Olympia Snowe: This is no way to run a country

[babylonsister]

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/10/09/204821/this-is-no-way-to-run-a-country.html

This is no way to run a country

Published: October 9, 2013 Updated 8 hours ago
By OLYMPIA SNOWE — Los Angeles Times

snip//

Instead, Congress has arrived at a moment when policy-making has been virtually abandoned. It has devolved into a series of "gotcha" votes for political leverage. Rather than legislating, it's all about "messaging" amendments, which aren't designed to solve a problem but to create the basis for appeals to each party's political base and 30-second soundbites for the next election.

As a consequence, Congress lurches from one self-inflicted crisis to another, and that is no way to govern. This abdication of leadership has led us directly to a government shutdown and a potential default on our country's financial obligations that profoundly threaten our economy precisely as we struggle to emerge from the worst post-recession recovery in our history.

Still, there is hope. Ultimately, we get the government we demand.

What is required is a political reward at the ballot box for those politicians who work toward common ground, and a penalty for those who do not. That's my message now. And to further it, I've established Olympia's List, a rallying point for those interested in identifying and supporting candidates who are willing to reach across the political aisle and follow the principles of consensus-building. And at the Bipartisan Policy Center, where I am a senior fellow, we are encouraging Americans to join a new effort called Citizens for Political Reform to demand bipartisanship.

There are already plenty of incentives for incendiary rhetoric and thwarting action. We can alter those incentives. What is necessary now is a counterweight to the extremism, a groundswell of recognition that there is strength in compromise, courage in conciliation and honor in consensus-building that will leave a legacy of responsible stewardship for the generations to come.

That is the essence of my new line of work, and I'll be fighting tooth and nail to make it happen so that Congress can, in fact, govern once again.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

1. I'm very critical of the Democratic Party ...

... but this seems to blame both parties for the mess by continuously citing "Congress" as the problem. Let's make no mistake about it, what's wrong with Congress is not the Democratic Party (they may support legislation that I don't like, but they are not the problem with the process). It is the Republican Party and their media acolytes that is the problem.

This, by Mrs. Snow, is just trying to blur the real issue. Muddy the waters, so to speak.

Believe me, I'm the first to be critical of the Democratic Party, but the problem with Congressional Procedure is not the Democrat's fault.

[babylonsister]

2. I actually think, without naming names, her ire is directed

at the rethugs. It wouldn't be in her best interests to disown her party, though why not? They surely deserve it.


THIS sounds appealing, and again, imo, directed at rethugs.

What is required is a political reward at the ballot box for those politicians who work toward common ground, and a penalty for those who do not.

[okwmember]

3. Sorry Lady.

You loved to wrap yourself in the cloak of bipartisanship and sensibility, but when push came to shove you voted with the crazies.

[Chuuku Davis]

4. I disagree with this part

" Ultimately, we get the government we demand."

That has not happened since the 60s as far as I am concerned

[longship]

5. But it is an effective way to ruin a country.

Could not resist.

[geek tragedy]

6. The creation of Olympia's List is a really exciting development

said no one.