On Huffington Post today, SEIU International Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger discusses what working people really want from our elected lawmakers--and what (or who) is standing in the way.
With Senator Evan Bayh's surprise announcement that he would not seek reelection because of "too much partisanship and not enough progress" this week, there's a Greek chorus decrying the inability of the parties to work together as evidence of a failed system. His abdication was widely read as proof positive that Washington cannot solve the problems that Americans face every day and that bipartisanship is the solution.
But is bipartisanship a means or an end? And is bipartisanship really the reason Bayh and others were sent to Washington?
A growing number of us are stepping forward to say no.
Don't get me wrong: the American people want and need the best ideas from both parties. They want to see Congress have an honest debate on those ideas, vote on those ideas and pass bills that reflect those "best" ideas.
[...] Bipartisanship can lead to great legislation, but the pursuit of compromise should not come at the expense of sound public policy and progress. And the public won't let Members of Congress hide behind bipartisanship as an excuse for not getting things done.
If the Republicans, who developed a new-found appreciation for bipartisanship around November 2008, really cared about bipartisan solutions as much as they did political gamesmanship, there would be a lot more progress made to get our country back on track.
