For most jobs there’s a job description outlining the work to be done, which is, really, the only reason the job exists. What is the job of a member of Congress? Or a member of the Illinois General Assembly? After over twenty-five years being around members of Congress and the Illinois General Assembly (including working both on Capitol Hill and in Springfield), I can tell you that very few of them understand what their job is.
If you wonder why a full nineteen years after Hillarycare was being pushed the American public still has little idea how Republicans would like to fix the broken health care system (and yes, it is broken because of government), then read on to get the answer.
Horse and buggy legislators – The Last Hurrah
This article was first posted in August 2006!
The 1958 Spencer Tracy film “The Last Hurrah” is about “an old Irish-American political boss, running for reelection as a mayor of a U.S. town for the last time,” an“outstanding look at old time politics as it begins to give way to the era of mass media.”
Half a century later we’ve entered yet another new era, so it’s time for a remake. The new version of the movie could involve a member of Congress, or for that matter a state legislator, who is coming to grips with the fact that the times have passed them by and their approach to their job hasn’t kept pace.
For many years it has been considered acceptable for them to merely provide good constituent service and to satisfy as many lobbyists as possible. That has to change. Communication with the larger public must become the name of the game. Legislators in fact must become educators.
Americans are busy living their lives and a justified cynicism keeps most of them from becoming more informed. Since they don’t know what to believe, it’s quite rational for them to just tune out the political noise.
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