Answer: Just ask Congress.
I know that comes off a little harsh, and I don’t mean it as an attack. It just popped in my head and it sounded catchy, and I thought it was a little humorous. Although if it weren’t for the Republicans these past two years, the answer would have been “Ask the Democrats.” The Republicans broke some records in how deep they buried their heads several years ago for which they’re beginning to pay for. Which brings me to the crux of my post.
What is that little saying from some important guy? Was it, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” (George Santayana)? I guess if you say it enough times it just becomes cliché, and no one pays attention to it anymore. At least you can say one thing about politicians, they do live in the moment. They don’t seem to mind using the same attacks the other side used against them. If they did, then maybe our government and Congress wouldn’t continue to repeat the same mistakes.
It seems only a few national disasters and despicable acts of terror will make politicians work together. They usually start in the right direction and with good intentions. Hmm, there’s got to be a good quote here about “good intentions” and what they get you. Well there is, “Hell is full of good intentions or desires” by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. Sounds like Capitol Hill – kidding that is all a little harsh.
Eventually, good intentions get pushed aside for a laundry list of pet projects and “great ideas” to be funded. As has happened before, it seems everything must be a great idea because every member of Congress gets money for each of his/hers ideas. Honestly, there are some great ideas and good potential programs, but like everything, they are tainted by the flood of bad apples.
For example, Congress initially set up the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to listen to these ideas and implement the best. Maybe DHS could have filled this need, but you can’t create a whole new federal department over night (i.e. the proverb “Rome wasn’t built in a day”). Needless to say, when you throw a bunch of separate, little, but important, agencies into a blender, it will take more than money for them to lower the walls built up by decades of traditions and cultures to protect their territory in order to work together. Obviously, it will take time.
But for some, it did take too long for the new DHS to react, and Congress “stepped up” to fill the void. Again, they had good intentions and they do truly know their districts and constituents best on a local level. However, timing and a flawed process left out important “checks and balances” on Congressional ideas and appetites for getting money for their folks. Under the veil of bipartisanship, every idea was accepted and funded (for the most part). Then as some in Congress realized they were starting to spend a little too much money, they started limiting funding for programs and ideas of their own members – the Republicans at the time. As the scraps from the table started to dwindle, Members began clawing over each other for whatever they could get. And as you say, the rest was history with partisanship becoming the norm, again.
Well while I’m at it, I’ll throw in my opinion (it is my blog). Congress should have set up a quasi-BRAC-like commission to fill the void until DHS and Congress’s new committees for Homeland Security were fully functional and could take over. Of course, easier said than done. You think it is hard for bureaucracies to give up some powers and play nice together? Try doing the same thing with Members of Congress in developing the Homeland Security Committees. In fact, Congress never succeeded because some committees won out and kept their power over a piece of the DHS. Now, DHS and its officers have to report to about over 83 different congressional committees and subcommittees. When you factor in the time of the officials, the work hours preparing for committee hearings, and even the cost of paper used for, during, and after the hearings, obviously, that was all money well spent – right!
It is exceptionally important that our nation gets spending under control and pay-off its massive debt that if left alone will destroy everything we have built together as a nation. Okay, so the Republicans can be a little too excited to cut things, but honestly, it is time to make cuts. Once you turn off the spigot, at least a little, it could lead to reforms for better ways of doing things.
A favorite manager once told me, “If you have a difficult project and you want to figure out the easiest way to handle it, give it to your laziest employee. He/She will figure out how to handle it with the least amount of work involved.”
Not to say that Congressmen are lazy. But without some hard decisions to clamp down on spending, why would they change their ways. What happened to “rolling up our sleeves to get to work” and “make the tough decisions?” I worked in Congress long enough (almost ten years) to know that nothing really gets done until there is a hard deadline and our backs are against the wall. Unfortunately, or fortunately, it seems that “wall” is fast approaching – and not the one going up along the border.
While Republicans have certainly piled on their share of debt, the message seems to get lost with Democrats. Their messages tend to focus on new programs and more funding for others. It’s rare to hear any of them really talk about cutting anything – other than military and defense.
I’m going to make a metaphor that might make some people angry, and that’s not my intention. I just think it is a good one, especially to get people thinking.
The Democrats’ belief that we can continue on our current fiscal path, with maybe a little cut here or there but nothing permanent, is equal to the erroneous belief of Republicans (hard right conservative ones, mind you) that there is no global warming or climate change – or at least it is not because of our industries’ waste and smoke billowing into our waters and atmosphere.
It’s time for a truce in the partisan bickering and cut-throat tactics. I’ve always felt that the pendulum swings in cycles between the hard right and the hard left in public opinion and Congressional. The problem is the “swings,” or beat, of the cycles have gotten out-of-whack and sped up. We’ve reached a point when there is no time-in-between cycles when level-headed and rational government had time to correct a few of the wrongs that the last cycle created. Without that “pause” or break, we and our government are just piling bad on top of bad.
Call time-out or truce! We need to clean out the trash before the next movie begins or the next sporting event starts.
Of all the issues facing us right now, fighting terrorism maybe the most important, and I don’t think we should let up too much if at all, but we need to focus equal attention on fighting our national debt and expanding hole once filled by the middle class. I think there should be cuts across the board – yes even in the Department of Defense. But right now is not the time to make many of those cuts on essential resources that lead our fight against terrorism and ensure our national security. Although at the same time, we can’t make-believe that the money spigot is wide-open and will stay that way. Once we make significant or lasting gains on decreasing the ability for groups to carry out terrorist attacks, we need to trim the fat so we will be strong for the long-term.
Maybe if we take a “time of truce” things like foreign and domestic policies can be worked out in a level-headed and realistic manner.
I guess what I’m trying to say, among other things J, when it comes to our future as a nation, it doesn’t help to “live in the moment” – as politicians inevitably find themselves. The problem with living in the moment is that you can’t plan for the future or see that the future holds other opportunities to make changes. You’ve got to pick your battles; no when to say when; live to fight another day; or whatever cliché you want to insert here.
Stop the cycles and just make it happen. Learn to govern together. Improve upon what we have, not add more.
Full Disclosure:
Okay. I have to come clean. I actually adapted this post to more appropriately align with today’s issues. The original was written in 2010. It was during a big budget fight for FY2011 with Republicans making biggest cuts, but Democrats in the House were trying to prevent the cuts from becoming permanent. Interestingly enough, it didn’t take much to make it fit in today’s issues. I guess it only adds credence to my message – politics tends to repeat itself.