Lamar Alexander: Thank You

I hardly ever agree with Republicans. I can't stand their position on healthcare, abortion, environmental regulations, rights for homosexuals and the role of government. Recently, I have pushed myself farther left in reaction to the polarizing right shift that Congress and the administration has taken in the last year. Everything from rolling back public health regulations to focusing a debt debate on an imbalanced package of cuts without entitlement reform or a long term source of revenues have shown me that Congress is too dysfunctional to create progress and pass legislation to help those who are most in need.

The focus in Washington has been to create an environment where "job creators" can find enough "certainty" to start hiring workers. Well, that's what Republicans have been saying. In a recent interview with NPR, Finance Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) said that short term incentives like payroll taxes and a "second stimulus" don't give "job creators" enough support to start hiring. He used this point to justify a rollback in regulation and a massive tax cut for the wealthiest (IE, the "job creators").

As for those who were affected the most by the recession and the state and national service cuts, he said that his policies will "widen the pie" so more people have opportunities to return to work. The problem with this approach is that it is a long term fix at a time when a short term solution is necessary. For the poor and middle class, infrastructure jobs and incentives like the payroll tax cut will allow for short term job growth while leadership in Congress can deal with long term fiscal health, like deficit reduction, regulation reform and changes to the tax code.

This blog is related to the partisan rancor that has enveloped Congress, pushing it's approaval rating to the low teens and spotlighting polarizing figures like Michelle Bachmann (R-MN), Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Jim DeMint (R-SC) while completely ignoring statesman like John Kerry (D-MA), John McCain (R-AZ) and the subject of this blog: Lamar Alexander (R-TN).

Lamar Alexander is a Republican Senator from Tennessee. The 71 year old has recently announced that he will be stepping down from his position as the 3rd most powerful Republican in the Senate to "get the best results on the issues [he] care[s] about" which means that "you have to get some people from the other party to agree with you or you don't get 60 votes."

Thank you.

No truer words have ever (well, maybe not in the last year) been spoken. Here is a Senator (a Republican, no less) who is known for bucking his own party in the face of stern opposition (and cowardly name calling). He worked across the aisle on the failed energy and climate bill, he voted for the START arms reduction treaty, he worked on the "Gang of Six" deficit panel, worked to find suitable areas for nuclear storage with Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and even mentioned that he was open to supporting "increased revenues" as a part of a deficit reduction plan.

There are many areas I disagree with Alexander on. But, at a time when the debate has become so toxic that bills to fund disaster relief are being held up by fiscal orthodoxies and presidential candidates are calling the Federal Reserve treasonous, it is always nice to hear that some Senators want to get something done.

Here's the video from the Senate Floor: