Peter Levine
- students as part of the accountability puzzle September 3, 2010
- the value-added debate in education policy September 1, 2010
- Jonathan Lethem, A Fortress of Solitude September 1, 2010
- what happened to the new Obama voters? August 31, 2010
Archive for March 2010
I’m taking some time off from blogging, as I’m home on Easter break. But I thought I would share this great video of Pike County, our waterfalls and the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area that I found on YouTube today….come visit sometime.
Thomas Friedman wrote in the New York Times last week that it is time for a Tea Party of the radical center – and by “radical’ he means “a radical departure from politics as usual.” Quoting a Sanford Univeristy professor, Friedman writes that it’s also time to fix our broken political system because, “If you don’t get governance right, it is very hard to get anything else right that government needs to deal with. We have to rethink in some basic ways how our political institutions work, because they are increasingly incapable of delivering effective solutions any longer.”
Congress in a Wordle: the most common adjectives used by respondants to describe Congress in a recent Pew survey.
As I wrote last week, the Coffee Party is a growing movement that might just answer that call. Over the weekend, I had an opportunity to attend my first Coffee Party as Busboys and Poets in Washington, DC. The event was televised on C-SPAN – you can watch the program online. Linda Killian from the Woodrow Wilson Center pointed out that 93% of Americans believe there is too much bickering in Washington and, according to a recent Pew survey, “dysfunction” was the number one term used to describe Congress. Though the crowd was overrepresented by the political left, it was clear the Coffee Party itself is not ideological. It is about finding solutions to make our government work better and reengaging citizens in the democratic process. So what kind of reforms are we talking about?
Looking ahead, what do you think will be the most important problem facing our nation 25 years from now? That question was posed to about thousand Americans in a Gallup poll released earlier this month, and for the first time in the poll’s history, concerns about the federal budget deficit topped the list. Some 14% ranked it number one, followed by the economy (11%) and the environment (11%). Usually, energy and economic issues have been most frequently mentioned, with Social Security making a debut around the time of the proposed reforms in 2005 and 2006. When asked what the most pressing problem facing the country today is, unemployment takes the cake followed by the economy and health care. Still, teh federal deficit was named the most important problem for 8% of respondents, and interestingly, “dissatisfaction with government” garnered 10%. The new National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform would do well to make note of this public sentiment, as would Members of Congress when the Commission produces its findings later this year.
Over the past year, we have seen our country grow even more polarized, particularly over the issue of health care. The Tea party movement on the right, most notably, has been on the ascendancy (check this YouTube clip I came across today). It seems the public square has been crowded by the loud, angry voices of those who have no regard for facts and no interest in engaging constructively – of course, they are aided by “news” organizations that magnify their influence and churn out what amounts to partisan propaganda. The result has been an awful public debate over really important matters that affect every American.
I have been very frustrated by this. Some friends have too. As it turns out, so have hundreds of thousands of other Americans – and they are joining forces in the Coffee Party Movement. What’s brewing in this new effort? Here’s the group’s statement:
“The Coffee Party Movement gives voice to Americans who want to see cooperation in government. We recognize that the federal government is not the enemy of the people, but the expression of our collective will, and that we must participate in the democratic process in order to address the challenges that we face as Americans. As voters and grassroots volunteers, we will support leaders who work toward positive solutions, and hold accountable those who obstruct them.”
The Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress (CSPC) released a report on Friday that identifies critical challenges our country faces and to develop “a roadmap for regaining our strategic and financial freedom of action, unity at home and standing abroad.” The report looks at these challenges and potential solutions with an imperative contextualized by a dysfunctional and polarized Congress, and a commitment to finding common ground between the two parties. At some 119 pages, it is a detailed yet relatively easy read. The project co-chairs were David Abshire, Norman Augustine, Roy Romer and David Walker – who themselves demonstrate the type of cooperation and leadership our elected officials should adopt.
“We believe the findings in this report reflect the broad concerns of the American people and express their valid demands for effective and informed governance. Yet we also emphasize the personal and civic responsibilities each American must assume for the well-being of our communities and country. It is the people’s rightful role and their responsibility to engage in civil debate of policy issues and to force change in the way Washington does business change away from petty partisanship and self-interest and toward ethical, knowledgeable, and civil governance on behalf of the American people.”
In the aftermath of health care reform, it is apparent that we would surely benefit from these words of advice.
