I did a post on Wednesday of last week, “How to fix a broken U.S. Government,” which
emphasized the importance of negotiating, a lost art from the days of Sam
Rayburn and Lyndon Johnson. During those
periods, an old hand at the job, and Johnson and Rayburn were not only
well-entrenched but also well respected, could talk to his or her fellow
legislators and somehow come to a reconciliation that was favorable for both
side. This mastery of politics has been
gone for, let me see, at least as far back to when George W. Bush became
president.
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| Mitch McConnell |
So far the GOP hasn’t recovered from an election they
thought they would win, and Sen. McConnell has never retreated from his
statement to make Obama a one-term President, which obviously failed. Joe Palermo said following the 2012 election, “McConnell now promises the next best thing: Continue
to abuse the filibuster as no Senate minority in American history has and gum
up the works while demanding total capitulation on Obama's part before any bill
can escape the clutches of his icy, deadening hand.” In Washington things never seem to change.
So with McConnell as the Senate Minority Leader, how is it
that Ira Shapiro thinks this dysfunctional body can fix Washington? He says the consensus
is already formed and that politics under president Obama’s second term will
continue to be polarized. But he wants a
“rejuvenated” Senate to be the nation’s mediator. Somehow I can’t see Harry Reid, Senate
Majority Leader and Mitch McConnell coming together on any major issues, except
maybe gun control. Reid has refused to
back Obama on the assault weapons ban.
Democrats do have control of the Senate and won 25 out of 33
elections in 2012, which Shapiro reads as a reaction to GOP extremism and
obstructionism. The question is whether
this trend can continue with momentum leading through the 2014 elections where
the incumbent President’s party traditionally loses seats in Congress. Palermo’s article was over three months ago
but now Shapiro says the country is in need of responsible adult leadership,
something sorely lacking in both houses of Congress.
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| Harry Reid |
Shapiro the optimist thinks, “The Senate is the only
realistic partner to the president in seeking constructive solutions to the
nation's challenges on guns, climate change and immigration.” I hope he is right because, aside from the
economy and jobs, these are the three most important issues facing the United
States. And in continued optimism he
believes the majority of the Senate is serious about facing the challenges of
the country. On the other hand we are
just four days away from the $1.2 trillion in budget cuts that many say will
paralyze the U.S.
Lyndon Johnson, along with Mike Mansfield, Everett Dirksen and
Howard Baker are cited in Shapiro’s article illustrating a quality of
leadership lost on today’s Senate.
Although Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell didn’t create the current political
barricades in the Senate, it has certainly flourished under their watch. Will they eventually retire having failed to
accomplish the demands facing Congress today, or will they emerge finally as
leaders who figure out that it is necessary to negotiate, not constantly call
checkmate? The ball is clearly in their
court.
