Represent Your People
The US Constitution contains no job description for a Congressman. It just says the states should send Representatives according to their population. In 1911, we passed a law that said we should keep the House of Representatives at 435 members. Missouri gets eight. We live in the 8th District.
All we know is that this person we send to Washington is supposed to “represent” us. But what does that mean?
It would seem reasonable that the Representative would take a look around their District and try to bring the resources of the Federal Government to bear on the things that need to be fixed. There are a lot of problems in the 8th District that don’t have anything to do with political preferences. Low paying jobs, lack of job opportunities, poorly performing schools, healthcare gaps, kids going to bed hungry, and so on.
What seems to have happened in many of the 435 Districts in America, including ours, is that the Representatives become more concerned about their political party’s agenda than the needs of their own district. We see the result. Political warfare instead of solutions we can all appreciate.
We need 435 people hashing it out, issue by issue, based on how it affects the people of their District. What we have is two teams fighting for hollow victories about hot button issues, what some people call “cultural issues”, like abortion, sexual preferences, gun rights, and immigration, even if they don’t really have much of an effect on your family in your district. Do billionaires and big corporations and special interests tell your Congressman what to do, or do you tell him?
I personally believe, from everything I can see, that our current Representative has not lived up to this District over Party standard during his nine years in Congress. Look around. How’s it going in the 8th District?
Everyone gets a vote on November 8. Take the time to check out the MO Secretary of State’s description of each of the Amendments. Look over the candidates for each office, especially for the US Congress. Grab your ID, and take the time to vote.
David Jaegers, Hiram, MO
