This is Why We Must Elect More Veterans to Office

by: Brandon Friedman

Thu Mar 20, 2008 at 02:51:31 AM EDT

How many of you have had to deal with this: You come home for your two-week leave period during the middle of your 15-month long deployment, only to find out that your wife or husband can't take off work for those two weeks. Thus, during those brief two weeks, you spend nine hours a day either watching TV or drinking beer while your spouse is at work. By the time your spouse gets home, he or she is tired from a long day.

If you've lived through this, you know that when work gets in the way, it can not only kill the excitement of the reunion, but that it can also add to the stress involved.

That's why Washington State Senator Steve Hobbs has managed to push through a bill--a bill just signed into law--that will force employers to grant their military spouse employees 15 days of unpaid leave either before or during a deployment. The purpose is to maximize the time couples get to spend together when one is home on leave.

But Steve isn't your average State Senator. Steve is a veteran of both Kosovo and Iraq. He is also a part of the new VoteVets.org Emerging Leaders program. And in this case, Captain Steve Hobbs is doing at the state level what the federal government has refused to do at the national level: He is supporting the troops.

Simply put, this is why we must elect more Iraq and Afghanistan veterans to office:

After spending time in Kosovo and Iraq, Hobbs, 38, continues to serve in the Army National Guard. He said he knows how important it is for soldiers to be with their families.

You can watch a news clip on the recently passed legislation here.

Brandon Friedman :: This is Why We Must Elect More Veterans to Office

Tags: Steve Hobbs, Washington, Emerging Leaders, (All Tags)

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This is Why We Must Elect More Veterans to Office | 1 comments

Veterans in Leadership. (0.00 / 0)

I think that is especially important that we have veterans who are identified as such in all levels of the government.

Think of it as a "threashold level" representation arguement. Even though there are very few African Americans and women in government there is at least sufficient numbers of those groups that their interests are represented.

With the demise of the WW II generation the awareness of military and veteran's concerns has dropped to nearly nothing. Making national service an identifying characteristic for a candidate makes sure that those around him respond to those issues.

by: Bill @ Thu Mar 20, 2008 at 07:23:35 AM CDT

This is Why We Must Elect More Veterans to Office | 1 comments

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