Broder on Federal Debt and Politics
What a sad commentary on the federal system of government is presented by Broder. Unfortunately, Broder has confused the root of the problem and fails to offer a solution.
The problem is obvious. It is not a case of state and federal elected officials “lacking courage to ask people to pay for government services” (which may be true, but is immaterial). The real problem is that “each of them is scrambling to remain in office no matter what.”
The solution is so simple it is a mystery why the electorate has not yet discovered how to correct this sad situation. We must stop returning these “political entrepreneurs” to office term after term. If reelection was not possible then elected officials would begin to consider what they might do for the good of the country rather than always thinking about what they must do to be reelected.
Admittedly, this approach does limit freedom of choice to some extent, but these are drastic times. A lesson period of 10 years should be adequate to emphasize the principle and then maybe elected officials will begin to understand why they hold the offices of trust to which they have been elected. This approach requires no changes in the law, only that we stop reelecting incumbents until the lesson sinks in.
GEORGE NICHOLS
Tehachapi
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