Hold incumbents accountable

In two recent surveys, for CNN/ORC International and the Washington Post, 86 percent of the public supported some form of background check for gun sales. When legislators don’t comply with the will of the majority of the citizens of the United States, logic dictates that they be removed from office. That removal is done with our vote.

The failure of background check legislation is a result of politicians bending to the influence of lobbyists that in this case represented a minority of the U.S. citizens. Our government representatives did not represent “We, the people.”

Government representatives have failed to do their jobs, certainly in this situation, and certainly when we consider the discombobulated performance our elected officials demonstrated in their inability to work together on budget, taxes and expense reductions (government shutdown, etc.).

These representatives failed us and, as owners of the government, the people failed in our responsibility to effectively manage our country and our employees. We do that with our vote.

Every incumbent should be held responsible for the failures. Replace every incumbent every election cycle.

Let’s do our job and hold our government accountable.

Alan Budzier

Mead