Broward County Commissioner Stacy Ritter rarely avoids clever sound bites and controversy. This time Ritter took dead aim at two southeast Florida Democratic institutions US Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Lois Frankel.

The two congressional members toured the runway enhancement/expansion at Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport on Monday and talked about their support of the progress on the progress with the project. It should be noted that the county not any local congressional member served as the driving force behind this project which is critical for the future of the region.

Ritter is rightly disappointed that North Perry Airport’s ATC operations would have ended Sunday if not for the county stepping in. The sequester is also impacting Boca Raton Airport’s operations and that is in Rep. Frankel’s district (but not in Broward County). Without question Ritter is correct, I have seen little or no leadership from local members of congress about the impact the sequester is having right here in southeastern Florida.

“They come here and they have their photo opportunities at our airport and they shake hands with the mayors and the cities of the districts they represent … and they come here and tell us how wonderful … and then they write a letter. Wow. I’m so impressed. I can’t tell you. Really. “I’m just shocked the same members of Congress whose names came up all the time about how supportive they are for Broward County aren’t getting anything done for Broward County.”

This can be contrasted with the reaction of Republican freshman Congressman Trey Radel and ten-year incumbent Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, both Republicans who have been open in discussing how local governments can work to find solutions to keep affected programs and airports in their districts going during the sequester.

It can be argued that Radel and Diaz-Balart are not accomplishing anything more than the southeast Florida Democrats Ritter is unhappy with, but at least they are trying to organize something beyond simply writing letters, having press conferences and sending out press releases.

The sequester is deadly serious business for most Americans and the longer this crisis has gone on, as a liberal Democrat I have found myself less pleased with lack of leadership coming from members of congress on BOTH SIDES OF THE AISLE. I initially took a very partisan view of this matter but no longer can do so. One local member of congress even trivialized the sequester by discussing the inconveniences to legislative staff in the Capitol rather than focusing on real people whose jobs depend on the Federal Government. Last month my colleague Sean Sorbie outlined how the sequester impacts military families. This is well worth a read again as the crisis intensifies.