This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The piece in the Trib ("Most Incumbents in Congress to keep jobs," August 31)" identifies the primary source of our government's dysfunction. While Congress has an approval rating around 10 percent, we consistently re-elect incumbents at a rate of 90 percent. Our system was designed as a government of the people. What we have instead is a government of career politicians and their manipulators.
James Madison described the House as "an assembly of men called for the most part from pursuits of a private nature, continued in appointment for a short time, and led by no permanent motive." (Federalist 62) That was the context in which our Constitution was drawn.
So what can we do to get back to that? The first step is to consistently vote against the incumbents at all levels of government. In the absence of an incumbent, vote against the candidate with the most campaign funding, the most "bought" candidate. Hold your nose if you have to, but do it. That is a crude but significant action we can take to change the nature of the electoral contract.
It's time to stop complaining about the government and try to do something about it.
Don McCurdie
Sandy