A law per se. Should elected officials running for re-election or, in this particular case, for higher office be required to meet certain benchmarks – I really wanted to use timetables as I am thinking of John McCain but I will refrain – of their current office?
I realize that every elected official will miss votes. They will not always be able to be with their constituency and at the floor of whatever body of government they are on.
I guess my problem lies more in presidential nominee candidates. Of the group currently still running, there are four members of Congress – three senators and one representative. Should there be a law that requires that they not ignore their current responsibilities to run for president?
It started with the State of the Union address. I am sure that John McCain was not the only member of Congress that was not in attendance. He was, to the best of my knowledge, the only one that is running for president that was not in attendance. The State of the Union is a once a year event. Yes, this year’s was from a lame duck president but it is not all that often that the Congress meets as a whole – both Senate and House of Representatives. It is imperative that members attend. McCain chose not to due to campaigning.
Now it is the Senate vote on the economic stimulus plan. This is particularly disturbing. The economy has become, for most US voters, the top issue in the campaign. Economic stimulus is needed. I realize that McCain’s vote, either aye or nay, would not have change the results. My problem is he jetted across the country from Arizona and was in Washington, DC but did not vote. There is even some confusion among his own office/campaign as to whether his intention was to vote or not.
Unfortunate for McCain is the fact that this was a roll call vote so his absence was notable. Also, unfortunate for McCain is the fact that this lead reporters to dig into other roll call votes this year. In a roll call vote, each senators name is called and his or her vote is recorded next to his or her name. Normal votes do not keep track of who votes which way. Amazing information is that McCain has not voted in any of the eight roll call votes this year. He is basically missing votes and the ones where he can be called to task over the way he has voted.
John McCain has not resigned from his position representing the people of Arizona. John McCain has chosen to run for his party’s presidential nomination. John McCain is not doing his current job in hopes of obtaining a higher office.
Shouldn’t there be a rule?
Nicki's Nook 
Economic Stimulus…..
You mention “economic stimulus” like it will matter! Stimulating an already failing economy is not the answer. We need major “economic reform”. Quite frankly, I’m happiest when decisions are NOT being made concerning our current economy…..
Until we see that the credit industry is the root of all our economic evils…. this economy is doomed to fail. An active and productive economy is based on tangible products that actual workers are needed to produce. Hence, more jobs, more money for the average american. Do you see the irony of a industry that is having a negative impact on consumers being a positive for our economy?
Basing an economy on intangible products, like credit, only makes jobs for accounting and the computers do the rest. A huge portion of our economy is based on the credit industry while only a small portion of the workforce is actually employed working on it.
Be grateful that decisions aren’t being made today. Let’s wait for the new adminisration to take office (whoever that may be) and take us in a new direction. Then we can complain about lack of action by our elected officials.
Anyone involved with the lame duck Bush administration will not make any substantial changes. The “palms have already been greased” so the wheels have stopped turning.
See you at the polls,
Glenn
Glenn –
I happen to agree that this package will not help our economy. But it also greatly concerns me that there is a man who wants to be president who cannot take a stand on an issue and who cannot do his current job.
Nicki – who voted Tuesday
Nicki,
I agree with your concerns. However, conservatives want to maintain the status quo and liberals want to sail uncharted waters. The rest of us want genuine, honest, hard working people to be our voice in office.
With special interests, large corporations, and foreign governments lobbying our congressmen, do you think our voice will truly be heard in the existing system we shamefully call a democracy.
No federal law should be passed without a vote by the people. Instead we elect people to “represent our vote” on individual legislation and hope they do the right thing. It is a fundamental flaw we have in our government. Unless we change that, only the aforementioned lobbyists will determine the outcome of any national decision.
So unless there is a vote due to take place on the floor, nobody needs to be in Washington anyway. They should all be in their home states talking to you and I, not brunching in DC with lobbyists.
I know that I may come off as being a little jaded……well, more than just alittle, but the answers to our problems are so basic in origin. Everyone wants to complicate the issues to hide their pet programs within them. If we just vote on one issue at a time, and then our congressmen and representatives take the result back to DC, progress and productive will follow.
As a society, we have been screwing it up for years. I just want to see a better country for my son and future grandchildren. The world I have witnessed thus far values Britney Spears more the Gross National Product. Shameful, don’t you think.
Glenn
P.S. Thanks for being another concerned citizen that inspires others to comment on their beliefs. If we don’t keep talking, we will never be heard!
Glenn –
I see your point. I guess I would be less concerned if the vote was missed because McCain was in Arizona with his constituency. He was in Washington, DC and chose to not vote. He was basically working on getting a better gig and, in the process, ignoring his current gig.
Not to pick on McCain, when the second stimulus package came up for a non-roll call vote yesterday, only 97 senators voted on the package. I presume, from their campaign agendas, that the three missing were McCain, Obama and Clinton. One of those is my state’s senator and should have been doing the elected job.
Nicki