Hey, Senator — Don’t Forget Your Day Job
EmailAs lawmakers rush to join the field of 2008 presidential candidates, some may be tempted to neglect their duty to represent their constituents, a survey of congressional votes reveals. While most senators have participated in every one of 44 roll call votes this year, a few White House hopefuls haven’t done so well. At the top of the list is Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., who has missed a whopping 20 votes. Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., who announced his candidacy just a week ago, has missed nine votes this year. So has Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., who hasn’t announced but is widely suspected of harboring presidential ambitions. THE BLOTTER RECOMMENDS Blotter Political Scandals: Where Are They Now? Blotter Party Time for Politicians at the Super Bowl Click Here to Check Out the Latest Brian Ross Slideshows Some are concerned by what may be an emerging pattern of delinquency. "It raises the question – if we elected them to serve us, are they really doing that?" asked Ellen Miller, president of the Washington, D.C., watchdog group, the Sunlight Foundation. Her organization has pushed legislators to publish the actual hours they work on their Web sites. Not all Oval Office contenders have poor voting records. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., hasn’t missed a vote yet this year, and Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., has missed one. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has missed three. In the House, presidential candidate Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., has missed just three of 75 votes. Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage. That’s not to say the vote-missers don’t give good reasons for their absences. And, no, they don’t cop to working on their campaigns. Due to a trip to the Middle East and Africa, "the senator missed all the votes in the first week [of this year's session]," Brownback spokesman Brian Hart told ABC, "as well as a few more based on previously scheduled events." Hart noted Brownback has a lifetime voting record of 90 percent. A trip to the dentist kept Hagel from two of his nine missed votes, according to spokesman Mike Buttry. The senator missed another three when he attended a Nebraska funeral for a service member killed in Iraq. And on the evening of Jan. 14, illness put Hagel in bed instead of in Congress, where he missed four late-night votes, Buttry said. Biden’s office did not provide a comment for this story.
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I would get fired from my job if I spent more than my lunch break out looking for another job.
How do I get one of those Gov. jobs? They sound great!
Didn’t Bob Dole step down from his position when he ran in 96′. (I can’t believe I’m saying this) more people should follow Bob Dole’s example.
Posted by: Zakk | February 7, 2007, 10:11 am 10:11 am
Why wasn’t any of this mentioned during the 2004 presidential election when John Kerry, John Edwards, Dennis Kucinich, Bob Graham, Joe Lieberman and Dick Gephardt were seeking the Democratic nomination? Also, after Kerry won the nomination and chose Edwards as his running mate the same thing happened as in the 2008 presidential election with so called senators not showing up for their day jobs. This was never brought up in 2004. What’s the difference now as in 2004?
Posted by: Teri | February 7, 2007, 10:18 am 10:18 am
The next 2 years will just be another 2 years of a ‘do nothing’ Congress!
Posted by: Christine | February 7, 2007, 10:40 am 10:40 am
I am about sick and tired of President Bush spending all of our money on Iraq. He is sending Billion over there when he can be spending it over here on health care for the middle class. I am also sick of our corrupt and lazy Republicans. I am not suprise that the majority that are not showing up for vote are Republicans. Please get rid of Bush and his Corrupt Republicans.
Posted by: Holstein | February 7, 2007, 12:20 pm 12:20 pm
“Holstein” seems to have a bit of a political bias where Bush and the Repubs are concerned.
Allow me to clarify a couple items: First, gov’t has no business spending a dime on healthcare, with the exception of the safety net provided by Medicare, Medicaid, and the V.A.
Secondly, if one looks back over the last 20-25 years you’ll find at least as many, if not more, “corrupt” and “lazy” Democrats as Repubs.
Holstein’s childish comments are typical of the shrill and uninformed left-wingers who want everything handed to them on a silver platter. Sorry Holstein, you’re gonna have to work for it. Nothing worthwhile, including our freedom, comes without a price.
Posted by: Alan | February 8, 2007, 10:02 am 10:02 am
It’s not Holstein that’s biased Alan, it’s Justin Rood, just look a little into his prior work.
And one more word Alan – get used to it
Posted by: anon | February 8, 2007, 7:40 pm 7:40 pm
Holstein is right. It is not the government’s job or right to provide for its citizens’ financial welfare, much less their health. The government teat is getting so big, before long we won’t have the choice to “not” suckle.
Posted by: Jody | February 9, 2007, 12:08 pm 12:08 pm
So, exactly what is the governments job if it’s not to look after the well being of it’s citizens? And when did healthcare turn into “financial welfare”. i don’t expect the government to pay my way in life, but if free healthcare is good enough for congressman, then it’s good enough for everyone else. They make $167,000+ per year, then they don’t need free healthcare. And it was a republican president who enlarged the healthcare bill with the recent drug benefit, wasn’t it. So, maybe, there is blame to be had on both the right and left wing sides. can you acknowledge that Holstein and Jody? There is good and bad on both sides, mostly because neither one gives a damn about the people. I don’t care what you call yourself, republican or democrat; you were elected to serve the people, not corporations and special intrests.
Posted by: patrick szarzynski | February 9, 2007, 4:28 pm 4:28 pm
I live in Connecticut, occasional home of Joe Lieberman. While he ran for two national offices and had his head handed to him, he neglected his duty and job to represent us, Joe even took an apartment in New Hampsire. We are a small state with a small delegation. It was unforgivable. The day after he dropped out of the Presidental race he was back on local radio for the first time in over a year. “mending fences”. Now our other Senator, Dodd, thinks he is Presidental stock. What other job do you get to keep your salary and spend full time trying to get other job????? This is disgraceful. You want to run for President, FINE QUIT!
Posted by: Bob C | February 9, 2007, 9:16 pm 9:16 pm
How to tell the difference between Republicans and Democrats? They both are perfectly happy to screw us in favor of corporate interests (and pandering to the invented social fears of their “base”)in order to get elected and re-elected. (Until they’ve made enough connections to get a job on K Street.)It’s just the the Democrats pretend to feel sorry about after the damage has been done.
Regarding welfare: Corporate entitlements dwarf the small and dwindling amount of (largely mismanaged)money we spend on food and medical care for the poorest of our citizens. Just think of the billions in no-bid contracts in Iraq with no oversight.
Every government contract is a handout-we even wind up paying for a lot of the research and development of weapons systems, for example, and the companies get to keep the patents!(And the military often changes the test parameters so that it looks like some of these dead-duck inventions work better than they actually do, if at all.)
I’m all for the idea of some kind of universal healthcare coverage; I just think it should be at least as good as the plan that Congress has voted for itself!
Posted by: smallddem | February 10, 2007, 11:35 am 11:35 am
Hagel was sic before he got sic-been in WA to long, anyone who announces thier intentions to run for President should step down & not ever allowed to be a Senator/Congressman again. 25 yr. retirement limits. bye-bye
Posted by: Rick Mills | February 12, 2007, 5:07 pm 5:07 pm
It never ceases to irritate me when the Republican Congress and Senate refuses to raise the minimum wage (hasn’t been raised in nine years), yet, raise their own wages each and every year (just like clock work).
Posted by: Dave J | February 13, 2007, 9:22 am 9:22 am