Why We Should Pass the Damn COVID Relief Bill Now | Opinion
On 2/21/21 at 7:00 AM EST
I'm not sure anyone wants to hear more about Texas Senator
Ted Cruz and his Cancún winter break. But just indulge me. Basically, the moral of the story is this: lawmakers like Cruz and Texas Governor
Greg Abbott have forgotten what their job is really about. My little case study: during my first reporting job in the '70s, I was assigned to cover a meeting held by the late
Mendel Davis in a recreation center in downtown Beaufort, South Carolina. Davis was seated up front in the hall, flanked by a couple of staffers at what looked like a folding party table. Person after person would approach Davis and asked about things like help with late social security checks and fixing potholes on the federal highway. Davis spent hours at that table; his staff would scribble everything down, take phone numbers and promise to get back. The Mendel Davis rule of governing? Be there for your constituents and solve problems for them—not appear on T.V. and blame your enemies for, well, everything. More on that later in the column. But meanwhile, here's what I have in