necessary?  

1.  Examining poll results is a simple way of demonstrating citizens' frustrations and disappointments in Congress , and demonstrating congressional failures as referenced in the previous section.  Consider first, the results from the Gallup poll question “Do you approve or disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job?”  Summarizing results from 339 repeated Gallup polls on this question conducted between 1974 and early 2018 yields the following conclusions.  During these 44 years of polling this question:

• On average, ONLY 30.1% of respondents (less than a third) approved of the way Congress conducts its job!
• Congress’ lowest average approval rating was 17.8% (which occurred during President Barack H. Obama’s two terms).  Congress' highest average approval rating was 38.2% (which occurred during the 8 years of George W. Bush’s presidency).

Regardless of your personal opinion of any of the 8 presidents during this period, Congress’ ratings during these 44 years are nothing to brag about! And its lowest rating of less than 18% is downright shameful!!  

2.  Polling a different question to ask if “most members of Congress” deserve “to be re-elected, or not”, Gallup’s results between 1992 and 2018 demonstrate that during these 26 years: 

• An average of only 37.5% of Americans believed most members of Congress deserved to be re-elected. 
• A low of 17% of Americans believed most members of Congress deserved to be re-elected (this low point occurred during the Obama administration), and highs of 58% and 57% of Americans believed most members of Congress deserved to be re-elected (high points occurred during the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations respectively). 

Again, these Gallup polls demonstrate the relationship between Congress and the citizens of America is broken. 

• However, actual congressional election results over the same time period demonstrate a different outcome.  Incumbent members of the House of Representatives were re-elected 85%-98% of the time, and incumbent members of the Senate were re-elected 79%-96% of the time. 
• This discrepancy between the beliefs of polled individuals and actual voting results of citizens may simply be a result of deceptive politicking, name recognition by voters, straight party voting, or bad polling practices (examples:  those who were polled were not registered voters, or a large enough sample of America was not polled). Whatever the reason(s), the discrepancy needs clarity.  The Political Advisory Panel of America has the potential to resolve this discrepancy  (the section “How Will PAPA Achieve Its Objectives”, found further below in this column, provides explanations). 

The fact that only slightly more than one third of the respondents hold a high regard for Congress (i.e.: the belief that most members of Congress deserve to be re-elected) may also be an indicator of how politics has come to divide our country (whether the division is created by individual politicians themselves, political parties, the media, or by any combination of these or other sources).  
 

3.   Problems don’t reside just in Congress. Other polls demonstrate problems related to the media and voting citizens.  For example, a 2018 Rasmussen poll of voters demonstrated the vast majority (78%) believed Congress was more concerned about winning media approval than voter approval! The biases expressed in the mainstream media make this result even more of a concern.  Finally, a survey of registered voters preparing for the 2018 midterm elections showed voting citizens may not be willing to make the effort required to educate themselves or support their candidate of choice. This survey revealed only 22% of Democrat registered voters attended a political event for their House of Representative candidate - and among Republican registered voters, only 8% attended events in person!  Congress AND citizens each play a role in instituting a solution to the problem.  

Misguided Authority

1. Today, many of our so called political 'leaders' behave as if they are above the law.  These self-serving politicians and their divisive party politics have a negative influence on citizens, causing both law enforcement and citizens alike to question constitutional authority and/or civil authority to the point they are selecting which laws they feel like obeying, and choosing which laws they believe are OK to ignore.  The result is CHAOS!  

2. PAPA will arm citizens with a 'big stick' (see Accountability Scorecards & Voter Guides - PAPA's 'Big Stick'), enabling them to drain the political swamp of undesirable characters and behaviors.  PAPA will also enable transparency and institute tools to better influence remaining legislators to adhere to the Constitution and the spirit as well as the letter of the law (see 'Advisory Voting' and 'Advisory Voting Metrics').  

How Will PAPA Achieve Its Objectives?

1. The Political Advisory Panel of America will take advantage of data analytics and modern communication technologies unknown to the framers - such as the internet, email, databases, and cyber security.  PAPA will use these technologies through an application (the Political Advisory Panel of America application) on a centralized website (the future PoliticalPanelOfAmereica.org) that will be open for participation by registered U.S. voters and elected legislators.

2.   PAPA will illuminate the advice that elected legislators receive from constituents. In the medical field, sunshine (specifically its ultra violet spectrum) can be a strong disinfectant – destroying bad microorganisms. In the political field, PAPA will shine the light of truth on advice received from constituents, making it easier for constituents to identify legislators who ignore majority constituent advice. PAPA will also provide tools to record and measure constituent advice, as well as evaluate legislators’ actions against the advice they received. PAPA’s ‘sunshine’ will lead to accountability in a measurable fashion.  

3. The PAPA website will use modern technology to deliver transparency tools for use by citizens, senators, and representatives to help improve the performance of the other. Legislators can quickly and easily communicate their positions on congressional business to their constituents by posting points of view, and constituents can quickly and easily advise their legislators by sending Advisory Votes - advising legislators to vote yea or nay on congressional business.

4. PAPA’s registration process and advisory protocols will assure legislators that constituent advice received through the PAPA application is vetted to verify it is from U.S. citizens registered to vote, and residing in their district and/or state.  Protocols will also assure constituents that no one will change their Advisory Votes or fraudulently submit their Advisory Votes.

5. PAPA will also generate its version of performance reviews for members of Congress by way of legislator’s Accountability Scorecards. These will be published for each INDIVIDUAL MEMBER OF CONGRESS.  It is reasonable to believe that past discrepancies between polls and actual voting results regarding voter satisfaction of incumbent congressional candidates, will be rectified by substituting PAPA’s Accountability Scorecards in place of traditional voter polls.  This outcome is likely because PAPA’s Accountability Scorecards will ONLY include input from registered voters and PAPA’s scorecards will NOT use biased samplings of citizens (nor use biased questions).  PAPA’s results will likely be based on input from hundreds of thousands of voters, whereas traditional polls are typically based on responses from less than 1000 individuals – many of whom may not be registered voters or may have been selected to promote a particular bias in the poll's results.

6. The Political Advisory Panel of America will be a giant leap forward for America to correct problems in Congress. PAPA can then help keep those problems at bay for decades and through many administrations to come. By correcting the problems and helping Congress perform its constitutional obligation to communicate with and represent its constituents, PAPA will improve and maintain high levels of performance for Congress – helping Congress better perform in a fiduciary capacity for their constituency. Once instituted for 1-2 election cycles, it is expected that PAPA will begin to raise congressional approval ratings from the dismal levels demonstrated by polls over nearly the past half century!