What's Wrong With Congress Today: Part One: Lack of Voting/Action Consistency
Sunday on Meet the Press, Rachel Maddow of MSNBC and Representative Aaron Schock (R-Il) confronted over comments made by Maddow saying Schock had voted against the Obama stimulus bill and yet had shown up for an event in his district for a stimulus-funded project, and had, quite literally, held up the giant stimulus check. Similarly, many moderate Democratic and Republican congressmen have been vocally supportive of health care reform and positive about its implications while talking to constituants but did not provide the votes to back up their sentiments.
You see this sort of voting hypocrisy rampantly in Washington- no one wants to take the risk of voting for a politically charged bill, especially when the bill is against their party norm, but everyone wants to reap the benefits for constituants. It is the responsibility of elected officials to stand by their votes, decisions, and opinions. If a congressman in against the bill while the vote is taken, he or she should not be able to be applauded by voters for its benefits. By acting as though he or she is in favor of the bill, their constituency is being misled.
Without support for beneficial but contentious bills that may be against the ideals of one of the parties, and with the current Senate filibuster rules, no politically risky legislation will be able to be passed by Congress. Congressmen who wish to benefit politically from bills have to vote for them.
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You see this sort of voting hypocrisy rampantly in Washington- no one wants to take the risk of voting for a politically charged bill, especially when the bill is against their party norm, but everyone wants to reap the benefits for constituants. It is the responsibility of elected officials to stand by their votes, decisions, and opinions. If a congressman in against the bill while the vote is taken, he or she should not be able to be applauded by voters for its benefits. By acting as though he or she is in favor of the bill, their constituency is being misled.
Without support for beneficial but contentious bills that may be against the ideals of one of the parties, and with the current Senate filibuster rules, no politically risky legislation will be able to be passed by Congress. Congressmen who wish to benefit politically from bills have to vote for them.
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