Need pledge to compromise

Just when it seemed Congress couldn’t do any more harm, they proved me wrong! On Sept. 19, 41 Senate Republicans voted against a bill that would have provided funding for communities to hire veterans as police, firefighters and other public sector employees.

Why do this? It would exceed limits set when the GOP was threatening a government shutdown. Their hubris and arrogance is boundless. We’re safer now; Congress has adjourned until after the election.

We have 235 congressmen and 41 senators in Congress that are signatories of Grover Norquist’s “Taxpayer Protection Pledge.” Their names are listed at …

Just when it seemed Congress couldn’t do any more harm, they proved me wrong! On Sept. 19, 41 Senate Republicans voted against a bill that would have provided funding for communities to hire veterans as police, firefighters and other public sector employees.

Why do this? It would exceed limits set when the GOP was threatening a government shutdown. Their hubris and arrogance is boundless. We’re safer now; Congress has adjourned until after the election.

We have 235 congressmen and 41 senators in Congress that are signatories of Grover Norquist’s “Taxpayer Protection Pledge.” Their names are listed at: http://atr.org/current-list-taxpayer-protection-pledge-signers-a5597.

If they aren’t working for us, they are working against us. We need to ensure that “compromise” isn’t a dirty word in the 113th Congress. Compromises must be made and, as long as one side of the aisle is totally intransigent, we will have problems.

It is more important to vote this year than any other in recent memory. Look at the above website and learn who is beholden to whom. Thomas Jefferson said that an informed electorate is essential for democracy to survive. If our democracy is to flourish, we need to diminish the dysfunctional disconnect within the legislative process.

Gil Beyer

Sandpoint