The nation needs to turn a new leaf the year — the sooner the better

Sunday, Jan. 1, 2012 | 2 a.m.

Is there anyone who misses the year 2011? Anyone?

We thought not.

Given that the year saw more disappointing results in the economy and in politics, turning the page on the calendar today was a welcome exercise.

We certainly hope that the new year will bring better news — significantly better. Recently, there have been signs that economically things are improving, but there is still a long way to go. The question is if the nation will see any significant progress over the course of this year.

It will be difficult to make much progress because this is an election year and much of the nation’s leadership will be enmeshed in election-year politics. Work in Washington, which has been painful to watch, could grind to a halt, particularly if the parties think they stand to benefit if they push things off until after the November elections when they might win control of both Congress and the White House.

But waiting for the elections would be a major mistake, as would continuing politics the way they played in 2011. The country is in need of change. Nevada, for example, is still hampered by high rates of unemployment and foreclosures. There needs to be action to spur the economy forward.

One of the problems in the past year was that Washington became bogged down due to the all-or-nothing approach that took root among Republicans in the House of Representatives.

A variety of important measures and legislation stalled because they wouldn’t negotiate or compromise. They held out for tax cuts for the rich and major corporations but showed little concern for the middle class. Consider the most recent example of that type of behavior with the extension of the payroll tax break. House Republicans balked at a compromise and were willing to let the tax bill of average Americans go up just so they could get their way and be “right.”

On any number of occasions this year, they could have worked with the President Barack Obama and the Democrats, but instead they tried to frame the debate in apocalyptic terms, suggesting that the president is trying to destroy the country. They say their obstruction is aimed at preventing things from getting worse. That’s laughable. Putting aside the hypocrisy of that statement — they scoffed when Democrats correctly pointed out that the stimulus measure prevented things from getting worse — how, exactly, did the Republicans make things better? By protecting the “job creators” and their lucrative tax breaks, even though they haven’t been creating jobs?

All the Republicans have done with their obstruction is create an incredible level of dysfunction in Washington that has dragged the country down. Note, for example, the downgrade of the country’s credit rating, which was precipitated by the way Republicans pushed the country toward default.

Given all of that, is it any wonder why Americans have such a dim view of Congress?

We’re not naive enough to think that in a campaign year things will drastically change. But we do hope that in this coming year the nation’s leaders and those running for office will pause long enough to consider how the election-year politics are — or aren’t — playing out for the average American.

The country was built by people who had strong and opposing views on government. They found ways to compromise and make things work.

The nation needs leaders who aren’t so wedded to their ideology that they can’t make compromises and find solutions. The bottom line is that the country needs to see change now — not in 11 months.