Legislative process wins, unfortunately

While watching Sunday talk shows last weekend I noticed something very similar with most of their discussions involving politics and public policy. What seemed to be the premise of the entire debate was not exactly the substance of the policies, but the procedures and politics used to get it done. Sure, it’s better entertainment to see how these politicians try to work their way to get something passed, but what needs to be brought to the forefront is the content that Congress is attempting to pass. No matter what methods it uses to get it done, it’s the substance that will ultimately have an effect on me.

One obvious example right now is health care reform.

Washington is so fixated on the process, making everything dramatic as if everything they do is some type of game changer for the political landscape. The Republicans love to use the health care talking point that using reconciliation is “jamming this bill down the throat of America.” Well, to be fair, I think it needs to be pointed out that the Bush tax cuts in 2003 were jammed down the throat of America, too. But besides that, in the 2008 presidential campaigns, when the Bush tax cuts came up as an issue, the debate was not about the process but the product that was voted on.

The substance of the health care legislation is a legitimate argument because there are some flaws inside and it could be better, but to make this an argument of the reconciliation process is irrelevant to most Americans outside of Washington.

In a piece from POLITICO.com, White House Senior Advisor David Axelrod was quoted as saying: “There aren’t 10 people outside of Washington who give a rat’s ass about any of this. They’ve got bigger stuff to worry about.” And he’s right. People are worried about how they’ll pay their car payment, tuition and mortgage next month, not about who’s pointing fingers at each other in White House inner circles. Much of the debate about the process is nothing more than talking points for each party to try to use to get the political win for the time being. Instead of actually legislating, they know it’s easier to keep up perpetual campaigns pointing fingers at the other party for anything and everything. It’s the tired, old “you lose, I win” strategy.

But, when Americans go to the polls this fall, they are going to vote on who got things done to make their lives better. None of them want excuses saying that this Republican or this Democrat was the reason we couldn’t get it done. They’ll just know it wasn’t done and vote appropriately.

Posted by Ian Bridgeforth on Mar 20 2010. Filed under Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry