Healing For our Country

Most political analysts agree on one thing - that our federal government is broken. We have become a polarized nation that has forgotten several important premises.

When someone is elected as a Senator or Representative, they run for that office as a member of one party or another. Then they come to Washington bringing their election campaign with them, forgetting that once elected they represent all of the people in their district or state. Even if their election is a landslide, there are still people at home who wanted another candidate to hold office. Since most elections are tight races, that means that up to fifty percent of the people represented lose their voices in any legislation proposed or passed.

Elected representatives make much of going home to listen to their constituents. But exactly who are they listening to - and who are they ignoring?

The second fatal flaw in our system is the lost art of negotiation and compromise. The motto becomes hold the line and don't compromise your values and vote as a party bloc. Not a workable way to function! Add the disarray in the GOP and Democratic differences - and that we have not figured out the formation of coalitions as have our Europeans neighbors to accommodate more than two political parties. No wonder substantive change does not occur.

A third factor has been formation of powerful lobbying groups who wield an enormous amount of power that drowns out voices of people like you and me. And being able to hide where that money comes from adds to that power.

How can we heal? There are so many critical issues that need to be addressed. Climate change, a broken health care system, an economy that continues to increase the wealth differential between those who have wealth and the rest of the people, and a crumbling infrastructure are just a few of the challenges that we need to address.

Sometimes it seems the only way to heal would be to totally start over - throw the bums out as is commonly said. Putting in place an entirely new Congress solves nothing. The problems run deep - and replacing the players does not re-write the play.

The best that any of us can do is to continue to try and be heard - all our differing opinions and ideas for solutions. Perhaps then we can grope our way into a healing place not dominated by blame and deliberate misinformation..