OPINION: The problem with career politicians
Jazmyne Boozer, Managing Editor
Photo Courtesy: Marco Oriolesi on Unsplash
Nikki Haley shocked the world when she resigned as UN ambassador after serving for seven years. Haley, a former South Carolina governor was said to be a favorite to run as a republican candidate for the 2020 presidential election. When asked why the change and what she wanted to do with her life after her resignation:
“I want to be part of the decision-making process… I don’t want to be a wallflower or a talking head. I want to be able to speak my mind.”
Where the controversy lies is what the former governor stated as one of her reasons for leaving. Haley stated, “It’s been eight years of intense time, and I’m a believer in term limits. You have to be selfless enough to know when you step aside and let someone else do their job.”
Haley caused the most division with this statement as she is generally loved not only by her republican colleagues, but her democratic counterparts. As stated before, Haley was a favorite to run for president in the year 2020.
What Haley did was admirable, and every career politician should take note. This writer happens to believe that one of the biggest issues with the American government is career politicians. Career politicians often run into the risk of not keeping the peoples’ best interest in mind. At any job, it is best for an employee to keep their boss happy with them. It makes sense for an employee to cater to the demands of their employer. This remains the same with politicians.
Most do not like to acknowledge the fact that the President of the United States is an employee to their respective political party. This does not only apply to the president, but to the other members of Congress as well. From the Senators to the Congressman, everyone has a boss (their party) that they must answer to.
Unfortunately, this means that most politicians forget that their bosses should ultimately be the American people. However, we cannot fault these politicians for listening to their bosses; every hard-working person does. What we can fault however is our system.
I happen to believe that what Haley said is right. Strong and firm term limits help keep a healthy rotation of people flowing in and out of their respective offices. This can help boot out the bad guys. This being stated, I do think there is one major flaw with just leaving it up to term limits…it gets rid of the good people as well.
There is an easy solution to this problem. If we can make a politician become a statesman instead, by making everyone in the political arena take a major pay cut, we would ensure that those who are in office are there to be servants to the people. By major pay cut, I mean make it hurt. Roughly $40,000 to $50,000 a year should do the trick. This solution is glaringly obvious, yet, no politician will ever vote on it. No politician will ever right a bill to assist in their own pay cuts but there is no other way. A person who truly cares about the well-being of this country and the American people will still serve this country no matter the cost. Those are the people who should be in office, not career politicians.
