In the hotly contested Senate race brewing between former Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wisconsin, and sitting Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin, the issue of committee attendance has been brought to the forefront. Johnson is being accused of missing 60 percent of the meetings he is now chairman of — the Homeland Security committee hearings.

Johnson’s campaign quickly fired back saying the sitting senator has actually attended 56 percent of the committee’s hearings and meetings.

Apparently, a 56 percent attendance record is something to brag about.

Feingold, though, should avoid using Johnson’s attendance record as a tool. During his tenure in the senate, Feingold was a member of the Foreign Relations committee and according to the Johnson campaign, Feingold had a 59 percent attendance record from 2005 to 2010. Clearly, going to work and attending meetings and hearings is not just a partisan problem.

In fact, two presidential candidates also have poor attendance records.

Republican candidates Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, have been criticized for their voting attendance records. Both Rubio and Cruz have missed upwards of 20 percent of their votes. The simplest, but most important duty of a lawmaker is to vote, but even the most simple and important part of the job is too difficult for some.

The rampant truancy going on in our nation’s capitol is perhaps highlighted best by former Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Connecticut, who, back in 2011, praised Johnson on his strong attendance. Apparently, going to just over half of meetings is a good thing. Apparently, simply doing the job “most of the time” is good enough. Or maybe Congress has realized they’ve done more harm than good, so they’ve simply stopped working.

Nonetheless, if there is a job that pays $174,000 where a 56 percent attendance record is “strong,” it shouldn’t be a job. Or rather, those occupying that job should be let go. In most jobs, like my summer job working for the highway department in my hometown, missing one day of work without advance notice would be reason enough to be fired — and I only got paid $10 an hour.

The only way for a business to deal with workers who don’t show up is to fire them. Lucky for us, “We the People” are the boss up in here, and we can decide to hold Congress to the same standards as we are held to at our jobs.

Luke Schaetzel ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in journalism and political science.