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The Cat Fight at the OK Corral

By on December 21, 2011

It is hard to ignore recent developments in Washington if you hold any hope for progress in health care reform. A bill extending a payroll tax break affecting 160 million Americans was pared down to a two month extension in the Senate with pork-like greasing of the skids for the keystone pipeline for oil companies larded onto it. The House Republicans then pulled the rug out from under the deal by voting it down along party lines before skipping town.

According to published reports, communications between the Republican Speaker of the House and Republican Senate Minority leader broke down, the Senate leader thinking he had brokered a deal the House would support.  The Senate then left town to hit the holiday party circuit back home, leaving the deal in limbo. Speaker of the House Boehner finally held a press conference blaming the president and demanding he come ‘do something about all this.’

These sorts of shenanigans have become business as usual in our dysfunctional Congress. Politics seem to trump substance in matters at hand. We can predict what Democrats and Republicans will have to say about every breakdown, but who cares to listen anymore.  This is glorified hissing and spitting.

And it has become intolerable. The argument that a two-month agreement is wrong so they will oblige none at all defies reason. That they leave their jobs while others are still at work across the country is just more out of the litter box behavior.

Time to put the cats out.

And it’s time for Independent voters to assert themselves. This is the largest voting bloc in the nation and it has been silent and passive for too long. There are so many issues like fixing health care reform, the economy, costly wars, increasing poverty and ignorance that need serious attention right now that we cannot afford to overlook irresponsible cat-fighting.

This must be a clarion call to the adults in the national room — Independent voters. Next year they need to take a hard look at the members of Congress and put out extremists, nut cases, party-liners, space cadets and those who vote the interests of their large contributors. That will require looking beyond the glad-handing and baby-kissing. That will require voters to dig below the catchy sloganeering and negative media ads. That will require them to actually pay attention. The Independents seem to be the only ones who might do this evenhandedly.

That said, I’m sure they would welcome signs from the two established parties that they have received ‘the message’ and are ready to change the way they do business. That requires new leadership in both houses, and campaign reform laws that restrict the bloat and get the big money out of the process. We do not need nor do we want presidential campaigns that last years and cost billions, mostly going to dreadful media ads that pollute the screens of America. Britons limit the length of their campaigns. Why can’t we?

If we did, it might actually leave some time for things like governing and dealing sensibly with the issues before Congress. Republicans keep saying they want less government. Reducing the costs and lengths of campaigning would be one way to accomplish that. Democrats want reform and progress.  Maybe this is the one area where they can agree.

Tom Godfrey

 

About Tom Godfrey

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