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Time to work together; PA State Sen. Tim Solobay (D-46); Beaver County Times; November 29, 2012.
Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.
“The election is over, but like a contentious football game between arch rivals, the post-event ranting is still going strong. The real concern at this point is not what has transpired, but more so where we are now and are headed.
“Ever since I was first elected to the state House, I have had a pretty simple philosophy for getting legislation passed. I never counted on cunning cryptic strategies or parliamentary gamesmanship or the setting of traps to force members to vote a certain way. I take a much more straight ahead and simplistic strategy -– I reach across the aisle to work together with my colleagues. That was my approach then and remains my approach now.
“When people keep fighting merely for the sake of towing [sic] the party line, when divisive mindsets are created for the sole purpose of sustaining their respective machine, when the energy put into resolving a problem becomes more about ‘us vs. them’ over what needs to be done for the people, representative democracy becomes broken and cannot work. Unfortunately we see these conditions in local, state and federal government.”
[RWC] “Us vs. them” and divide-and-conquer are the primary tactics of the left.
“We recently witnessed how things should work when we saw New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie cross party lines and work with President Obama. This was not about a Republican selling out to a Democrat or a Democrat kowtowing to a Republican; this was simply an exemplary snapshot of good government in action, but it sure upset a lot of people.”
[RWC] Other than a much-needed photo opportunity for President Obama less than a week before the election, what did the “exemplary snapshot of good government in action” accomplish, especially for the storm victims?
“A good idea is a good idea, people don’t care from where it came. They want, they expect and they deserve results. As a nation and as a state, we have reached a tipping point where if all elected officials don’t start working together, and working well together, we are going to find ourselves in a position where hopelessness and decline are the new norm.
“It’s time for partisan party politics to be put aside and time to get to work.”
[RWC] I don’t recall hearing Mr. Solobay express similar a sentiment when Mr. Obama and the then-Democrat-majority Congress shoved Obamacare (which included nationalizing the student loan business) down our throats without a single Republican vote.
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