By Donald Halsing Editorial Staff
When citizens elect people to represent them in government, they expect those people to dedicate their time, effort, and resources to solving issues.
But, in the United States, our politicians are not always focused on bettering the lives of their
constituents. Many are focused on maintaining their positions and questioning their counterparts across party lines.
Our government wastes time, resources, and taxpayer dollars on insignificant quarrels when far more pressing issues are on the line.
Our environment is irreversibly damaged. Our people live with insufficient food, water, and shelter. Our system of healthcare fails millions of citizens. Our wealth distribution is unequal. Our transportation infrastructure is crumbling.
Meanwhile, our country’s leaders – especially those at the federal level – are not prioritizing these problems. Instead, they focus their valuable time in office on staying in control and ensuring no one will dethrone them.
President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial is the worst example of hours lost.
U.S. Congress halted working on important issues in favor of arguing about impeaching Trump. Was this the best way to spend Congress’ time?
Each week – except on Sundays – U.S. representatives, and later, senators, spent the entirety of each day sitting through hours of impeachment arguments, according to The New York Times. Collectively, this took months.
This was time wasted.
Your taxes paid for our federal legislators to sit idle for hours at a time.
We could be using our time more effectively.
The point is, impeachment proceedings distracted politicians from performing their duties at their full potential and making laws. Even if they lost half a day to attend the trial, that was half a day they were not writing bills, researching legislation, and dealing with day-to-day business.
Research by the Heritage Foundation found the Trump’s impeachment trial cost over $3 million in taxpayer funds, including lawyers, personnel, security, travel, and supplies.
This included the salaries of over 100 congressional employees, “who largely didn’t attend to normal duties from September through December,” reported the Daily Signal, a conservative news site.
Let’s hope the 2020 presidential election doesn’t further distract representatives from their
responsibilities – but the aftershocks of the impeachment trials are sure to be on their minds.
Running for president is a massive time commitment – one which requires full dedication.
Usa.gov instructs candidates to announce their intention to run in the spring the year before the election. By the spring of the election year, candidates are out on the road and busy attending debates and rallies.
Candidates have presidential glory on their minds two years before the inauguration – at least. How can they focus on their work while daydreaming about sitting in the oval office?
And, during the year of the election, candidates will spend most of it away from Washington. If
taxpayers provide salaries for congresspeople to work in the Capitol, they shouldn’t spend a whole year sightseeing the country!
It is unfair to the American people when sitting politicians run for president. They are neglecting their obligations to serve the people.
U.S. politicians are wasting time at a critical moment in history.
Our government’s time-wasting impacts not just our citizens – it detracts from our role as a global superpower and in addressing international problems.
Using environmental crises as an example – a quarter of Australia’s land burnt to a crisp while our Congress listened to Trump’s phone calls with Ukraine.
If politicians continue to focus on their own egos – and neglect time-sensitive issues – the clock may run out before we even realize.