After a respite in the mountains of Colorado with my fellow American Leadership Forum classmates, I have returned to the city with a new focus.
My classmates reminded me that everyone cares about the issues we most often discuss on this blog. What is the future of education for Texas? Among my classmates, there were people far more qualified to answer that question than me. Yet, we all agreed that there is no clear answer. Even as we sat among the stunning beauty of the mountains, we contemplated how our educational system will provide the critical learning tools of the 21st century to an ever-increasing body of students without additional funding. The educators among us indicated that they must adapt and do the best they can for the students…. for they have no other choice.
We also pondered other topical issues of the day such as immigration, health care, criminal justice, mental health and more.
We reflected our city in diversity and in partisanship. Yet, we were able to pull together and get every person up a mountaintop. We put our differences aside to face a tough challenge.
During this process, I was reflecting on the great partisan divide. I pondered if Democrats and Republicans today could even climb a mountain together. One group would be pulling to the left and the other to the right? Could they even manage to head in the same direction to achieve a common goal?
Currently, this seems to be the most important question in our democracy. Can we establish a common goal among our leaders and create a path to get there? Would it be possible to simply focus on one problem and look for quality solutions?
It is my greatest wish to take top Legislators from both parties and set them on a path to achieve a common goal. Separate them from the outside influences that seem to be driving the political process and encourage them to make decisions in the best interests of the citizens. By the way, maybe we could also help them to stop worrying about the next primary election and allow them to actually vote their conscious.
What a concept!
This entry was originally posted at Nancy Sims' blog, Ponderings.
Most of us believe that government is failing to govern well. At the federal level, we blame “partisan gridlock” and with good reason. A Democratic President strives to build consensus with a Republican House and a narrowly Democratic Senate. They constantly bog down in conflict and struggle to govern together.
What is our excuse in Texas? Every single statewide office is held by Republicans. The State House of Representatives has a super-majority of Republicans and the Senate has a solid majority. Granted, the Senate mostly adheres to a two-thirds rule and likes to build agreement among even their Democratic members. However, they will suspend the rules when necessary to avoid gridlock and they have the votes to do so.
So, what is the problem? Why can’t they solve the state’s problems? It is becoming obvious that even absolute control cannot guarantee widespread agreement on complex policy issues. To get the Texas House and Senate to agree on issues this Legislative Session has been extremely challenging.
Every time it appears that they have agreed upon something, the delicate compromise will fall apart as the two chambers try to approve it.
Granted, House Democrats (though few in numbers) have been especially adept at using Rules of Order to create chaos in the process but even they know they are only postponing the inevitable.
Generally, it is puzzling to this observer how agreement cannot be reached when one party controls everything.
Is our federal government better off with partisan divide? Does it force deeper debate and compromise? I had never thought so until witnessing this Texas Legislative session.
The great experiment of democracy continues. Which system do you think creates the best public policy?
This entry was originally posted at Nancy Sims' blog, Ponderings.