U.S. Politics and Policy: Frustrating and Fascinating
I was at a lunch last week with a leader of one of the major political parties and s/he explained the “no” votes on a particular piece of legislation thusly, (I’m paraphrasing): “The legislation was good legislation, but only marginally impactful. We wanted the members of our party to vote against it, however, because it would mean that the other party would have to get all of their members to vote for it in able for it to pass, especially those in swing-districts or less safe seats. Meaning, of course, that they would be more vulnerable in their general elections.” The focus was not on the “good legislation” but on defeating the other party and having an issue to “get them” come election time.
I then read today somewhere the Senate Democratic leader was going to focus on “corruption” of the other party as the way to gain seats for his party, a la 1994 in the post-House banking era. Corruption is a big topic in Washington these days obviously because of Jack Abramoff, but rather than reacting to the news in front of their faces (both sides recently came out with Lobbying Reform Measures), how about focusing on the issues that will actually be impactful to the citizens of this nation? Healthcare anyone? Education? Broadband for every man, woman and child who wants it? No, let’s focus on lobbying reform. Politics is obviously a part of policy. It is the way the U.S. system works.
What happened, however, to IDEAS?!! What happened to the OPTIMISM of President Reagan? What happened to doing what is best for the country? What happened to doing what is best for your constituents? There are good ideas out there and the good ones will hopefully rise to the top. The process, however, is a bit frustrating. Perhaps I’ve been out of DC too long and have lost perspective. Perhaps not.
In related news, The Gallup Poll came out today and stated that only 27% of voters see the Congress in a favorable light. Perhaps lobbying reform (i.e. my read: not trusting themselves to throw a vote in exchange for a steak) will get them to 28%. I doubt it.
Posted by John Earnhardt at 08:35PM PST
Sean Garrett Jan 19, 2006
>>The process, however, is a bit frustrating. >>Perhaps I’ve been out of DC too long and have lost >>perspective.
Or, somewhat obviously, perhaps others have been in DC too long and have lost their perspective.
Though, John, I do hope that the Abramhoff ordeal will help in two ways. One, hopefully policymakers will be more apt to be “influenced” by the good ideas that you mention instead of those who “play the game” (all the way down to mandating who you hire). D vs. R is not the Crips vs. the Bloods. We all wear the same colors.
And, two, in this participtory age fueled by the Internet and mobile connectivity, hopefully the spirit of transparency and ideas could be fueled by new technologies and information resources that open the policy making process to more of a meritocracy.