Common Ground

[Nuclear Unicorn]

A poster listed term limits yesterday as a worthy political agenda. When I pointed out that idea was advanced by Newt Gingrich the poster--politely and invitingly--suggested that we should be willing to work with conservatives.

Another issue I'm pretty sure conservatives aren't very happy with is using public funds for corporate bailouts.

We often complain that what we want is stymied by our political opposites.

Is it worth working with conservatives on those policies we do agree on?

If so, what are some other common areas of agreement that could be accomplished?

[patrice]

1. I think term limits without campaign finance and voting reform would be very counterproductive.nt

[Caliman73]

7. You would have to add restrictions to professional lobbying as well.

The problem with term limits in my opinion is actually that the politicians come and go, but the staffers and the the lobbyists never do. Their power grows steadily while the politicians have to learn the ropes every few years.

[Dr Morbius]

2. There are so few policies on which we actually agree.

But yeah, assuming it's possible to find such policies, I'm all for working with conservatives.

And I don't believe in term limits, or consider this a worthwhile goal. Right now, the people represented by a given congressperson get to decide for themselves if he or she has been in too long; I prefer it that way. Hell, it's so hard to find a good one, why make a rule that insists we have to lose them? Term limits won't improve the quality of legislators or legislation.

[zipplewrath]

3. Issues outside of the divide

There are issues, like term limits, that tend to be "outside" the classic dem/pub divisions. People in both parties disagree with each other about them. Congress critters, and various advocacy organizations can and do work on them without involving party politics.

[BeFree]

4. Waste of time

We are leading and they are a drag. If they want to work with us, fine.

Let them make a real proposal and we'll look it over. All they have offered so far is manure and we rightfully have buried it.

[Hekate]

5. Term limits are a disaster, thank you very much, ensuring that as soon as an officeholder...

... gains enough experience to be useful to his/her constituency, s/he has to exit, leaving behind a coterie of lobbyists who answer to no one but their corporate masters, lobbyists ready willing and able to "advise" the next batch of freshmen officeholders who come stumbling in.

The US Constitution has a remedy for dissatisfied citizens. It's called "elections," and it worked pretty well for over 200 years. Nothing is perfect, but it sure is better than the "term limits" foisted off on the citizenry by people who really and truly do NOT want government to work at all.

We Californians are living with the results of this misguided notion.

Hekate

[Nuclear Unicorn]

6. OK, so most folks here don't like term limits...

...fair enough.

But what about ending corporate bailouts?

Is that a cause worth fighting for as allies?

Believe this or not many conservatives are just normal folks. I think if we had a common cause they would find out that progressives aren't nearly as they have been lead to believe.

No, really, there's no reason to be scared of the diminuitive hippie chick.

[Caliman73]

8. Depends....

Which conservatives are you talking about? Just last year the Republicans were talking about how horrible it was that we bailed out Wall Street and how companies "too big to fail" should not exist. President Obama approached the issue and said, "Sounds good, let's work on splitting them up and getting some solid regulations in place." The Republicans suddenly realized that things weren't so bad. Find a powerful Conservative who is willing to lead on this issue and I am sure that the Administration would work with that person.

[walldude]

9. Here's the problem with finding common ground with Conservatives...

I can't. We may both(liberals and conservatives) think the oil spill is fucked up but Conservatives are blaming it on Environmentalists. How do you argue with something so outlandish? The reason oil is spilling in the gulf is that we didn't allow drilling in ANWAR? It's insanity.

I disliked the Health Care Reform bill as much as many Conservatives did. But not for the same reasons. I was worried about it being a corporate giveaway, about people being able to afford "mandatory" insurance, worried that all people would be covered. They were screaming about Socialism and Death Panels and yelling for the government to keep their hands off of their Medicare. How the fuck do you find common ground with that?

Way back when Cheney was holding his secret energy meetings, I had a debate about it with a Conservative where I worked. His response to the whole thing was "I can't think of anyone better to determine energy policy than the energy companies". Now how do I find common ground with a person who actually thinks that the people who stand to profit the most from certain policies should be the ones determining those policies? I can't even wrap my brain around that kind of thinking.

Now granted I'm kind of a far lefty, so I don't know, maybe people more in the middle can find something in common with that line of thinking but I certainly can't.

[blondeatlast]

10. There was a time, BEFORE NEWT, when agreements could be made for the good of the order.

Seriously, I blame Gingrich and the likes of Frank Luntz for the mess we are in.

You have a good point, IMHO--but I just wanted to point out that Gingrich is largely responsible for what has gone wrong in Washington and our state capitals.