This commentary is by Rick Hubbard, 81, a retired attorney, and the sparkplug of Walking to Fix Our Democracy. When not walking and advocating from the West Coast to our Capitol in D.C., he resides in South Burlington.
Greetings, Peter and Becca, Congratulations. We the people elected you to represent our common interests in Congress. You each are taking an oath and swearing “to support and defend the Constitution of the United States” and to “well and faithfully discharge” your duties.
Our U.S. Constitution expresses those duties: “… to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.”
Your job is to address the biggest issues related to the common good of us all. Then, after extensive analysis and debate, to make policy and create, in law, systems that most economically, efficiently and sustainably address each of these issue areas to best serve our common good.
These issue areas include defending our nation, balancing capitalism to best serve us all (not just a wealthy few), and establishing a health care system that provides good-quality health care to us all at the least total systemwide cost in a sustainable way.
Also, for providing us with similarly effective systems for our political process and its resulting representation; education; response to climate change; financial and consumer protections; infrastructure; and much more.
If you do your job properly, we individuals, our communities, states and nation will thrive and be an important, positive influence on all others beyond our borders.
But for too long, too many in Congress have not been doing their job properly. Our political system has become compromised — many of us would say corrupted. The result: Our nation is on a downward path.
Forty to 60 percent of all employed Americans have zero savings and are just a paycheck away from financial distress, without dependable support systems, and, therefore, not in control of their lives. These Americans are justifiably anxious, angry and more easily divided. This undermines the stability and strength of our country.
Our present political system is designed to divide us and to divert us from accurately assessing the job we elected our representatives to do. Our U.S. Senate has adopted rules allowing a minority of senators to block action on matters supported by the majority of senators and most Americans. The opposing party takes advantage of this so it can run for reelection on the fact that the party in control can’t get anything done.
What does such self-serving behavior have to do with actually governing? With enacting laws on matters important to our common good? It doesn’t, and resulting inaction on issues related to our common good continues to weaken our nation.
It is time to change this behavior. Our country has been damaged enough, and it has led too many of us to question whether democracy can survive.
You know how bad the structure and financing of our political system is: The blind partisanship; more time spent raising money than on governing and constituent services; committee and leadership positions awarded by raising immense amounts of money for the party rather than on interest, knowledge and ability; and with many representatives “leaning to the green” campaign money of special interests that results in decisions made that clearly are not in the interests of the majority of your constituents.
You know. But how many of us have heard you speak about it?
Doing your job properly requires each of you to speak out regularly, using many specific examples, about how the structure and financing of our political system is not serving the very people it is designed to serve.
Doing your job properly also requires each of you to speak out about the best ways to reform it.
These problems and needed reforms are more fully presented at www.fixourdemocracy.us.
This means placing our collective citizen interests above your personal interests in getting reelected, over those of your biggest campaign donors, and over those of your political party.
For we know that, unless you repeatedly say why the structure and financing of our political process works against the common good of we the people, the media will not amplify this.
And amplifying these problems and discussing reforms is essential for most people to begin to hear, think about, and decide how our political system’s many broken parts might best be fixed.
Seldom, if ever, have we needed proper representation and leadership more. The question is, will you do the job you took an oath to do, and stand up, speak out, and provide this needed leadership?
I and most of us hope you will choose the path that best serves our people and our nation.
