Read my lips.\u00a0 No new pledges.\u00a0 How\u2019s that for a campaign slogan?<\/p>\n
The recent debate over the federal debt limit showed millions of Americans just how dysfunctional our federal leadership has become — if they needed another demonstration.<\/p>\n
Since the 2012 Congressional election season has already begun, it\u2019s not too early to talk about what we really want from our representatives in Congress.\u00a0 New Mexico has only three seats in the US House of Representatives — two of which have incumbent advantages — and one Senate seat on the ballot next year.<\/p>\n
There is no reason today to believe that the deep division among voters will change much.\u00a0 \u00a0I speculate that public opinion will continue to roughly evenly divided, with many independent voters choosing the lesser of two evils, and that the 2012 election will leave neither major party with a clear majority.\u00a0 Therefore, if Congress is to be capable of making decisions based on merit and not merely what can be arm-twisted, compromise is going to be necessary.<\/p>\n
The harsh reality is that it won\u2019t matter what you think is \u201cright\u201d or how passionately you believe that the other guys are wrong.\u00a0 Your preferred party will not be able to force its will on both houses of Congress and the President, whether that President is Mr. Obama or someone else.<\/p>\n
So, Mr. and Ms. New Mexico voter, your cherished partisan beliefs may not matter because they are not implementable.\u00a0 Neither are mine, for that matter.\u00a0 There is only one critical question to ask of our candidates for Congress:\u00a0 assuming your party won\u2019t have a clear majority, what are you going to do to make Congress work again?\u00a0\u00a0 I hope to be able to ask that question of the candidates in all three New Mexico congressional districts in coming months.<\/p>\n
Any candidate who makes an irrevocable or inflexible \u201cpledge\u201d on any matter of policy, if elected, will be part of the problem.<\/p>\n
Pledging is currently a Republican fad, principally promising to oppose any tax increases.\u00a0 We can only hope that the pledging strategy won\u2019t also catch on with Democrats, but here is an example of how this limits policy choices.<\/p>\n
Thoughtful commentators, including the Simpson-Bowles U.S. Debt Commission, have called for both reduction of taxes and \u201ctax simplification,\u201d getting rid of special tax provisions.\u00a0 This would save millions of Americans from, to quote the Debt Commission report, \u201cthe cost and burden of tax preparation and compliance.\u201d\u00a0 The special tax provisions are mostly deductions — items like the tax deduction on mortgage interest.\u00a0\u00a0 To simplify the tax code, it would be necessary to eliminate some of those deductions, which some people call a tax increase — even if the increase is offset by a general reduction in rates.<\/p>\n
In a divided Congress, beneficial change can only happen if members are flexible enough to negotiate meaningfully and arrive at solutions that won\u2019t be blocked by parliamentary maneuverings.<\/p>\n
I invite you to challenge the candidates as to how they will contribute to restoring a workable government, based on getting real about the likelihood that their party will not have free rein. You can ask whether they have made or intend to make any pledges, and if so, under what circumstances they would modify those positions. \u00a0You can ask the candidates for U.S. Senate, if their party is in the minority, under what circumstances they would participate in a filibuster.<\/p>\n
Right now, the need to get Congress functioning again as a body that can reach decisions outweighs most other considerations.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019d much rather see thoughtful compromises than the debacle we saw on the debt ceiling crisis.<\/p>\n
Triple Spaced Again, \u00a9 New Mexico News Services 2011<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Read my lips.\u00a0 No new pledges.\u00a0 How\u2019s that for a campaign slogan? The recent debate over the federal debt limit showed millions of Americans just how dysfunctional our federal leadership has become — if they needed another demonstration. Since the … Continue reading