Okay, I think I speak for pretty much every American when I say that our current political climate sucks. It really does. The general consensus seems to be that our legislators—mostly career politicians—are out of touch with the lives of the American people. All over the country, hand-wringing and earnest political discussions pepper meals, car rides, water cooler conversations, and social media. Everyone’s worried, everyone’s upset, and everyone knows exactly what the problem is.
“Congress,” we all say with knowing nods. “They’re corrupt,
and greedy, and out of touch. Just a bunch of rich white guys looking to get
themselves re-elected and have their pockets lined by big corporations.” And
then we shake our fists at the sky because Congress sucks and there’s
(allegedly) nothing we can do about it.
I’m not here to argue that Congress is a room full of
misunderstood saints. Quite the contrary. What I want to point out is the thing
that doesn’t help any of us: Armchair legislators. We all have solutions in
mind, and we all know what Congress should
be doing, and we’re all angry about the things Congress is doing. Usually it’s the fault of those from the other political
party, so the Republicans point at the Democrats, the Democrats point at the
Republicans, and not a damned thing gets done. Kind of like in Congress.
The thing is, folks, for all we want to fix America, we’re collectively
not doing very much about it.
According to Wikipedia,
there were 33 seats up for grabs in the U.S. Senate during the 2012 election. When the votes were tallied, 21 of those seats went to incumbents. In 2010,
21 of 34 seats also went to incumbents.
In two elections, with 67 opportunities, we elected 25 new
Senators and kept 42 incumbents.
The 2012 results in the House
weren’t much better. In the state of Arkansas, there were four seats up for
grabs with three incumbents running. All three were re-elected. Out of California’s
53 seats, only 7 representatives lost their re-election, and 35 incumbents won
(remaining seats were either new seats or representatives who didn’t seek
re-election). In over half of the states and all U.S. territories, every incumbent seeking re-election
won. Only New Hampshire saw a complete
turnover, with both incumbents losing re-election. Overall, only 26 incumbents
lost.
Let’s read that again:
In more than half of the states, and all U.S. territories
such as Guam and Puerto Rico, every
incumbent seeking re-election won.
So, for all we complain about Congress being the problem and
Congress not getting the job done… we’re, um, not doing a heck of a lot to
change it.
Seriously. What should we do if our legislators suck? Quite
simply, stop re-electing them.
Let me draw your attention back to the above figures.
67 chances for new Senators. 25 new Senators obtained. Over half of the states re-electing 100% of
their incumbents to the House. We complain that Congress is the problem, and
yet we were only compelled to vote out 26 representatives.
Now, do all of those legislators suck? Of course not. Heaven
help us if they did. But if Congress really isn’t doing what we expect Congress
to do, why do we keep re-electing the
majority of the people in Congress?
If a legislator is awesome and ethical and actually doing
their job, then by all means, keep them. But I find it hard to believe that the
vast majority of our legislators are awesome and ethical and actually doing
their jobs, or we wouldn’t all be complaining about how Congress isn’t getting
anything done.
So what do we do if they’re not doing what we elected them
to do?
Vote. Them. Out.
Okay, but what happens when that legislator runs against
someone who’s even worse? Or what happens when they run unopposed?
That, my friends, is where we need to step up. This is where
the government needs to start being a bit more “by the people.” Those words
weren’t meant to be lip service. We as American people have a responsibility to
make sure we are governed “by the people,” and that doesn’t mean “by someone
else who hopefully won’t screw me over.” It doesn’t mean “by the Democrats or the
Republicans, depending on who has the majority.”
It means us. It
means you, it means me. It means we need to run, and it means we need to vote.
When the options on the ballot are not good enough, then there is only one
solution left:
We need to get our
butts out of our armchairs and put those butts into the seats currently
occupied by the butts of irresponsible, unethical, corrupt, and dishonest
politicians.
If we want to see things change, we need to make those
things change. We are not without power, and we are not without responsibility.
I don’t think it’s enough to call your congressman. I don’t think it’s enough
to write to your congressman. I don’t think it’s enough to pass around memes on
social media and hold up signs at demonstrations.
Don’t call your congressman. Be your congressman.
