Faith in Government

You may be shocked to learn that I am a regular reader of DailyKos. Nowadays I just read the RSS Feed, but every once in a while I drop in to have a look at diaries that didn't make it to the front page. Today I came across this one

A new, and laudable, trend among politicians has been to really understand one of the major challenges in the lives of some of their most vulnerable constituents. Last month, Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski started the trend by taking the "food stamp challenge," limiting his food allowance for a week to $21.

More inspirational than the article is the idea that there are lawmakers in our country willing to not only make a statement, but also live the life--however briefly--of people in poverty, just to show us and remind themselves how high the stakes are.

It's people like them that give me a renewed faith in government.