"Politics...it's about governing"

Henry Clay once said: “Politics is not about ideological purity or moral self-righteousness, it’s about governing. And if you cannot compromise you cannot govern.” For his role in helping reach an agreement on the Nullification Crisis and slavery, Clay was dubbed "The Great Compromiser." Now, on the brink of a government shutdown, it looks like we could use another "Great Compromiser."  As I look at our government right now, I see one side that absolutely fails to compromise and another side that is really bad at compromising. 


As we approach this shutdown, Tea Party members of Congress are refusing to budge on the budget. They absolutely refuse to compromise at all. (I will note that a number of Republicans seem to want compromise, but are being pressured by the new Tea Party members to refuse any compromise)


On the other side, the Democrats are really bad at compromising. Up to this point the Democrats, led by President Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, were giving all the way.  It seemed as if compromise to them meant give in so that a deal can be made. In all the "compromises" so far, it seems as if the Democrats gave in and the Republicans held strong. 


Now, as a shutdown looms, Democrats have changed their game, deciding not to give in anymore.  The problem is that since they've given and given all this time, they have little to work with. Compromise is about having something to offer that the other side wants, and them having something you would like in return. 

Webster's dictionary defines compromise as: "a way of reaching agreement in which each person or group gives up something that was wanted in order to end an argument or dispute."  The problem for the Democrats right now is that they don't really have bargaining chips, and the Republicans (guided by the Tea Party) refuse to give anything up. 


I think if Henry Clay's quote could be revised today it would be something like this: "Politics SHOULD NOT be about ideological purity or moral self-righteousness, it SHOULD BE about governing.  And if you cannot compromise you cannot govern."  The problem is that politics right now is entirely about ideological purity, not about governing. Rather than compromising in order to actually govern the country, our politicians on both sides are fighting for their ideological purity.  


What has happened? Why are we unwilling to compromise?  


I think part of it has to do with the fact that we have become so focused on a single issue. Rather than saying "We have a budget problem and we do need to address it, HOWEVER, we also have a country to govern," the Tea Party is saying "We have a moral crisis that has led to overspending, and if we don't address this now, our country will collapse." 


I agree that we need to cut back on spending, but we need to be responsible about it. The more I look at proposed budget cuts (including Paul Ryan's proposed FY2012 budget) I see cuts across the board, with little thought as to what is actually being cut.  This leads to trying to balance the budget on the backs of the poor. It's fairly clear that those who will be hurt most by the proposed budget cuts are those who rely on government services and a social safety net for their livelihood.  Now if we want to say that these programs need to be fixed so that people aren't dependent on them and can support themselves I'm all in and I'll jump right in and help.  However, what I'm hearing sounds more like "these programs need to be fixed so they don't cost us so much...so we should cut them."  


I feel like I'm starting to ramble, so I'm going to try to end this soon, but I just can't get over the fact that the House of Representatives seems to be ignoring the fact that these budget cuts have real human impact.  People are actually affected by these cuts, and people will suffer if these cuts go through. 


We need to fix the budget. Blind slashing is not the way to fix it. Let's be responsible about this.  Start by cutting programs that we don't need (such as fighter jet engines that the military doesn't even want).  Then let's look at fixing programs what we need, but aren't working right. This won't happen immediately, but if we take our time to do it right our future will be much better than if we rush to slash the budget. 

The Last Few Weeks

It's been a couple of weeks since my last post, and for that I apologize. Basically I got busy at work, so I didn't have as much time there to write posts, and then with Kristen visiting me here in DC (which was amazing!) and other stuff going on blogging just kind of slipped my mind.

As I said, the last couple of weeks at work have been pretty busy. I've been doing a lot of research on issues related to the G8 Summit coming up this May in France.  I've written reports on Financial Levies, food security, I even wrote an article that will be published in next month's issue of Monday Developments (InterAction's monthly magazine).  I've also had the opportunity to go to some really interesting presentations and meetings, hearing a presentation at the World Bank on commodity price volatility, a presentation from the CEO of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (one of the main US government international development programs), and gone to a few House Foreign Affairs Committee Hearings.

