In a quote commonly attributed to Mark Twain, the author and humorist opined that no man’s property is safe when Congress is in session. In an era where partisan politics, filibusters, and finger-pointing have paralyzed the legislative branch into a state of permanent gridlock, it may no longer matter whether Congress is in session or whether they vote to stay in recess until after the new Congress takes office. In the meantime, nothing will change.
No holder of national office, incumbent or newly-elected challenger, will have the political courage to take up the real issues that inflict our nation. There will be no budget proposed or passed, and Harry Reid has bottled up every effort of the Republican-controlled House of Representatives to pass a budget acceptable to the Democrat-controlled Senate.
The budget deficit is a pressing issue that festers like a sore that needs immediate attention, but it, too, will wait for a new Congress to take up the issue…after the votes have been cast and counted, and long after each member who takes office has been assigned to the appropriate committees. Then there will be the committee meetings and the speech-making ( a horrible process for problem-solving), and then they will pass temporary measures to delay the difficult decisions they will ultimately need to make.
Congress needs a better method of clearly communicating with the people who voted them into office, but it may be too much to ask a politician to clearly state their position on any important issue. If we put them under a microscope, we may find that they don’t have any positions on the issues. We may come to the realization that we just elected a Congress based on big money, blind ambition, and a certain well-crafted image. If they look like a politician and talk like a politician, well, they must be a politician.
Our society has evolved into a world of soundbytes, news slants, and biased reporting, presented in a 24/7 continuous loop. The information the American public receives on any issue is delivered from an elected official who hides behind a shield of political identity. Conservatives and Republicans will speak from behind a shield of their creation, and Democrats and Liberals will speak from behind a shield of their own. Few of them will dare to step out from behind those shields to become problem-solvers. Those who find the courage to stand in the middle have a fair chance at becoming the true heroes of Congress, but not until they are reviled by both ends of the political spectrum.
Historically, the decisions that resolved our nation’s problems were close decisions by crossover votes of Democrats and Republicans who chose to stop playing politics. In a perfect world, the tough decisions could be made by Independents if American voters elected a large number of them, but the cards are stacked against the election of Independents to national office. We have two in the Senate, and none in the House. So the tough pulling, the hard work, will need to be done by moderates, the same members of Congress who are perceived as weak for not standing behind the shields of the polarized liberal and conservative blocs.
The new problem solvers will be labeled as moderates. Somehow, the word “moderate” has taken on the same political connotation as “progressive” in political discourse, and the press has molded the words into meanings that suggest that a moderate is weak for not blindly adhering to the positions of conservatives and liberals. Progressives are seen as seeking change when the traditional ways of politics work just fine: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Even a cursory examination of the politics of today will quickly reveal that we face enormous problems that require quick and non-partisan action by Congress.
It is broke, and it needs fixing.
Who will be the problem-solvers? Who has the courage to be a moderate, and bring a partisan Congress together to solve our problems? Who has the guts and the determination to withstand the barbs of public opinion and news opiners? Who will ignore the partisan criticism of members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and lead the charge through the problem-solving process for the benefit of Americans? It will require more than good hair, a flashy smile, and the ability to engage in spontaneous small talk. It will require courage and vision.
America has elected a new Congress that is polarized at extreme ends of the political spectrum , and we have entered a period of finger-pointing and blame, with the only politically-correct response to solving our national problems will be “No.” After the flaming bus has plunged off the cliff of public opinion, Congress will enter a period of problem-solving. It will turn ugly.
Let’s hope that we have elected a few superstars to lead the effort. Until then, we can console ourselves with the thought that they won’t mess it all up until after the Inaugural, and until time has nearly run out. It is no longer acceptable for the House of Representatives to pass bills sponsored by Republicans and voted upon by a Republican majority, only to be crushed by a Democrat-controlled Senate with a resounding “No.” It is time for political posturing to be put aside and for both houses of Congress to begin building a record of Yes votes for the sake of the country.
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