Down the rabbit hole.

• Author: Adams, Tucker Hart
• Position: The ECONOMIST - Column

THE SHENANIGANS IN D.C. OVER THE LAST year or so have convinced me that we've fallen down the rabbit hole and joined Alice on the other side of the looking glass. So it seems like a good time to consider six impossible things before breakfast.

IMPOSSIBLE THING NO. 1-Redo the congressional districting.

I'm sure a computer can lay a grid across each. state with a cell for each allotted seat in. the House of Representatives and adjustable cells to equalize the population. There won't be any possibility of gerrymandering; as far as I know, computers don't have political affiliations. After each decennial census, the computer will make necessary adjustments.

Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution and the 14th, 19th and 26th Amendments provide for proportional representation in the House, but each state is responsible for designing its districts. Colorado could take the lead in accomplishing this, shaming other states into quickly following suit.

IMPOSSIBLE THING NO. 2-Limit the amount that can be spent on getting elected.

I think the amount of money we spend on elections is obscene. Now that corporations, unions and individuals can make unlimited contributions to super PACs, spending will only continue to rise. It is legal for candidates and super PAC managers to discuss campaign strategy through the media, which brings them quite close to supporting individual candidates. One recent proposal is also to allow unlimited donations to individual candidates. Why not the reverse? Limit donations and spending to, say, $1 million for national elections, $500,000 for state, and $50,000 for local campaigns. TV stations will just have to find other sources of ad revenue.

IMPOSSIBLE THING NO. 3-Hold House of Representatives elections less frequently.

When you have to run for re-election every two years and raise many millions for campaigns, there isn't much time left for pesky things like governing the country. So let's elect representatives every six years, on the same schedule as Senate races. The other five .can be devoted to the administration part of the job.

IMPOSSIBLE THING NO. 4-Fix the SociaiSecurity problem this yew.

This one is easy and I've written about it before. Raise the retirement age from 67 to 70. From what I read., no one wants to or can afford to retire any earlier. Then impose Social Security taxes on all incomes, not just the first $113,700. Most of us won't be affected by the...