As a member of the House of Representatives, as well as the Democratic party, there are a few things that I would like to illustrate on the subject of my work. I am Thomas John Allingham the 3rd, and am the House minority whip. I am a staunch supporter of the Democratic Party, and I am very interested in educating you on why the Democratic party's views should be supported by the general public. First, however, let me tell you more about myself. As I stated before, I am the House minority whip (of the Democratic party). This position is extremely important, in that it is my job to rally votes for the Democratic party, and to encourage the defeat of bills that do not follow my party's standards. Also, being a member of the House of Representatives, I am representing my state (New Jersey) and its people in Congress. I am working, unlike the Senate, with a group of over 400 men, all with differing viewpoints and agendas. So you can imagine that things can get a little hairy at times. I am not originally from NJ, as I was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I moved to New Jersey when I was young, and gradually grew to understand it's politics and ideas. Throughout high school and college, I kept in contact with Congressmen of NJ at the time, and soon gained political friends in our Government. When I graduated from Law School, I decided that I would not enter the field of politics, and instead work as a lawyer.
My 10 years of practicing law have been extraordinarily beneficial to my work as a Congressman. After ten years of practicing law, I decided to run for the House of Representatives. My choice was influenced not only by my love for my government, but also by my personal ideas and opinions on how our government should be run. I felt I could really make a difference, and still do feel that I am and will continue to make a difference in our government. Being a first year (rookie) Representative, I had to learn quite quickly that my position was not all glitz and glamour. Countless hours of tiresome toiling at telephones, teleconferences, and TWA flights can really give you some gray hair. But, hey, gray hair only makes you look more like a suave, sophisticated senior Representative. I learned that it isn't always easy to truly represent and support your constituents' views, your views, and also your political party's views all at the same time. There has to be some give somewhere, and unfortunately for me, that giving is usually done at the expense of my viewpoint. This can lead to some large headaches. Luckily, however, I own stock in Ibuprofrin, so even by getting headaches, I make money. Being a representative of the state of New Jersey, I don't represent the entire state. The state is divided into districts, which is actually what the Representatives represent. I represent District 4, which includes mostly middle working-class people, who don't make a great bundle of money.
This means that I want to limit taxes, raise minimum wage laws, and increase funding for public programs, being that these are what my constituents want me to do. I promised, before I was elected, to follow not only my best judgment, but also the needs of the people, and give the people what they want. In fact, that was my slogan - "Allingham - gives the people what they want!" Pretty catchy, isn't it? Anyway, in this first year, I found that it is harder than it looks to just give the people what they want. Legislature has to be debated, amended, rewritten, passed, failed, etc., before it finally gets into the form it needs to be into in order for it to become a law. Throughout this process, compromises are made, people aren't totally ecstatic, but are content, and a bill is made. When the House of Representatives is called together to debate a bill, we are divided into committees; bills that belong to corresponding committees are sent to them to be debated upon. This legislature is then voted on by the committee. If passed, it moves to the full House meeting, where it is debated and voted upon again. If it is passes again, It is brought to the attention of the Senate, who also debate it. If it is passed, it is finally voted upon by the entire Congressional body. If passed again, it is sent to the President for his John Hancock. Unfortunately, it doesn't always work that smoothly. Most of the time the poor bill is sent through amendments, vetoes, and a myriad of other legislative obstacles before it is finally made into a law.
Now, before you get the idea that being a Representative seems like the most boring job, filled with hard work and drudgery, I want you to take into consideration the benefits given to us. For instance, we get free healthcare, with a physician on call all the time. We get two offices, one in Washington, and one in our state, with free transportation between them. We get free postage just by signing our names to the envelopes. We get tax breaks, lunch breaks, and coffee breaks, as well as free use of a health spa, and free printing. We also have a staff of well trained individuals to help us out. We have people who research bills for us, people who run errands, someone to look over everyone as well as secretaries to type up our documents. We even have people to write our speeches. All these are paid for by the U.S. of A. As you can see, being a Representative in Congress isn't all that bad. It has major benefits and lots of little perks, but the main benefit in it for me is the feeling that I've done something to benefit the country. That is the greatest feeling of all. I plan to run for re-election as well, so when you see the name "Thomas John Allingham the 3rd", remember that I'm the one that gives the people what they want. Just write me and I'll listen, have a rally and I'll hear, speak your mind and I will follow your ideas, your views of what our government should be. For it is my belief, and I hope yours, too, that the government is run BY the people, as well as FOR the people.
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