Remember the sound of an old record player when the vinyl record’s needle gets stuck and replays a note over and over? Or as the great Yankee baseball star Yogi Berra said, “It is deja vu all over again.” This comes to mind as we stare down the prospect of another federal government shutdown.

Yet the people who should suffer when they do not do their jobs should be the people who are not doing their jobs. We should make members of Congress face consequences for their failure as they are causing pain and putting the nation at risk.

Another government shutdown? As far as another distraction from the Epstein files scandal, a shutdown could actually work. The stonewalling by the Trump administration, the Justice Department and Congress continues, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Speaker Mike Johnson are holding the line. Instead of releasing everything in the files immediately, they concur with the Trump administration’s “you-will-get-what-you-get-when-you-get-it” approach while they determine what material is “pertinent.” But even when President Donald Trump went to England the eerie presence of Epstein continued abroad. After all, King Charles’ brother Andrew was affected by the scandal as was the Prime Minister’s British Ambassador to the United States, who was recently fired.

As for a government shutdown, who needs the hundreds of thousands of government workers or Congress when you can do it all yourself, right Mr. Trump? Yes, this is exactly what Trump would like. This would give Trump the ability to take control of a major part of America like a “real” dictator, and everyone would have to concede it is all legal, an actual genuine emergency.

He would boast of the savings and force non-essential folks to the unemployment ranks. Perfect. Trump’s DOGE agency tried, but with the help of Democrats who are still in search of an original thought or idea on how to deal with Trump, will take the blame.

So, once a shutdown happens, when will the government return? Only when the king, oops, president, decides.

The Democrats need help. America cannot have a checks-and-balance form of government if they do not know how to combat all this. Plus, unfortunately, the liberal media is under fire and lacks the trust of the American people, thus, they cannot help like they did in the past. Here is a clue Democrats — turn directly to the people.

So, what can we start to do now (though it could take some time to adopt) to hold Congress and the White House accountable? We need to embark upon having a constitutional convention or at least push for a constitutional amendment to address the crisis such as the following:

The federal incompetency fine amendment

This is a measure to help reduce political gridlock. Every Fortune 500 executive is rewarded or punished based on their achievements or failures. Every professional athlete has this in their contract. Do well, and you get a bonus. And if you do not do well, you would personally face severe consequences.

Elected officials would be forced to appreciate the meaning of the word “compromise.” Otherwise, this proposal would punish failure. The amendment would state the following: “Congress and the White House must achieve the basics of their job, which includes: passing a budget on time, passing all appropriations/spending bills on time and raising the national debt ceiling. If they fail to do these basic functions, they would be subject to a federal incompetence fine. This would put an end to continuing resolutions per spending bills and an end to the continuous fear of a government shutdown. Members of Congress, the president and vice president would be subject to a personal fine of up to 25% of their adjusted gross income if they fail to do so.”

The punishment or penalty for failing to do the basics would treat the member of Congress who is living paycheck to paycheck the same as the mega-millionaire member of Congress percentage wise.

Alter a person’s behavior, using carrots and sticks, and the carrot part is simple. Members of Congress should be paid more. First-year associates at major law firms, fresh out of law school, make more money than members of Congress. Members of Congress should also be eligible for a yearly bonus.

Their state officials could decide on the amount of bonus payments based on achieving the objectives in which each person campaigned on. That is how they got elected, so why not hold their feet to the fire?

The good, sincere members would flourish and the charlatans, the folks who over-promise to their constituents, would not. It would make everyone more focused and realistic in their approach to government. But the bonus could be substantial if achieved, and partial bonuses would be in play as well.

So, it is imperative to give America a “constitutional” tune-up as we move deeper into the 21st century. This reform would make America stronger and more productive.

Unless somebody “does the obvious” and gives us a permanent solution to the constant federal government shutdowns, partial or full, we will leave our country vulnerable to dreadful things happening. These “shutdown” episodes are distracting.

Proof? The world has become less safe during the eight months of Trump’s second term in office. Just ask Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Poland and Estonia (both countries have seen Russian drones enter their airspace), Qatar (an ally and nation giving Trump a new plane) which was recently bombed by Israel, the leader of Venezuela where U.S. military activity has increased, North Korea (because they are North Korea), and Iran (recently bombed by America). Or ask all the third-world countries who lost U.S. foreign aid and ask all the countries that are working around the U.S.-imposed tariff war. All of the above have served to make China’s footprint bigger around the world as evidenced by the recent summit hosted by China with nearly all the non-Western countries in attendance. All the above are immensely disconcerting events.

It begs the question — “Is America becoming more and more politically and economically isolated from the world?”

Yes, all this while American leaders are playing the “shut the government down game,” a game where the stuck needle on the vintage old record player causes one note to play over and over again. Maybe Yogi got it right.

Heck, Yogi also knew that “it ain’t over till it is over.”

Gary Franks served three terms as a congressman from Connecticut’s 5th District. He was the first Black conservative elected to Congress and first Black Republican elected to the House in nearly 60 years