Good Governance can Work

The rancor permeating Washington is getting to me. While the loyal opposition is encouraged to vigorously present its ideas, it is not supposed to vilify and continually obstruct the party in power.

This is not a political statement. It’s a civics statement. Compromise is the art of politics. But as the parties are being pulled to their respective fringes, governance has become a nightmare and average people are feeling alienated.

Witness lately what has happened with the health care bill. Certainly, no one is satisfied with how their premiums keep going up while the benefits are always being cut. So, there must be some things that the two sides can do together? But the more vitriol that is spewed, the less likely it is that anything positive can occur.

It’s also counterproductive for the party out of power. Do the Republicans, for example, think they can win with only their Tea Party activists? Or do you think it more reasonable that they try to appeal to moderates who make up the majority of the electorate? Their lawmakers need to act like statesmen and stateswomen, standing up for their causes without using the kind of disturbing language that leads to illicit acts.

It’s not just the right wing fringe that does this. It’s also the radical left. If their mutual goals are to destroy each other then it should not be a mystery why the typical American holds their elected representation in such disrepute. The system, no doubt, works more efficiently when party leaders cross the aisle and craft the solutions necessary to address society’s ills.

The backlash from the health care debate is starting to have some resonance. Members of the two parties, for instance, are at least talking in earnest with respect to a banking bill or an energy bill that would take a more modest approach to curbing carbon emissions.

Believe me, I understand the strong sentiments on all sides of these issues – and have the reader responses to show for it. But it’s not about winning at all costs. It’s about generating rules and regulations that are workable and ones in which all sides can stake a claim. Americans will then take more pride in their system of government. ###

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