You don’t have to be a policy wonk to know it when a congressman is a representative of the people.
http://www.thehawkeye.com/story/Monday-edit-102212
We needle him whenever he stops by our place about the lack of an office in Burlington. After all, his predecessor had one on Jefferson Street.
But the fact of the matter is, if you need assistance from Rep. Dave Loebsack, he or his staff will deliver. The results may not be what you hoped for, but the effort will be there.
And that’s the essence of what a member of the U.S. House of Representatives is supposed to do and one of the key reasons why voters in the newly configured 2nd District of Iowa should return Loebsack to Washington.
We’ve frequently interviewed Loebsack since he took on veteran incumbent Republican Jim Leach in 2006 and beat him. Back then he was a political science professor and political novice.
When he stopped by last week for a meeting with news staffers we asked what’s been the biggest revelation since taking office in January 2007.
Without hesitation, Loebsack shot back that he was a bit taken by the amount of case work a member of the House of Representatives is called upon to do.
The meaty issues of troop deployments and tax policies and health care aside, what a constituent really needs from their congressman is help when there’s a problem navigating Social Security or Medicare or the Internal Revenue Service. When a farmer in the 2nd District needs assistance understanding the machinations of the farm bill – if Congress ever gets around to passing a new one – they rightfully turn to their elected representative in the House.
On the issues, Loebsack defends the Affordable Care Act, which will provide important health care to millions of uninsured Americans and prevent insurance companies from saying no to people with pre-existing conditions. He’s anxious to get our troops home from Afghanistan.
The question before voters is this: Is there really a need to make a change in our representative in Washington?
In this case, Loebsack has performed on our behalf. So the answer is no. He’s earned another two-year term.
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