There’s a problem in Washington. Let’s call it the Agenda Problem. It’s very
virulent and infects most everyone who works on Capitol Hill. Yes, a bunch of newly elected officials were
just sworn in and we’d like to think they are untainted by the Agenda Problem, but it’s only a matter
of time before they, too, become infected.
The Agenda Problem
is really a result of the very partisan and polarized political culture we see
in Washington. Both parties are very ill
and the cure is very painful, if at all possible. This problem is most easily seen in the ways
politicians talk about “their agenda” or “our agenda.” In context, they’ve managed to make agenda
sound like a dirty word, especially when referring to “their agenda.” Recently Congressman Jim Banks, my
representative, posted on Facebook that he won’t support any spending bill to
end the government shutdown that includes language to loosen abortion
restrictions. His comment highlights
both sides of the Agenda Problem.
There is a fundamental problem right now – the government
does not have money to operate. Working
class Americans aren’t getting paid because their employees can’t agree on a
spending bill. We need our leaders in
Congress to pass a spending bill and get the government running again. Frankly, I’m not a big fan of being forced to
work without pay. So, let’s get a deal
done and fund the government and save policy disputes on unrelated issues for
another day.
Congressman Banks refuses to support the minibus bill
because Democrats are trying to use it as a tool to repeal a provision known as
“Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance (PLGHA).” The provision requires foreign nongovernmental
organizations to certify that they do not “perform or actively promote abortion
as a means of family planning.” Now, I
don’t like PLGHA and I am certainly a fan of Democrats attempts to repeal the
provision. But that’s a debate for another
day – and THAT’S THE POINT.
Politicians in Washington need to pass a spending bill and
STOP TRYING TO PUSH PARTISAN AGENDA ITEMS INTO THE BILL. Democrats need to drop PLGHA language from
the bill and Trump needs to drop his demand for $5B for a border wall.
Like I said before, the Agenda
Problem infects both parties. The
spending bill is a clear example. Trump
refuses to fund the government unless he gets his wall. A wall, I remind you, that Mexico was going
to pay for. A wall that is opposed by a
majority of Americans. And that’s the
result from multiple
polls. Not to be outdone, Democrats
are now trying to use the spending bill to repeal anti-abortion language they
find rather onerous. These two
particular items are non-starters for the other party. Democrats are not going to agree to $5B for a
border wall and most Republicans are not going to support language that removes
abortion restrictions. And the truly
crazy thing is that the other party knows it.
Trump and the Republicans know Democrats aren’t going to support the
wall and Democrats know Republicans aren’t going to support a repeal of
PLGHA. And yet, each side insists on
including this language in a bill that is vital to the ability of the
government to simply function.
These two policy goals are part of the Agenda for each party. Its
part of what they promised their base and so now they have to deliver the goods.
Except that conveniently ignores the fact that there is another side to
the debate. Wouldn’t it be so much
better if Democrats removed the PLGHA language and Trump agreed to the $1.6B
figure proposed earlier? Then we could
pass a spending bill and get the government running again and ordinary
Americans could get back to being able to pay their bills.
Here’s the final crux of the Agenda Problem. Spending
bills are BIG items. There’s a lot of
pressure to pass these bills because a government shutdown, even a partial one,
is a BIG DEAL. It’s not going to look
good if you’re the party that causes people to miss their mortgage payments
because they were furloughed. With all
the pressure to pass these spending bills, both parties use it as a cudgel to attempt
to force the other party to vote for something unpopular with their base. Essentially, the leaders in Congress, and the
President, use spending bills as a way of forcing their opponents to lose face –
either by forcing a shutdown, or by supporting legislation that is strongly
opposed by their supporters. The increasingly
hyper-partisan nature of our politics is only making this dynamic worse.
So why don’t we all take a step back and agree that the
priority right now is getting the government open again. That means politicians take the really
partisan stuff out of the bill. It also
means voters don’t belittle their representatives for “being soft” or whatever
other insult can be hurled. It means we
applaud BOTH parties for finding a way to GET THE JOB DONE. If we can find a way to do that, maybe we can
start to solve the Agenda Problem currently
afflicting Washington.
