Government That Works

It is apparent that neither Republicans or Democrats understand that Americans want government that actually works.  When government works, government is neither too big or too small.  When government works, taxes are never too high.  When government works, there are never too many or too few regulations. It is only when government fails to work, the size, the cost, or government interference becomes a problem.  Obstructionism, by the way, is not government working.  Promoting and following policies that are designed to prevent the re-election of a President is not government working.  Allowing individuals to contribute millions to a political campaign is not government working.  Tax laws that favor a few at the expense of the majority is not government working.  It is unfortunate that it takes an event like hurricane Sandy to provide an example of government working, but the apparent ability of Governor Christy and President Obama to come together and focus, not on the philosophical political differences, but on the needs of the people of New Jersey who were impacted by the storm needs to be the model for all areas of government.  Both Houses of Congress need to learn from the examples set by Obama and Christy.  The Senate, even more than the House of Representatives needs to understand that obstruction is not governing.  Both parties need to learn that repeal of undesirable legislation is not the same as improving undesirable legislation.  Making laws work better for the citizens rather than for one or another political party is what is desperately needed in this country.  In many areas of measurement of the effectiveness of government, the United States has fallen far from the top in comparison to other countries.  This fall can be directly attributed to politics working at the expense of government working.  It is past time to learn from history and stop repeating the policies of failure.  It is time to work together to again have a government that works for all of the citizens.