DAVE ROSS

When the going gets tough, the tough – don’t vote!

Oct 9, 2013, 6:03 AM | Updated: 9:28 am

There's a reason politicians don't want to vote, and the President revealed why when he called for a vote on the debt ceiling. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

(AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

One of the things we’re learning about our House and Senate during this shutdown is that certain things can’t even be voted on!

The Senate sends a resolution to the House to open the government – the House refuses to vote.

Then the House sends resolutions to the Senate to reopen parts of the government that everybody agrees ought to be reopened – and the Senate has been refusing to vote.

There are non-stop speeches about who’s right, and what’s best, and yet they avoid using the very mechanism that you’re supposed to use to finally come to a decision on who’s right and what’s best, which is to vote.

We ordinary people get scolded for being bad citizens when we don’t vote, but now we see that the very people who want us to vote, don’t want to vote.

But of course there’s a reason politicians don’t want to vote, and the president revealed why when he called for a vote on the debt ceiling.

“If in fact, some of these folks really believe it’s not that big of a deal they can vote no,” said Obama. “And if it fails and we do end up defaulting, I think voters should know who voted not to pay our bills. So they can be responsible for the consequences that come with it.”

There it is. Politicians don’t want to be responsible for the consequences that come with taking a tough vote. But these politicians who don’t want to take those tough votes, why did they run for office?

A politician who talks all the time about what we ought to be doing but never wants to be held responsible for the consequences of his opinions has no business in Congress. He needs to be either hosting a talk show or driving a cab.

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When the going gets tough, the tough – don’t vote!