We Designed America's Ideal Congressman. Here's How He Voted

It’s no secret that Americans disapprove of the legislative branch, but have you ever wondered how a perfect political representative would vote?

While the U.S. will never have a truly “perfect” politician, a perfect representative would vote based on the interests of the people. On a nationally represented basis, here is how the perfect representative would vote, with a plurality of Americans backing his or her every decision.  

General Government

Our perfect candidate would start with a belief that government is too powerful, with 54% of Americans saying that the government has too much power.

Social Issues

While most Americans believe that America is pro-choice, both Gallup and Rasmussen show that Americans are, in fact, pro-life. Thus, our perfect representative would be pro-life, but might not oppose abortion in all instances.

This candidate would support same-sex marriage and believe that gay or lesbian relations are morally OK.

They would be satisfied with current gun laws, but also support background checks for gun-buyers, even for private gun sales and sales at gun shows. Furthermore, this candidate would believe that gun laws should be set by the states, not the feds.

As far as immigration is concerned, the perfect representative would want to allow illegal immigrants the opportunity to stay in the U.S., whether it be through permanent residency or citizenship. This representative would also push Mexico to compensate the U.S. for the cost of illegal immigration.

Economics

Only 55% of Americans perceive their income taxes as “fair”, and 52% would want to tax the rich to redistribute wealth.

As far as the deficit is concerned, most Americans prioritize maintaining Social Security and Medicare over cutting the deficit.

Instead of cutting these programs, the perfect candidate would want to cut foreign aid. But this candidate would add to the deficit by increasing spending on education, veterans’ benefits, and defense.

Thus, Americans want to decrease the deficit, but without serious tax increases or spending cuts. Perhaps, the ideal candidate would say that they want to cut spending and raise taxes on the rich, but never actually cut spending.

The ideal representative would oppose the health care overhaul known as “Obamacare.”

Defense

To start with a popular issue, the ideal candidate would oppose drone use to stop terrorists in the U.S., but support drone strikes abroad.

Our representative would oppose the president’s plan to close the prison camp at Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba. He would also favor imprisoning terror suspects even without evidence to convict.

As previously mentioned, Americans want to increase defense spending, and so would our representative.

If you’re like me, you’re probably pretty upset with America’s perfect representative. Thankfully, we can be take solace in the fact that we live under a mixed government, instead of a truly representative one.

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