Bucks
Civility Part One Fitzpatrick Qrotary Runray Stever
Dear Friends,
Good
morning. A few weeks ago, I received an invitation to serve on a panel at
Phillip’s Mill on April 23. Lack of civility in government is the subject. The
public is invited to this event just north of
I’ve been
worrying that the lack of civility in the halls of congress and the 50 state
legislatures is undermining
I began my study about the lack of civility by interviewing Congressman Patrick Murphy (D-8th District) and his most likely Republican challenger, former Congressman and Bucks County Commissioner Michael Fitzpatrick.
However, before I set that stage, I have two items of note.
The first is good news about a Quakertown Rotary Club event. It raises money for local community projects, especially area’s youth. Rotarian William Tuszynski reported that the fourth annual 4 and 10-mile race netted $3,700 on March 6. Its golf outing in the summer contributes more than $12,000 for Quakertown causes. “We had a record 295 finishers,” Tuszynski told me about the run.
The second is the death of Ray W. Stever, a Quakertown resident who served his community since his teenage years. I first met him when he joined my Boy Scout Troop more than 50 years ago. As an eleven-year-older, Ray was an enthusiastic, hard worker and it carried throughout his life.
After high school graduation, Ray became a corpsman with the Marines during the Vietnam War and saw heavy action there. I’ll always remember him as a volunteer fireman for Quakertown. Ray served in every leadership capacity for Quakertown Fire Company Number One.
He had a nice voice and sang in his church choir. With his military background, Ray was a past President of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars organization. He was active in the American Legion and the Vietnam Veterans Association. Ray was an unsung hero that typifies the American spirit. He was only 63.
And now to civility. Let me set the stage as I see it.
The Republican Party believes that the fastest way to power is to oppose President Obama’s policies…chiefly the budget and health care. At the same time, poll after poll shows that voters are more opposed to the Republican Party than they are to the Democratic Party and President Obama.
“Americans blame former President
George W. bush, Wall Street and Congress much more than they do President Obama
for the nation’s economic problems and the budget deficit,” a New York Times/
CBS poll revealed (New York Times, Feb. 12). “Public disapproval of Congress is
at a historic high and huge numbers of Americans think Congress is beholden to
special interests. Fewer than 1 in
That poll should encourage Michael Fitzpatrick. However, the Democrat Party fared better than the Republicans by an approval rate of 42% to 35%.
Voters are dissatisfied with U. S. Senate rules about blocking legislation (Rule 22 and the filibuster strategy). “One senator can subvert the entire democratic process,” said Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics (Inquirer, Feb. 21). After Obama’s first year, the Senate had confirmed only 353 of his 569 major nominations. The results were similar to President George W. Bush’s experience. The public is angry about gridlock.
On the other hand, did President Obama miscalculate when he let the Democratic leadership dictate the speed for health care reform? I think so. Lyndon Baines Johnson was not my favorite President. But LBJ knew how to marshal his foot soldiers in the Congress. By intimidation, greed, manipulation and skill, LBJ was not afraid to take the gloves off and engage in brutal, political fisticuffs.
Is President Obama too timid?
Look at the
health care debate for example. The President has not challenged the
Republicans who claim that the Democrat’s plan is a step toward socialism. But
look at these statistics from the
Last year, the percentage of America’s gross domestic product (G.D.P.) for health care was 17.7 percent. At this pace, health care will be a staggering 24 percent of G.D.P. by 2020. Compare that with the French who spend only 10 percent of G.D.P. and the Germans, 11 percent. And they cover every citizen…whereas our system leaves tens of millions uninsured.
Is the GOP making a mistake? An
early March
I have three additional points to make before we address the need for civility. The first is a column that Michael Smerconish wrote for the Inquirer (Feb. 21). After 30 years of active membership in the Republican Party, the popular local talk show host is calling it quits. He re-registered as an Independent.
Why did he abandon the GOP? “The national GOP is a party of exclusion and litmus tests, dominated on social issues by the religious right, with zero discernible outreach by the national party to anyone who doesn’t fit neatly within its parameters,” Smerconish said.
“According to the latest Washington Post/ ABC news poll, 39 percent of Americans identify themselves as independents- compared with 32 percent who say they are Democrats and 26 percent who are self-described members of the GOP,” Smerconish continued. “Nowhere is this more pronounced than locally, where a shift away from the Republican Party has taken place in the four bellwether counties surrounding Philadelphia.”
Michael Fitzpatrick should worry about that. It was the Independents’ vote, which beat him in 2004 after one term in Congress.
The second point I’d make is that the Arlen Specter/ Pat Toomey Senate race is not going the way the GOP predicted. Conservatives expect Republican Toomey to defeat Specter, Pennsylvania’s new Democratic Senator. But in the March 3 Franklin and Marshall poll conducted by Terry Madonna, F & M reported that if the election were held today, registered adults would vote for Specter (33 percent versus 29 percent for Toomey). The Quinnipiac Poll was similar. Specter led Toomey by 49 to 42 percent.
The last point I’d make is that Republicans in both houses of the Congress are crying “foul” as Democrats threaten to approve health care by a procedure called reconciliation. Reconciliation is the response to senators using the filibuster to block legislation. In reconciliation, a simple majority wins the day versus a super majority under filibuster rules.
There was an interesting chart in
the March 7
Next week, I’ll begin my series on civility. I’ll start with Michael Fitzpatrick and his comments about George Washington’s 110 rules of civility. Washington wrote them as a schoolboy before the age of 16!
Sincerely,
Charles Meredith