Creating the 535
congress men and women, that represent the 112th Congress, 209 of
them consist of businessmen and women and 200 of them consist of legal
representatives (constitutioncenter.org). This figure represents the general
field, of prior work experience to serving as a member of congress (given that
many congress members list more than one profession to their title). The figure
illustrates the fact that many congressmen and women have either legal and or
business experience. Other professions include fields of work in: education,
law enforcement, military reserve and even science. All 535 members of congress
consists of people with all different work experience backgrounds not only
business; which creates an assembly that not only comes from all different parts
of the country, but one that also has many different backgrounds and or
experience. Prior business experience should not to be a necessary
qualification to run for congress, due to the fact that it will eliminate candidates
from different backgrounds, who have proven to be just as effective at leading
and bringing forth innovative ways to run the country in the past, nevertheless,
a strong sense of financial literacy and responsibility is essential to perform
the job correctly.
Congress consists of people with experience in many
fields of employment, representing their constituency that is comprised of a
wide array of demographics. By allowing candidates to run with different
qualifications, it allows for congressmen to specialize in different aspects of
the job. Nevertheless, a solid sense of financial knowledge is especially
necessary to run for congress and deal with all financial and budgetary
matters, which is one of the most important jobs of congress. Furthermore, it is
essential to have a diverse way of thinking in congress, not limiting the
members to one way of thinking and have each congressmen try to specialize in a
few issues instead of all of them.
Financial literacy is important for every American to
understand, but more importantly is essential for congress, who has the duty to
run the national budget. This requires a great sense of financial and fiscal
responsibility. This sense of responsibility is not only found in the business
world, instead can be found in everyday work. Making business experience
necessary to run, will not only limit the share of people able to run, but will
also limit the ability of a broader array of innovative thinkers. The United
States of America was founded by people that had all different types of work experience,
which created a backbone to one of the most successful countries in the world.
So why change this now?
-John Scalzo
