Junk Bond
John is a Vietnam veteran and retired business executive. He loves America and hates to see what’s happened in Washington the past few years. He believes in liberty and Constitutional limitations on government growth.
He called the Tea Party just to vent and to see if it’s just him.
Recently, John had called Senator Kit Bond’s (R-MO) office in Washington. He wanted to know whether stories that Bond had signed off a $659 million earmark for soy bean farmers were true.
According to John, the Bond staffer who answered the phone was terse, rude, and argumentative. She balked at being called a “lady,” though she couldn’t think of an acceptable alternative. She hung up on the constituent and veteran twice. She threatened to call the police if he called back.
John’s offense? He had the audacity to ask about the earmark and state his view that Bond and his staff are our employees.
I was not able to speak to anyone at Bond’s office to confirm, but John’s story wasn’t the first like it. Senator Bond, one of the biggest porkers in Congress, has a reputation for being rude to constituents . . . unless, of course, they come bearing campaign contributions. Now that he’s retiring from the Senate, even donors are in trouble.
Bond’s local office was more polite to John, but they still argued with him, claiming John’s assessment of Bond’s political career was unfair.
John contrasted for me his treatment with Senator Claire McCaskill’s (D-MO) office staff. McCaskill’s people were not only polite, they were polite while arguing policy with John. While John admits he can be short and direct, he felt that never went there with McCaskill’s polite, professional, and enthusiastic staff.
Now, I agree with Sen. Bond on most issues and I disagree with McCaskill on just about everything. (Same for Tea Partier John.) Where John and I have more in common with Claire than with Bond is on the point of customer service. Claire understands how to treat constituents on the phone; Bond simply does not.
Want to know why the Tea Party is viewed more favorably than the Republican Party? This story tells it all.
Wake up, GOP. You’re on the road to losing seats in 2010 rather than gaining them.
And don’t forget to check out my new ebook, Zen Conservatism! The price goes up $3 on Monday, December 14.
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To her credit, McCaskill did give credit to townhall attendees, while her Party line was to dismiss them as “Astroturf.” She even held hers when many cancelled them. She even replied to an e-mail I sent about Gerald Walpin (although her answer was that notice after his firing complied with a statutory requirement of thirty days advance notice). The problem with her is the substance of her policies.
Bond can be counted on for big votes, but he’ll tend to let little ones go the wrong way. With his upcoming retirement, he will hardly be concerned with constituent relations. Better now to focus on who replaces him. And it CANNOT be Robin Carnahan.
McCaskill’s stock doesn’t go up just because her office does what it’s supposed to do. When you call a public officials office or anyone for that matter you expect civility and polite discourse. But it is refreshing to hear that someone had a good experience dealing with the govt.
Bond on the other hand is a disappointment. As the previous poster said you can count on him for the big votes but at the end of the day he is a politician open to make a deal and compromise his constituents wishes. Maybe it’s due to the fact that he is retiring but regardless we need a change.
We need to better vet our candidates and vote for those that hold these ideals..
• Limited government power
• A balanced budget
• Personal liberty
• Strict adherence to the Constitution
• Sound money
• A strong defense while avoiding all undeclared wars
• No nation-building and no policing the world
John Galt
I have called both senators’ offices many times in the past year, in both Washington and St. Louis. I have always been treated with great respect by both. Both also answer letters respectfully. McCaskill has, however, failed to answer my most recent letter concerning the illegal firing of Gerald Walpin by Barack Obama. There is no way he could legally or logically comply with the thirty day notice after the fact. McCaskill has irresponsibly given Obama a pass on the statutory requirements of the applicable law, even though she and Obama were sponsors of the law in the Senate. We don’t need this type of poor representation in Washington, particularly where Inspectors General are concerned.