Letter to the Editor

Reps are like taxi drivers

One thing citizens of the United States always seem to forget are the first three words written in the Constitution of the United States ... "We the People." The rest of the founding document details the limits we placed on a strong central government. It describes how the representatives, elected by the people, are to behave while in office. This means that the people's representatives are beholden to no one but the people in the districts that elected them. In short, they are employees of their respective district. Their sole purpose in life is to advance the will of their employers.

This arrangement is no different from a person getting into a cab and directing the taxi driver where he wants to go. One can conclude that the driver is following the instructions of the fare. The chauffeur is not leading the rider anywhere.

This simple analogy is true for elected officials. The people's representatives, therefore, are not leaders but serve at the pleasure of the people. There is not one leader among elected officials, they are all followers of the people's will.

Elvis Dunn, Jackson