Do Your Job, Or Lose Your Job

Do Your Job, Or Lose Your Job

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

January 5, 2012

A sad and pathetic irony hovers over the capitol building in Indianapolis just days into what should have been the opening session of the 2012 legislative season.

That irony is the renewed threat of the overwhelming majority of Democratic legislators to once again flee Indiana to the Land of Lincoln shunning their jobs while thousands upon thousands of Hoosiers remain unemployed.

The bigger irony is the reason for the Democratic feckless abandonment of their sworn duties on behalf of those voters who sent them to Indianapolis in the first place – their objection to the passage of right-to-work legislation that could see thousands of the jobless return to the rolls of the employed and off the government dole.

The majority of the Democrats, led by House Minority Leader B. Patrick Bauer (South Bend), are attempting to filibuster by not allowing the House to even be gaveled into session in the first place. Bauer said the Democrats would only return to their elected jobs if the Republicans would agree to hold statewide hearings on the right-to-work issue first.

The behavior of the Democrats last year was demonstrative of their unwillingness to be honest brokers and play by the rules. “If you meet one request, they suddenly have 11 more,” said House Speaker Brian Bosma (R-Indianapolis) of the minority party which is preventing legislative business from being conducted.

Under right-to-work legislation, supported vigorously by Governor Mitch Daniels (R), the rights of workers who opt not to join a union will be protected. Opponents to such legislation, like union leaders, say this bill would give representation to workers who did not pay for the privilege. Ultimately, passage of the bill will create jobs and promote economic growth, which should be goals of all House members, Democrat and Republican alike.

While the Republicans outnumber the Democrats 60-40 in the House, it is still the responsibility of all members to show up to work, pitch their “A” game, take their lumps if they are on the short side of a vote and forge ahead to the next battle. So, the Democrats can either show up and do their jobs, or they can sheepishly skulk out of state and eventually lose their jobs – that choice is theirs, just as it should be for workers to join or not join a union.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.