When office holders neglect their duties to run for higher office
Recently I received this humor email:
"Dear Boss:
I have enjoyed working here these past several years. You have paid me very well, given me benefits beyond belief. I have 3-4 months off per year and a pension plan that will pay my salary till the day I die and a health plan that most people can only dream about.
I plan to take the next 12-18 months to find a new position. During this time I will show up for work when it is convenient. In addition, I fully expect to draw my full salary and all the other perks associated with my current job.
Oh yes, if my search for this new job proves fruitless, I will be back with no loss in pay or status. Before you say anything, remember that you have no choice in the matter.
I can and will do this.
Sincerely,
Every Senator or Congressman running for President"
I have no idea what the source of the email is but it expresses something I had been thinking about since I heard that Marco Rubio wasn't planning on running for the Senate again. Surprisingly, although I watched news shows for a good portion of the day, it wasn't discussed on any of the shows I watched. Very strange.
I've had more than one job in my lifetime. In fact, I've had two different careers. Not once did I do my job searches on company time. Not once. Interviews, etc. were arranged for time off or around my work schedule. When it was important for me to be there in the position I held, I was there. Conversations with and my knowledge of my friends revealed the same. Unless they were prepared to quit their current position, they fulfilled all obligations of their position while doing a job search.
Why do the House and Senate get a pass? Didn't we elect them to carry out the business of America? Does performing their job include missing potentially important votes on the floor of the House of Representatives or Congress? Does it include not being there for discussions of new bills that will probably be presented?
I now have many more questions than I have answers. Almost all employees get an annual performance review. Many times this is directly linked to a pay increase. Does anyone evaluate the performance of our Senators or Congressmen other than at election time when it is possibly done by the voters who, if they are even told all the real facts about attendance at votes, etc., can vote the person out of office.
What about all those pay increases? Wouldn't you like to join with a group of your co-workers and vote yourself a nice monetary increase? Maybe do the same thing with your vacation, personal, or sick time? Your benefits?
Is there a true job description for Congressmen and Senators? I've never heard of any but anyplace I worked had job descriptions for employees. If they don't, why don't they?
How much actual time do these functionaries spend conducting the people's business? It seems that some of them are always around while others are usually not. I do realize there is business that is conducted away from the chambers of Congress, but who keeps track?
There is something inherently wrong with a system that functions this way when the rest of our society functions another way. Senators and Congressmen are our employees. With our hard work and our taxes we pay them and there should be certain expectations, the first being that if you want to work someplace else or hold another position then either work around your obligations or resign. And, it certainly doesn't seem to me to bode well for people looking for a higher position in the same organization (as in the President of the United States) to be shirking their responsibilities.
Yes, I'm primarily talking about Marco Rubio. What responsibilities would he shirk if he did, indeed, become the President? I want someone who will work smart, long and hard to achieve something for this country, not someone who doesn't like the part of the organization he is currently working for but yet wants to run the entire show. Would he be the same type of president we have now where if he didn't like what the Congress and Senate (and possibility the American people) want just ram it through with the Presidential phone and pen? We've had that and I, for one, don't want it again. It is the job of a leader to bring people together toward a common cause, not cause dissention and discord.
Hat tip: Donna Miller
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