One thing I've learned, or rather, been reminded of in the past few weeks is the need to rely on God. Those who know me know that I like to be in control of my life and be able to plan things out. Looking for jobs and figuring out what I'm going to be doing post-graduation (that's in May...WOW!) has reminded me that I can't always have everything figured out. With the difficulty in finding a job, and the uncertainty of the future, it's been easy for me to worry about that and think about it way too much. Thankfully, God keeps reminding me just to let go and trust that He will provide. An example of this happened this past Sunday in Church. During opening worship something got me thinking about jobs, and it had me really distracted from worship. I kind of snapped back to the song we were singing just as we sang the lines "You are God, you are God, of all else I'm letting go."  Things like that are the small ways in which God has been reminding me to trust Him and let Him provide for me and guide my steps. In the midst of uncertainty about finding a job it can be so easy to worry, but it is so comforting to know that God is in control and that He has a plan.

There have also been a significant number of political developments in the last few weeks, a number of them garnering national attention on the situation in Michigan. Some of those highlights include Governor Snyder passing the emergency financial powers law (I can't wait until he tries to use it and the whole state turns against him, followed by numerous court cases challenging what seems to be a fairly clearly unconstitutional law).  Another happened yesterday, when Governor Snyder signed a bill reducing the length of unemployment benefits, because apparently that is supposed to help create jobs (I don't see the logic there).

I'm hoping to have time soon to write some more on a variety of political issues, I guess that comes down to me making it more of a priority.

I hope all is well for all who are reading this.  To all of you back in Michigan I miss you guys a lot (that means you should visit me here in DC, because DC is an awesome city).

Some Thoughts on Immigration

The House of Representatives in Michigan is currently debating passing HR 4305, the "Support our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act."  The proposed bill would require law enforcement officials to verify the legal presence of any person over 18 if: they have been stopped for another purpose, and "a person who is or should reasonably suspected of being unlawfully present in the United States."

Now, I understand the need for immigration reform.  Undocumented immigration is a huge problem in the United States, and we need to do something to address that issue.  However, that solution should come in the form of Federal immigration reform, not individual states attempting to implement their own immigration laws.

Specifically, when it comes to this proposed Michigan law I have various concerns, but I'll stick to mostly talking about just one of them for now.  My main concern is with the phrase discussing probably cause.  The phrase I quoted above says that an officer must verify the legal presence of a person in the U.S. if the person they stopped is reasonably suspected of being unlawfully present in the United States.  This is where I have a problem.  On what grounds is a police officer supposed to decide if a person is or should be reasonably suspected of being here illegally?  The fact that this proposed bill does not specifically lay out guidelines for what this "reasonable suspicion" makes me worry about how "reasonable suspicion" will be decided.

I've heard far too many people in the U.S. refer to all people of Latino descent far too stereotypically, and at the same time heard far too many people generalize all Latinos as immigrants, assuming the majority of them to be here undocumented.  That leads to the assumption (and I know this is NOT a far-fetched assumption) that so-called "reasonable suspicion" will be brown skin, Latino descent.  Now stop me if I'm wrong, but that sounds like very poorly disguised racism.

Supporters of this bill cite the fact that are an estimated 200,000 undocumented immigrants in Michigan, calling them a drain on the state.  What they fail to recognize, or refuse to admit, is that undocumented immigrants tend to do work that no American is willing to do.  I've gotten so sick of hearing Americans say "immigrants are stealing our jobs," when if you asked that American (employed or unemployed) to do the job the immigrant is doing they 'd get offended.  On the other side of the argument, a recent report by the Michigan League of Human Services estimated that the proposed bill would cause the state to lose $3.8 billion in revenue, and hurt industries such as produce, which draw mostly undocumented workers.

Additionally, the claim of undocumented immigrants being a major drain on the economy is fairly weak.  People complain that undocumented immigrants don't  pay taxes, while receiving medical care and education as well as other public services.  The fact is that undocumented immigrants DO pay taxes, do pay bills, receive far less than adequate medical care, and have absolutely no chance of receiving a tax return or Social Security (which they also pay into).  In short, they pay into almost everything that a documented immigrant or U.S. citizen does, while receiving almost no benefits for it.

Like I said, I agree that we need immigration reform, to address the issue of undocumented immigration.  However, this is NOT the answer.  Responding to a problem by implementing legalized racism is wrong, and we need to avoid committing that grave injustice.