Let me first state unqualified respect for the offices of
the members of Congress. We, the people,
elect these members and expect they individually and collectively demonstrate
as much respect. It apparent that individually and collectively the members do not meet this expectation.
It was never intended our nation would establish a permanent
political class, in which decades of holding elected office would become the norm. It is time for Congress to end this practice.
Regardless of which side of the aisle, from which state or
district, or which gender, or other identifier, the performance of the members
of Congress has been unsatisfactory.
From where I sit in America, the real America as opposed to within the
beltway, you are more interested in personal aggrandizement, retention in
office, political party fealty, and currying favor from special interests than
serving the nation and its citizens. Multiple
polls rating Congress as a failure validates this position.
Forsaking time honored and tested procedures for political
advantage, spewing hyperbole via every possible means of communication,
offering as “facts” utterly ridiculous and unsubstantiated sound bites, campaigning
instead of governing, and failing at self policing members whose behavior is so
outrageous as to bring dishonor and discredit upon both chambers are merely
symptoms of the basic, central failure. You, the
elected legislators sent to our nation’s capital to serve the people, are
failing us.
Intransigence and orthodoxy are unacceptable substitutes for
leadership and compromise.
Demagoguery does
not provide a foundation for a meeting of the minds.
Inflammatory rhetoric does not frame a
debate.
The world is a dangerous place. Our nation’s economy is in shambles. Unemployment is far too high. Challenges abound. Government agencies and officials overstep
their bounds. You, whose duty it is to
uphold our laws, are violating constitutional safeguards and guarantees. And yet you cannot or will
not rise above the pettiness to tackle the hard problems facing our nation and
find solutions acceptable to both major political parties. Instead of severing relationships with
special interest groups and funders in order to serve the nation and its
people, you actively seek to embrace and serve those same
special interest groups and funders.
Compromise, absolutely essential in our republican form of government,
has been trampled by the self-serving actions as you seek election/reelection. Consequently, from
where I sit, it looks like government run amok: special deals for special
friends; failure to find middle ground solutions; unwillingness to meet and
hammer out hard solutions to hard problems; casting of blame from one side of
the country to the other, without providing solutions; pushing problems into future
years. And, in what is undoubtedly the
most distasteful of all negative aspects, perpetual campaigning aided and
abetted by the special interests and funders.
It is your responsibility to serve the entire nation and
all of our people. As long as members of
Congress participate in egregious behavior and perpetual campaigning, fail to
find compromise solutions, remain wedded at the hip to special interests and
funders, act in disgraceful, immoral ways, and simply seek to obtain and retain
political power through election/reelection, you will continue to fail in their
primary and sole responsibility as contained in the oath of office, “I do solemnly swear (or
affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States
against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and
allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental
reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully
discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me
God.”
I therefore offer the following. As a matter of priority, Congress must come
together and pass lifetime term limits of no more that two terms (selected
and/or appointed), aggregate in either or both chambers. (Every current member who has served more
than two terms or is in a second term immediately announces resignation at the
end the current term.) Demonstrate to
the people of the nation you are more interested in serving us than in
currying the favor of special interests, funders, political parties, and the
like to enter and remain in political office.
Lead by example and use the time provided by a maximum two terms to
serve the people, not themselves. If a two-term
limit is the law of the land for the presidency, there is absolutely no valid
argument of why it can’t be the law of the land for members of Congress.
Demonstrate service to our nation by instituting term limits
and putting the people ahead of personal gain.
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