The quest for bipartisanship

One great idea comes from the consistent failure of bad ideas. This is something that individuals in Washington need to understand and from this understanding flourish into a consistent model for success. This all starts with President Obama.

A few weeks ago the president attended the House Republican Retreat down the road in Baltimore on an invitation for a question and answer period. The session saw a type of conversation, which the American public does not usually see. Republican members of Congress and the Executive lobbing ideas at each other was nearly breathtaking to watch. In a country so deeply divided by health care reform, wars on two fronts, and an economic recession, the people that work for us seem to be slowly screwing their heads on right.

Talk from both sides of the aisle is the only solution to any problem we might have. The retreat gave people an idea that bipartisanship could be possible even in our rugged political climate. This open conversation must continue in order for America to be the superior being it implies to be.

The sad thing is a week after the retreat, remarks from President Obama and House Minority Leader John Boehner seem to swallow any hope for this bipartisanship.

Bernie Becker of the New York Times reports the president made a remark such as “we’ll call them out when they say they want to work with us, and we extend a hand and get a fist in return.”

Boehner is quoted saying, “I know bipartisanship when I see it. And it’s not saying one thing and doing another.”

The constant flow of bickering does not produce legislation in an already tough system, which has been set up by our founders. Legislation is made tough in our system so the American people have the greatest possible proposition that our lawmakers can produce. The back and forth bantering does not help solve any problems, but merely create new ones.

The question “we the people” need answered is whether or not our elected representatives truly hold our needs in their hands. No matter if they are Democrat or Republican, are they willing to work together to solve our problems?

Most of us go to a job and do not necessarily like all the people we work with, but we get our job done. If we do not finish what we are paid to do we are usually fired. Why should that be different for anybody in Washington?

The men and women in Washington need to realize that the people do not want to be on the downside of our country’s story. “We the people” never want our story as a nation to come to an end and it is their job to make sure that never happens.