Clusterstock goes one better than my totally whacky suggestion of holding Congress accountable for their actions and to the same standards they require from others through explicit fiduciary responsibility:
Should we consider imprisoning Congressman who vote the wrong way on such laws as
- Glass Steagal repealmant.
- Not reining in Fannie and Freddie.
- Letting banks keep off-balance sheet vehicles, even while cracking down on them in other industries.
- Voting to deregulate the derivatives market.
- Supporting ethanol and other deadly farm subisidies.
And on and on and on and on…
Political malpractice seems like an idea whose time has come – let the trial lawyers go after lawmakers whose actions have ill-effects. Perhaps there is even a market for political malpractice insurance (not sure I’d risk my own money on it though).