Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Looking for a Candidate for Public Office

It's been said that anybody that really want's to be President of the USA should be automatically disqualified for the job.  One doesn't have to look very hard at the current list of presidential contenders to agree with that sentiment.  And I think that it probably filters down to the local levels of politics, as well.

If you could choose your candidate--even if you had to really work to convince them that they owe it to their community/country to serve--who would you nominate for office?

I would think that one could look around the Ozarks of Southwest Missouri and find a much more qualified Congressman than Billy Long.  Really guys?  The only thing that he's actually proposed in Congress is that we have a National day to recognize...wait for it...
...auctioneers! Oh boy! Boss Hog at his finest!

He said that he'd bring change to the way we do business in DC but has voted the way his party has told him to vote on every issue.  Is he really the best that we have?

Are the qualified teachers/business men and women/professionals/clergy/or everyday commonsense neighbors just too smart to enter the political fray.  Are the career politicians Roy Blunt and Claire McCaskill really the best choices to represent Missouri in the Senate?  For the past few decades, the only job they've had is in public office.  Do they have any idea what it's like to work (or be out of work), raise a family, worry about rising gas prices, rising health care costs, lousy housing markets or any of the other dozens of issues that we face on a daily basis?

We have a bunch of elected officials that say they want to go back to the Constitution and government the way it was intended to be. What about citizen representatives that go to DC to represent their communities and then GO BACK to live in their communities?  When did six years as a Senator or a few years in the House warrant a lifetime pension?

I've never been a big fan of term limits. I've always figured that we already have them--they're called elections--and happen at regular, predetermined intervals.  If you don't want them in office for another term, vote them out.  Unfortunately, the current climate of corruption in campaign contributions, the willingness of certain media outlets to tell outright lies to a public that is more than willing to let somebody else think for them, and campaigns that are all about why you shouldn't vote for an opponent rather than why you should vote for them--have all combined to make me reconsider how I feel about term limits.


The Republican Congress, under the Contract with America was going to establish term limits -- until they became the majority party, at which point it didn't seem like such a good idea anymore.  Or maybe they just never got around to that one.  How about term limits and no pensions?  Yep, I seriously doubt they're going to vote that one in!  


Let's get back to my original thought:  If you could choose a candidate to represent your community, state and country, who would it be?  


For a national office, this guy Warren Buffett seems to have some good ideas on money management. I imagine that we could come up with a few other names of people that aren't career politicians.  It can't be too hard to find somebody more qualified than the current list of candidates.
Maybe Ford Motor Company CEO Alan Mulally.  I was pretty impressed that Ford made the decision not to accept any of the government bailout money.


Southwest Missourians wouldn't have to go farther than the local Walmart to find somebody more qualified than Billy Long.

What's that, you say? 
Oh, we found him at Walmart! 

Never mind. It just goes to show you--you really do get what you pay for!
In any case, I'm more than a little embarrassed that he's the guy that represents us.  There are many people that are much more qualified to do the job.  But, how do we get them to run for office?

Who would you want to run for office--any office, and why?

Just wondering...

John <><

4 comments:

Mike said...

I looked up Billy Long on Wikipedia. He's a real gem.

Anonymous said...

I vest in my pension after 5 years too. It doesn't mean I get a huge pension, but it means I qualify for something. And it gets bigger the longer I work.

People read "congressional pension" and think that they are getting a fat salary for the rest of their lives for just a couple of years of work. That ain't so.

They ought to get a pension. Just like the rest of us ought to have some retirement security. I don't begrudge any of them that.

brother Steve

John A Hill said...

I know, Steve. I'm a federal employee and vest after 5 years, too.

The thing that gets me is that I don't think that being "career" politicians was ever a part of the design and is a big part of the reason that corruption is rampant in government.

John A Hill said...

Have I mentioned that these guys are out of touch?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/26/steve-southerland-congress-salary_n_938388.html?ref=tw&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000008