In November the voters of America fired a lot of politicians and hired new ones to work for them. Notice I said them. In the past, once most officials were elected, they went to work for the party or for the benefactors who financed their election campaigns. This time the people voted for a new direction in which they wanted their elected people to work for them. They wanted problem solvers. Someone who could undo a lot of wrong and try to set the country right.  

It is really hard to know if we have hired the right people. Just like any job opening we look at resumes, try to settle on the top two or three candidates and then after checking their background we hire them. The problem is we don’t really know if we have who we want until they have produced some kind of history of work for us. Most of the time it is like a marriage. Until the honeymoon is over and the real work starts, we have no idea how we work with each other or see if we are really compatible.  

In football these days we are hearing about a lot of coaches getting fired. When they were hired they were good old boys with a resume and some work history, but the reason they were fired was simple, they didn’t win big games their results did not come up to expectation. Oh they were true bloods as far as the school and the university was concerned, but the bottom line was, could they deliver a win in arch-rivalry games or bowl games. No one faults their character or their intentions, only results. 

The results we are looking for in the new hires we sent to Washington is not character or morals or their ability to be in the good old boys club. The results are what we are looking for and what we are expecting. 

The way we will get those results will be, to be in constant contact with them, looking over their work and asking questions as to why things are going or not going well. For too many years we sent them off with a wave at the train station or the airport and then never checked on them for two years or until the next election. When we did that, we were doing ourselves and our elected officials a disservice.

We don’t have to micro-manage or stay in their face all the time, but we need to make them aware that we are watching the books and ready to make a change in the near future if that becomes necessary. 

While being an advocate of term limits, we can also create our own term limits by keeping fresh faces in the game. I hate to keep using football terms, but good teams keep players fresh by replacing them from time to time to give them a chance to come out of the game, catch their breath and look at the game from the sidelines.  

We have, for way too long, sent people back to Washington only to see them getting back into their old habits and customs. Its time to give a new look, new perspective and new goals. How about to start with, lets bring government back to the people. The only way that can happen is to let them know who they are really working for.