|
|
When thousands of people donate no more than $100 per person per election, we can build a campaign without money from special interests. _______________________ But it's about more than money. We need your energy and your enthusiasm, too. Sign up to volunteer on Jim Hansen's campaign for Congress.
 _______________________ 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| It's time to change how Congress operates |
500 Views |
| posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 |
|
|
By Jim Hansen
There has been a lot of banter about personalities surrounding the Central Idaho Economic Development and Recreation Act bill in Congress. A recent Idaho Statesman article, “Democrats praise Simpson for wilderness bill,” Aug. 13 (a follow-up to Mike Simpson’s guest opinion on Aug. 6), made much of the fact that some Democrats are saying nice things about parts of a bill Simpson introduced in Congress, while some Republicans refuse to support it.
Such articles may be interesting to political insiders but they do the public a disservice by turning honest, constructive differences about important issues into meaningless personality spats. It reminds me of people who goad a family on as they discuss what a possible addition to the house might look like, and yet they ignore the fact that the foundation of the house is rotting.
There must be a lot more scrutiny of the way CIEDRA and other important pieces of legislation are pushed through Congress. The U.S. House of Representatives was once referred to as the “People’s House,” but no longer. Its members increasingly make decisions behind closed doors, remove the public from meaningful participation and cut last-minute deals tailored by and for private interests with power and money in Washington, D.C.
Obviously, reasonable people can disagree about CIEDRA. I have problems with several of its parts. Some good people in Idaho were invited to help put it together. Others were left out. But back in Washington, D.C., it appears very few congressmen even know what it is about or understand why protecting Idaho’s rural communities and public lands is so important. Incumbents have let walls (generated by big money and partisan consultants) be built between members of different parties.
The more I find out about the dysfunctional way Congress handled this and other issues vital to Idaho, the more angry I am that Idahoans are being taken for a ride.
Congress is steeped in a culture where big private interest groups – like oil and pharmaceutical companies – get virtually everything they ask for. That leaves most ordinary people out of the process. After all, we don’t finance congressional campaigns, the private interest groups do.
Just because that is the way Congress now operates does not make it right.
We are told we should not expect bills to get bipartisan sponsorship any more (like the Sawtooth National Recreation Act did in 1972). We are told that debate by the full House membership is not necessary and critical votes can occur when it “suspends the rules.” We are told no amendments can be considered after the deals have been cut. We are even told that we should not expect a record of how each member voted.
Just because that is the way Congress now operates does not make it right.
Are we allowed to talk about this back home? No. We are left to discuss silly things like whether one politician threatened to throw another out the window.
People are tired of the condescending approach Congress takes to local communities. They are tired of being told to lower their expectations. They are tired of Congress’ obsession with raising campaign money. They are tired of Congress’ full-time partisan attacks that make bipartisan governing impossible. They want to see Congress be a “House of Representatives” again, rather than a “House of Private Interests.”
It is time to focus on the foundation of Our House this year. It is time to hold Congress – and all incumbents of both parties – to the highest standard in the way the public’s business is conducted.
|
|
|
|
|