Here is the text of my article about how I wanted the Congressman to fix the firefighter issue more quickly and behind the scenes without grandstanding. JUST DO YOUR JOB QUIETLY AND FIX THINGS Goodness knows there are hundreds of things that need fixing in our body politic. And we pay politicians plenty of our hard-earned dollars to go to Harrisburg and Washington DC to solve complex problems so that our lives and the lives of our hard-working neighbors can be a little better each year. But what is disappointing is that instead of creative solutions from our politicians, we simply see grandstanding, empty rhetoric, and the constant sideshow of self-promotion. It is no wonder that Congress’s approval rating for this record-setting Do-Nothing Congress is at an all-time low. People expect so much from our politicians when they see so much critical work that needs to be done in the areas of job creation, rebuilding our infrastructure, and restoring our economic upward mobility and instead, what they see accomplished is simply nothing. Case in point concerns a front-page story I recently read in this and many other local newspapers concerning Congressman Fitzpatrick’s bold initiative and outrage over the fact that certain provisions of ACA would adversely affect volunteer firefighters. I read constantly about his righteous indignation that IRS would make the lives of these brave firefighters so miserable and our good Congressman was on the frontlines to resolve this gross injustice of the evil ACA act (which by the way has now given over 12 million of your fellow Americans health insurance who never had it before). The Congressman no doubt gave several interviews to the press, wasted time crafting some corrective legislation (which no doubt would look very nice in his campaign literature) and on and on and on. The hype continued. To his credit he did remember to write a letter to the IRS Commissioner pointing out the horror, but the Congressman said sadly he did not get a response. I hope he used the correct postage and mailing address. Just a few days ago the IRS Commissioner issued a simple clarification ruling that basically caused the problem to evaporate: problem gone. No doubt our “effective” Congressman will puff out his chest in the press and take full credit for his great victory against ACA, the hated IRS and this incompetent Obama administration that has doubled the stock market and cut the deficit in half. But I think most Americans see through the posturing and wish we had in Congress competent professionals who were more interested in efficiently and creatively fixing things for us without the constant concern for their own political hide. In your own company, when the top boss introduces a bold new program, often at your level in the organization there inevitably will be some things that you see about the grand initiative which maybe don’t quite work well. So what do you do? Do you bellyache to everyone who will listen how bad the boss’s plan is? Do you run to the press and tell everyone that your boss is a fool because his grand plan isn’t perfect? Is that the right strategy for the success of your company and the benefit of your customers? No. You quietly work behind the scenes and within the system to make your boss’s plan better. You figure out a way to fix things and get the job done so your boss’s plan is even better than before. You don’t run around trying to destroy it 50 times. A congressman who truly cared about getting things done wouldn’t have simply sent a letter to the IRS Commissioner and then run to the press. A competent politician would have established good working relations with the key figures of the administration from day one on the job and quietly, behind the scenes, got the job done. We deserve better. We deserve competent people who love government service because they believe that government can accomplish great things for us. Our politicians should be creative individuals who understand they work for us and not simply to promote themselves for reelection over and over again to eventually get a cushy pension and a high-paying lobbyist job. I hope in November we can elect someone here in District 8 who is not emblematic of this shameful Do-Nothing Congress, but is instead a caring and intelligent individual who is committed to fix the many real problems our country faces, quietly, creatively and effectively. buckscountycouriertimes/opinion/guest/stop-blowing-your-own-horn-and-just-fix-stuff/article_404e304b-7276-5ef7-88bc-155bd9935b83.html
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 14:07:56 +0000
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