Why should anyone care about the contest for U.S. House District 1 – Jo Bonner vs. Peter Gounares?
Bonner is well-liked by his constituents mostly. He is rising through the ranks of Congress into positions of power. He is following in the footsteps of Frank Boykin and his mentor Sonny Callahan in playing the game. He was able to bring home $21.6 million in earmarks (”pork”) to South Alabama last year. He and his wife took trips to Europe on the taxpayer’s dime, but that is relatively small potatoes.
The problem is that the current game as he plays it is unsustainable. Look at the debt crisis in southern Europe. You might ask – how did voters in Greece, Spain, Ireland etc. let their governments bankrupt themselves? The answer is – voters and businesses are going to act in their self interest right up until things fall apart.
Look at the situation in the U.S.:
The current course of the U.S. is also unsustainable. The only way to change it is to vote for people who take the problem seriously before it is irreversible.
Bonner’s lifetime rating from Citizen’s Against Government Waste is 55 (out of 100). Bonner has been improving in this regard but he could do much better.
The conundrum for us and all House districts is that by voting out someone who “brings home the pork” we are hurting our area in the short run. In a type of game theory - everyone would have to vote out the porkers to save our country but no one wants to be the first one to do it because they will lose out. That is a major faultline in our democracy – no one wants to take the first step. Think “chicken”, “prisoner’s dilemma“, “Nash equilibrium” (of A Beautiful Mind’s John Nash).
| Cooperate | Defect | |
|---|---|---|
| Cooperate |
win-win
|
lose much-win much |
| Defect |
win much-lose much
|
lose-lose
|
Gounares is inexperienced, and we are not sure of the wisdom of his stance of voting against TARP, but we do believe that he would be serious about fiscal responsibilty. To those who are liberal, Democrats, are otherwise worried about his endorsement by Tea Parties you might ask yourself – will Bonner really vote differently (i.e. the way you want) on other issues?
So although it would be tough to vote against Bonner – a popular and promising incumbent – it is worth considering at least to let him know that we do care and will be watching how seriously he takes our country’s debt problem.
