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Pantagraph EditorialFriday, October 3, 2008 12:02 AM CDT
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Weller, others should show up for their elected jobs
By the Pantagraph Editorial Board
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If it's true, as actor-director Woody Allen says, that "Eighty percent of success is showing up," then several of our elected representatives in Illinois are not being very successful at representing us.

U.S. Rep. Jerry Weller of Morris came under fire this week for being the only congressman to miss Monday's vote on a financial bailout plan.

A representative of Weller said the congressman was "tending to a family matter."

But what about the other 112 votes Weller has missed in the past 12 months?

According to www.Govtrack.us, Weller has missed 213 out of 878 votes between Oct. 1, 2007, and Sept. 30. That means the retiring Weller has missed about 24 percent of the votes.

U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood of Peoria, a fellow Republican who also is retiring this year, has missed 127 votes in the same time period, about 14.4 percent.

Their records are positively stellar compared to the voting records of the two senators running for president as Democrat and Republican.

Illinois' own Barack Obama, a Democrat, has missed 205 of 286 votes in the Senate from Oct. 1, 2007, through Sept. 30 - 71.6 percent.

But Republican John McCain of Arizona has missed 230 of those votes - 80.4 percent.

In general, all the senators and representatives who sought the presidency have poor voting records, from Reps. Ron Paul, Duncan Hunter and Tom Tancredo to Sens. Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and Christopher Dodd.

Of course, with the exception of Biden - Obama's running mate - these other one-time candidates now have fewer distractions from their congressional duties.

While all those missed votes were not as critical as the closely watched bailout measure, they still raise the question of who's minding the store while elected officials run for another office or apparently begin to settle into retirement a bit prematurely.

A good staff can take care of many constituent concerns, but no staff member can cast votes in Congress. Plus, it appears Weller's office is already winding down its constituent services.

State Rep. Bill Mitchell, R-Forsyth, criticized Weller's missed vote on the bailout plan, saying he should resign if he is not going to do the job and let a special election be held.

However, this close to the general election, nothing could be gained from Weller's resignation.

What people in his district need is for Weller to earn his pay by showing up for votes between now and the end of his term and by being accessible to his constituents, including local government officials.

That goes for Sen. Obama, too.

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Reader comments on this story - 1 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

mds1 wrote on Oct 3, 2008 2:34 PM:

" I was just thinking about this a couple of weeks ago, and I think the solution to the problem of politicians not showing up to vote is to prorate their income. If there are sessions to discuss or vote on issues they should be there or lose some of their pay for not showing up. Also, they should not be allowed to be "present" without voting, unless there is a clear cut conflict of interest, which should be made public. If they don't want to do their jobs they shouldn't get paid for it. Also, if they campaign on company time, they should take a reduction in pay. I don't get paid to go apply for another job; why should they? This could save a lot of money and weed out the riff raff that don't really want to work for the citizens. The "just signed up for the pay check" politicians will run fast if these changes are made. "
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