John Boehner and Honest Cooperation

America goes nowhere unless the two parties honestly strive to cooperate. Our condition right now is not good, but a wise and cooperative Congress could change that.

by Charlie Leck

How badly I want to believe a front page story in today’s New York Times: BOEHNER TELLS HOUSE G.O.P. TO FALL IN LINE. Here’s the key paragraph in the story about Speaker John A. Boehner’s conference call to all his party members in the House the day after the election…

“Their party lost, badly, Mr. Boehner said, and while Republicans would still control the House and would continue to staunchly oppose tax rate increases as Congress grapples with the impending fiscal battle, they had to avoid the nasty showdowns that marked so much of the last two years. Members on the call, subdued and dark, murmured words of support — even a few who had been a thorn in the speaker’s side for much of this Congress.”

If it is true, we may get somewhere. The nation badly wants a Congress and a President that can get along and make significant progress toward rebuilding the American economy.

Republican expectations were running high before Election Day. They had fully expected to add more G.O.P. numbers to the House rolls and to take control of the Senate. They also had high hopes of electing a Republican President. None of those things happened and, in fact, the Democrats gains representation in both the House and the Senate – and remain in control of the Senate (though not with the magic number 60 that they would have liked).

In essence, we are right back where we were for the last two years. Now, we have to some make compromise and cooperation work. I gather that is what Boehner’s message was to his members. The President must adopt the same attitude. Perhaps politics can become civil again. If so, that will be the awesome thing to come out of the 2012 elections.

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