Marj-at-Large: News &Views
  • News & Views
    • About the Author
  • Right Now
  • My Take
    • Bright Spots >
      • Where Has All the Kindness Gone?
      • A New Day on the Way: Jan. 3, 2019
      • Blessed Are the Peacemakers
      • The Audacity of Hope
      • Issues >
        • Budget and Taxes
        • The Environment
        • Guns
        • Health Care >
          • Statistics
      • The Purity of It All: LLWS
      • The Polling Place Adventure
      • July Potpourri
      • The Unexpected Bison
    • State of the Union >
      • 12/5/18: The Best of Days, the Worst of Days
      • 7/17/18: Deals With Dictators, Episode 2
      • 5/17/18: Suffer the Children
      • 4/7/18: Never Let a Crisis Go To Waste
      • 12/6/17: The Centre Cannot Hold
    • Saving the Children and Other Living Things >
      • Saving the Elephants
    • Taxes, Broadly Speaking
    • Health Care
    • Presidential Malpractice >
      • 6/22/18: Gratuitous Brutality
    • The Political Parties >
      • 2/2/18: GOP: The Cabinet Chorus of Praise
  • Marj-inized
  • Readers Write
    • Your Turn

Dems to Shift Focus to Problem Solving ... What a Concept!                                 ________________________________________________________________

12/16/2018

0 Comments

 
​A few days ago, newly-elected House Democrats, apparently so recently arrived in D.C. that they haven’t lost their perspective, called on party leaders to focus on solving problems and make actiontheir number one priority.  
 
The goal is to avert a stampede into a congressional investigation of the many crimes and humanitarian sins of Donald Trump in favor of actually getting something donewhen the new Congress convenes. Investigating, after all, is currently in the hands of Robert Mueller and his staff, who seem to need no help in that regard. 
 
A congressional investigation would, no doubt, make headlines; it would entertain those who, addicted to Trump’s tantrums, taunts, and tweets, want politics to be a “reality” show experience; it would provide fodder for cable news TV which (make no mistake) has flourished on the chaos they’ve brought us by their nonstop coverage of Trump’s shenanigans on the campaign trail and beyond. 
 
But an investigation wouldn’t respond to John McCain’s remonstrance in one of his final appearances on the Senate floor: “We’re getting nothing done, my friends. We’re getting nothing done.”
 
The time may come for investigation, but right now the country is hungry for solutions to long-neglected problems that, in one way or another, affect us all. Single party government by the Republicans has accomplished next to nothing, as McCain recognized.


​

“Stop listening to the bombastic loudmouths on the radio and television and the internet,” he demanded. “To hell with them. They don’t want anything done for the public good. Our incapacity is their livelihood. … What have we to lose by trying to work together to find … solutions? … The success of the Senate is important to the continued success of America. … That responsibility is more important than any of our personal interests or affiliations.” 
 
The same can be said of the House.
 
With Democrats about to dominate the lower chamber and some Republicans beginning (it seems) to see the truth behind McCain’s rebuke, it’s time to listen to the invigorated newcomers that will soon inhabit the House. It’s time for Congress to focus on infrastructure, criminal justice reform, exploding student debt, for instance. It’s time to develop a sensible, humane immigration process. It’s time to address the issue of homelessness, ethics in government, election reform.
 
There have been glimmers of hope in some arenas—in the recognition, for instance, that we incarcerate many more people than we need to in our bloated (and inexplicably partially privatized) prison system. 
 
Eventually, perhaps, we can even tackle two areas that suck the lifeblood out of the body politic: the oceans of money that dominate our electoral politics (thanks, Citizens United) and a tax structure that prioritizes lowering taxes for the wealthy over sustaining safety net systems for the less fortunate among us. 
 
Obviously, we can’t do all of this at once. But we can start.
"A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government."
Edward Abbey, American author and essayist
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Thoughts for Our Time

    “Conservatism discards Prescription, shrinks from Principle, disavows Progress; having rejected all respect for antiquity, it offers no redress for the present, and makes no preparation for the future.”
    ~Benjamin Disraeli

    Archives

    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017

    Categories

    All
    Candidates
    Civility Or Lack Thereof
    Civil Rights
    Congress
    Constitution
    Elections
    Guns
    Immigration
    Justice System
    Privacy Issues
    Reflections
    Reproductive Rights
    Satire
    Taxes
    The Economy
    The Political Parties
    The Press
    Trump

    RSS Feed

Copyright © 2017