Think about it. There are 33 or 34 seats in the U.S. Senate
up for grabs every four years. In the House, there are 435 seats. That means
that in 2014, there are 468 opportunities for American citizens to occupy seats
in the United States Congress.
Four hundred sixty-eight seats, folks.
And that’s not counting all the seats available in state
legislatures.
You want things to change? You want your voice heard?
Then do something.
Get off your butt and get on the ballot. Don’t have a lot of
money for a campaign? Use social media. Contact your local media. Work together
to promote a potential candidate. Make some noise, folks! We live in a time of
unprecedented ability to transmit and receive information. If a music video can
get millions of hits on YouTube and turn someone into a global celebrity
virtually overnight, then there’s no reason a potential candidate can’t reach
their voters, get noticed, and get elected.
If the only way someone can get elected in this day and age
is still to be a rich, party-backed candidate who charms and smooth-talks his
way into the hearts of voters, then we have no one to blame but ourselves, the
voters who allow ourselves to be won over like that. We can reach people, and we
the people can be reached.
“But I can’t run for Congress! I’m not a politician or a
lawyer!” You don’t need to be. There is
no such requirement to get into Congress. And we don’t need more politicians or lawyers. We need people who are willing to
raise their voices, rattle some cages, and approach legislation from the
point-of-view of the people who will be affected the most by that legislation:
everyday Americans.
We need people who will raise unpopular measures like
Congressional term limits and pay cuts, forcing those in Congress to decide if
holding onto that cushy paycheck is worth the backlash when it comes time for
re-election. The only way things like that will pass is via Constitutional
amendments, which means someone with a butt in a chair in Congress needs to get
the ball rolling. We can start all the online petitions we want, but if we want
something like this to actually happen, it needs to make it into Congress. And
I don’t know about you, but I don’t have a lot of faith in our current
seat-occupants that someone will propose, let alone push, something like that.
“But I don’t know how to be a good
politician/Congressman/etc!” Quite frankly, neither do the people currently occupying
Congress. We need our voices to be heard by Congress, and at this point, I
think that means getting a few of us into
Congress. We don’t need to be experts on political strategy and smooth-talking
to see when a bill—and the people discussing it—don’t have our best interests
in mind.
And whether you get yourself on the ballot or not, vote!
Seriously, people. Vote!
Don’t like the incumbent running in your district? Vote him or her out! Research your candidates. Read about them.
Vote for the person whose ideas align with your own, not the one who looks
slick in a suit and kisses babies for the camera. Vote for the one who’s as tired
as you are of the way things are, not the one who happens to be in the same
political party you usually vote for. Vote for someone because he or she makes
sense, not because he or she has a catchy slogan and shiny campaign signs.
If you can’t take the
time to know who you’re voting for and make an informed, responsible decision,
then don’t take up my time complaining about how Congress isn’t doing what
they’re elected—and paid—to do.
So let’s say people get off their butts and get elected. Now
what?
Now it’s time to get to work. Time to rattle some cages and get
some stuff done. Such as?
For starters, since they can only happen via Constitutional
amendments, I propose:
·
Congressional term limits.
·
A significant pay cut for legislators and the
President.
What if these don’t pass?
Well, voting records are public. If your congressman doesn’t like the
idea of a pay cut or a term limit and can’t offer a satisfactory explanation, or
if you simply don’t like how he votes on issues that matter to you, he doesn’t
have to be re-elected.
So, Lori. Are you
going to put up or shut up too? Yes, I am.
Residency requirements are proving to be a sticky wicket after I’ve moved
several times thanks to the military, and I will likely move again between now
and the 2014 election. However, if I can iron out those details, I will be putting
my name out there as well.
In closing, I think we’ve all had enough, and it’s time to
make some changes. If we can’t rely on our legislators to make those
changes—and judging by the incumbency rate, I’d say most of them have had ample opportunity—then we need to get in
there and do it ourselves. Which means we need to get ourselves on the ballots,
and we need to stop voting in the same old faces who apparently can’t get a
damned thing done.
It’s time, America. Put up or shut up.
Posts
YOU GO!!!
ReplyDeleteWell said!
ReplyDelete