Working for no one?

CNN recently investigated Rep. Todd Young, and Young had to pay $5,300 in back taxes.
It was discovered he claimed a homestead credit for a house he was no longer living in.
Young said it was an honest mistake.
It very well could have been. You’d be hard pressed to find someone who fully understands U.S. tax code.
However, Young is on the House Ways and Means Committee, which writes tax law.
He isn’t the only one who had problems.
At least eight members of the committee had some sort of tax error.
The people who make the taxes should probably get their forms right the first time around.
This problem extends to more than just one representative, more than one committee.
Our government is overwhelmingly letting us down.
We’re entrenched in wars we can’t win, and in wars we can’t safely exit.
The National Security Agency is spying on us, lying about it and spying more.
Our representatives never get anything done and seem to flounder and argue before taking a month-long vacation.
The new standard is government incompetence.
Tax mistakes are hardly the worst.
Congressional approval is hovering around 14 percent.
If they had any other job, they’d be fired instantly. So why haven’t they been?
The government is not the core of the issue.
We’re a democracy, and, unfortunately, that means if there’s a problem, it’s our responsibility and our job to fix it.
If we don’t like the way things are being run, we have to change it, and that means voting.
But the data tells a story of indifference.
As of 2012, 90 percent of House incumbents who sought re-election won.
Maybe it’s name recognition, maybe it’s loyalty and sunk costs or maybe we just don’t care.
But something is driving us to keep pounding on the chest of a dead system, giving third chances to people who wasted their second ones.
We have to ask ourselves if these representatives are working in our best interest.
Are they keeping their promises?
Are they beholden to only their constituents?
If we can’t be sure of these answers, we need to try and make our government better.
But we also have to ask ourselves questions.
Are we satisfied with our representatives?
Even if they’re from our party, did they really do a good job?
Are they dealing with the issues that matter to us?
Are we informed on all the candidates?
Are we going out and voting in meaningful ways?
If we can’t answer these, what we think about our representatives doesn’t really matter.
If we’re not an informed public, we can’t shape the government in good ways.
We need to ask ourselves not only if our government is working for us, but also if we’re working for ourselves.
If not, then why even bother with democracy?

sckroll@indiana.edu