Resolutions for the
Next Congress
The issue: What
Congress should do in the New Year.
Discussing the issues
are conservative columnist
Cal Thomas and
liberal strategist Bob Beckel.
USA TODAY printed
copy and from the Web, December 28, 2006
Bob: Cal, now that we've
got a new Congress coming in 2007, I think it would it would only be fair to
give them an early warning about some of the things we here at Common Ground
will be watching. We did the same thing for the last Congress, but they
obviously didn't pay enough attention, and look how that played out. So to
get the 110th Congress off on the right foot, let's suggest a few New Year's
resolutions to serve as a guiding light for them. You first.
Cal: Put this in your
rare documents file, Bob. I'm going to praise a Democrat. Incoming
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer is starting things out by extending the House
work week to almost a full five days. Not only might this help with such
things as appropriations bills (many of which were bequeathed to the new
Congress by the last one), but it also might help build personal relationships
that used to be the norm, but now seem a rarity among members. To borrow
Oscar Hammerstein's lyric:
Getting to know you,
Getting to know all about you.
Getting to like you,
Getting to hope you'll like me.
Resolving to build relationships will work wonders in achieving common ground.
Bob: I see that the new chairmen of the Appropriations Committee in
the House (David Obey, D-Wis.) and in the Senate (Robert Byrd, D-W.Va.) have
decided not to complete nine appropriations bills that the last Congress left
unfinished. Instead, they are going to keep government spending at the
2006 levels and go right to the 2008 appropriations. That means all those
earmarks — aka pork — buried in the 2007 appropriation bills are dead.
That's the right message to lawmakers and a worthy New Year's resolution:
Eliminate pork.
Cal: I would be thrilled if Congress went on the earmark wagon.
We've been calling for that for more than a year. But these guys have been
serial spenders, and whether they can go cold turkey on earmarks will need
watching. Frankly, I don't think they have the power to resist them, but
if they do, they'll earn a lot of credibility from the taxpayers whose money
they have been wasting.
Bob: Speaking of credibility, we know that voters were disgusted
with the in-your-face ethics failures of the last Congress. Incoming House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats campaigned on this and have their own
resolution for the New Year: Bring a congressional ethics bill to the
House in January. I hear it contains a few things we wrote about in our
very first Common Ground column: a ban on gifts, such as free tickets to
sporting events, from lobbyists, no rides on private or company planes, and full
disclosure of schedules and spending on foreign travel. A good resolution
— and about time!
Cal: We've seen these resolutions with each new Congress and each
new president. Full of resolve, they often become full of themselves.
You'll recall we proposed a webpage that would carry information about all
traveling members of Congress, the purpose of the trip, who paid for it (the
government or a special interest group) and the mode of transportation (a
government plane, commercial plane). We suggested that such openness would
do at least two things: Shine some light on what has mostly been done out
of sight and make members more aware that they are being watched, so that the
travel would need to be fully justified. In the past it has been one hour
of meetings and four hours of golf, followed by cocktails and a fancy dinner.
A website and openness would discourage junketeering.
Bob: The next resolution I would offer is the budget rule that was
abandoned by the last Congress, but that (Rep Steny Hoyer, D-Md.) and some of
his colleagues have said they want to reinstate. It's called "pay as you
go," and it requires any new government spending to be offset by a cut elsewhere
in the budget or by a tax increase to pay for it. Let me guess which
option: cuts and tax increases, that you would choose, Cal.
Cal: I'll tell you. "Pay as you go" has been used by
Democrats to justify tax increases. To quote the sainted Ronald Reagan:
"We don't have a deficit because we're taxed too little; we have a deficit
because government is spending too much." Spending, not taxes, ought to be
the focal point. Higher taxes encourages government to spend more.
The new Congress should adopt this New Year's resolution: Let government
live within our means. Pay as you go is a good idea, but I want Congress
to go for more spending cuts before they ask me to pay more in taxes.
Bob: The national debt is more than $8 trillion — and counting.
I've got another resolution for Congress, and it goes back to pork-barrel
spending. You remember that Senate bill we supported by Sen. Barack Obama,
D-Ill., and Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla. Well, through a website, it will
allow the public to see how Congress is spending taxpayers' money — a form of
empowerment that has not been available until now. Thankfully, it passed.
That's the type of accountability the next Congress must demand.
Cal: Yes, this would be the political equivalent of a tag or stamp
on a product we buy at the store that tells us where it's made. If various
watchdog groups had not shed light on Alaska's "bridge to nowhere," they might
be building it now. Here's another resolution, and it goes back to a point
I made earlier. The party circuit has all but evaporated in Washington.
These used to be places where people of different parties and persuasions could
come and build personal relationships. Those relationships, coupled with
friendships between their spouses, allowed people to see members of the opposite
party in less stereotypical and stark terms. We have too many enemies in
the world. We don't need to be making enemies of our fellow citizens.
Let the social circuit be reborn, and what better time than with a toast to the
New Year!
Bob: I couldn't agree more. No legislation is going to make
people become friends, but friends can make for good legislation, especially a
friendship between a Democrat and a Republican. If voters sent one message
in 2006, it was that they are tired of the polarization of American politics and
want elected politicians in Washington to work together. I hope the new
Congress got the message that the power the voters give an elected politician is
a loan, not a permanent gift.
Cal: Now that's a thought we should embrace: Politicians
should serve the public; the public shouldn't serve career politicians.
Bob: You know how college and pro football teams often rally behind
a slogan or inspirational saying? Perhaps Congress needs its own, and your
words would do the trick. We should carry that wisdom into the New Year —
and the new Congress.
Cal: Thanks, Bob. And I resolve to keep you as my close
friend throughout 2007. If we can continue to demonstrate that two guys
with widely divergent political views can not only be friends, but also agree on
some important issues, maybe the idea will catch on. Have a happy and more
peaceful New Year!
Cal Thomas is a conservative columnist. Bob Beckelis a liberal
Democratic strategist. But as longtime friends, they can often find common
ground on issues that lawmakers in Washington cannot.
Cal and Bob are writing a book,Common Ground, which will be published next year.
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