The Hill News

Oftentimes, the easiest course of action for any legislator is to avoid controversial issues at all costs and when they arise, simply vote no. This minimizes a member of Congress’ exposure and decreases the chances the issue â€" any issue â€" is used against them when seeking re-election, whether its every two or six years. But unfortunately, this does not serve the citizenry well as important and difficult issues go unaddressed and our nation and its future generations are ill-served as they are handed problems their predecessors let languish.

This scenario is rampant in Washington, D.C. today. Whether it’s the $15 trillion debt, solvency of entitlements such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, or immigration reform, Congress has not stepped forward. And this problem is not isolated to the 112th Congress, it is indicative of how the institution has functioned for quite some time under the control of both parties. If unemployment was six percent and prosp! erity in abundance, few would mind, much less notice. But those certainly are not the times we live in.

Unemployment has remained above eight percent more than three years, our dependence on foreign sources of energy has resulted in punishing costs at the pump, our monetary policy has led to a fall in the value of the dollar, the U.S. Senate has not passed a budget in more than 1,000 days and so many issues seem to require attention and resolution, yet nothing gets done.

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