There’s a sentiment spreading from coast-to-coast, and across party lines, that Washington simply cannot connect with the concerns of most Americans. There is a sense of entitlement that has gripped the American political class, ensuring that their proposed “solutions” to the country’s most pressing problems fall on deaf ears among the voters. A decade of political games and party pandering has diminished the dream of America.
This is not the American Dream as our Founders envisioned it.
They saw, in the words of Abraham Lincoln, a “government of the people, by the people, for the people.” This means that there shouldn’t be “the government” and “the governed,” because we the people were intended to be our own government. Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and others saw a society that gave everyone the opportunity to influence the direction of his or her country; they had a vision of a “citizen legislature,” in which representatives would advance the cause of their neighbors. Now, most members of Congress are focused more on advancing their own political careers than championing the concerns of the people they claim to represent. I would love to see more Congressmen and Senators serve their neighbors while leading them, as opposed to simply seeking glory for their own names in the pursuit of political power.
To me, there are two immediate steps to ensure more of these leaders exist:
- term limits across every level of government to ensure we don’t have 30 year career members of Congress who lose touch with those whom they represent, and
- elect US Senator Tim Scott this November to fulfill the remainder of Jim DeMint’s term in the US Senate (then re-elect Tim to his own 6 year term in 2016!).
There are few people in politics, much less the United States Senate, who would wait tables at California Dreaming, or sweep floors at Moe’s Southwest Grill, but Tim recently did both. In the truest mold of a servant-leader, Tim Scott seeks to serve the people of South Carolina, and that makes him one of the few exceptions in the clubby world of the US Senate.
Listen to my conversation with Senator Tim Scott yesterday on “Common Cents,” and check out how cool it is to hear your senator shout “Welcome to Moe’s!” We could use a few more Tim Scotts in the US Senate, and a lot less Harry Reids.
Full Episode
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Interview with Sen. Scott
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