Doing the Job You're Paid to Do: Candidate Rubio vs. Candidate Sanders

On a Tuesday morning this past October, the U.S. Senate held a confirmation vote for Ann Donnelly, judicial nominee for the U.S. Eastern District bench.  Marco Rubio was not present.

Just three hours later, however, he found time to make an appearance on the Senate floor to speechify in favor of firing government workers who fail to do their jobs.

"All we're saying in this bill is that if you work at the V.A., and you aren't doing your job, they get to fire you.  I think people are shocked that (doesn't) actually exist in the entire government, since there is really no other job in the country where if you don't do your job, you don't get fired... This should actually be the rule in the entire government.  If you're not doing your job, you should be fired."

Noting how little time Mr. Rubio is actually spending in Washington these days (you know, actually doing his job), the Washington Post questioned whether he, in support of his own argument, should be fired.  Mr. Rubio responded: "Guys, I'm running for president. When I miss votes, it's not because I'm on vacation."

what eye thynk:  Okay, he has a point, though there does seem to be a double standard here--taxpayer funded absenteeism at the VA? Bad.  Taxpayer funded absenteeism for politicians? Good.  It hardly seems fair.  

 I will admit to getting a tad testy when I think about my tax dollars being used to fund what is essentially a job hunting exercise every few years.  If these people worked for General Motors, would they expect full pay while they took time off to interview at Chrysler?  To level the playing field, I advocate for a pay reduction for ALL candidates who think it's their right to sup their way through a full government menu while running for office--presidential, congressional, or local. 

In Marco Rubio's particular case, the argument that he can't do his job because he's busy interviewing for a better one, just really rankles.  In 2015 alone, Mr. Rubio has missed Senate votes 30 percent of the time.  During the same period, Bernie Sanders, another presidential candidate who, it would seem, must logically have the same busy schedule as Mr. Rubio, has missed only 3.4 percent of the Senate votes.

So you see, Marco, it is possible to run for president and still do your job--you just have to care first.