Sunday, May 27, 2012 | 2 a.m.
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A new book by Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein misses the bigger issue when it places blame on the Republicans for gridlock in Congress. Yes, the Republicans have used the filibuster to hold up legislation and nominations and the filibuster rules should be changed.
However, anyone who looks fairly at how long Congress has known about but taken no action regarding the impending financial issues with Social Security and Medicare, our deficit spending issues, our mounting debt, our broken income tax system, our unresolved immigration issues, the waste in government programs, both defense and domestic, knows that this gigantic and long-standing inaction is not the result of a single party.
Our problems are acute and the solutions will be painful and highly unpopular. This is the reason we see so much gridlock. Our representatives, on all sides, are scared to death to tell the following truths:
• Most of the issues we face as a nation are the result of this and previous Congresses not doing a good job.
• There is no way to address these issues without pain for Americans.
• Tax increases on all Americans and reduced government spending in many areas must be part of any solution.
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