Dear Editor:

The America style of democracy is a Republican form of government. That means we elect individuals to represent us in Washington, DC. They are supposed to understand the values and inclinations of the people back in their state or district, become familiar with specific issues, and represent the best interest of their constituency. Simplified: they are our representatives and our servants.

The founding fathers saw these servants as people who put their private lives on hold to go to the nation’s capital and serve, then after a reasonable time of service to return to private life. In fact, men like Thomas Jefferson and George Washington put limits on their involvement in government. They did not foresee the advent of the “career politician.” For well over a hundred years our choices have been essentially limited to either Republicans or Democrats, and once in office they become part of the problem.

What’s wrong with having career politicians? The need for reelection and retention of political power begins to supersede the needs of their constituents. The mean individual income in the United States is about $35,500 while the average household income is a little over $50,000. The salary of our congressional representatives and our senators is $174,000. Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, makes $223,500 per year. They all vote on their own salaries and receive an automatic cost-of-living-allowance annually.

Our representatives have a retirement program. The National Taxpayers Union states that, “Congressional pension benefits are 2-3 times more generous than what a similarly-salaried executive could expect to receive upon retiring from the private sector.” Contrary to some rumors, they do pay into social security.

Is there an advantage to being an incumbent? In addition to the face recognition, it is easier to raise money as an incumbent. House incumbents generally raise four times more campaign funds than their challengers. Senate incumbents raise about eight times more than challengers. So, once they are in office, it’s a lot easier to stay there. Being a career politician has its advantages. In fact, the system that has developed over the last two hundred years has enabled our elected representatives to take better care of themselves than they do of us.

Meanwhile, these “public servants” (from both parties) have spent us to the point of near bankruptcy as a nation. We are trillions of dollars in debt and the current administration will continue to spend. Even if Cap and Trade and Universal Health Care were good and workable programs (which I believe they are not) we can not afford them. Most likely, the average American knows we can not pay for these. Our representatives have dropped the ball and I believe it is all for the purpose of getting re-elected.

We have allowed ourselves to be hogtied by those who are supposed to represent us. I am looking for a third party alternative and for a way to institute term limits. If we the voters do not take action we will remain captives of career politicians.

Ford McLain

LaGrange, GA