A tale of two Democrats
Published in the Boulder Daily Camera, 9/25/17
Politics around the world share at least one common trait — the people who seek careers in elected office don't always do what they say they will. Shocking, right? Not really. A Rasmussen poll in 2014 found that 83 percent of likely American voters don't think that politicians keep their campaign promises, which leads me to wonder what the other 17 percent have been smoking.
The lesson is simple — to determine a politician's intentions, skip what they say and watch what they do.
A few weeks ago, we were offered an opportunity to evaluate our nation's elected officials with respect to their willingness to work across party lines to solve problems. After decades of rancorous and unproductive partisanship, all but the extreme partisans among us are looking for more cooperation on the road to forward progress.
This opportunity to see how much our politicians really want to work together was launched by President Trump when, on Sept. 5, he announced his intent to end the DACA program. DACA has allowed unregistered immigrants who came to America as children to stay here on an ongoing temporary basis. However, the president made very clear that his intent was not to ship all those Dreamers back to countries they never knew but that he hoped that Congress would do its job and pass laws that could help these kids stay from a legally sound basis. By the rules of government in today's Congress, this requires bipartisanship.
The president's commitment to bipartisanship was ultimately demonstrated by an agreement over dinner with Chuck and Nancy on DACA legislation that is also supported in principle by the Republican leaders of the House and Senate.
However, given the need for a bipartisan solution to a problem that Democrats claim to care about, what our Democratic U.S. congressmen and senators did immediately after the president's DACA announcement was a great opportunity to see if their actions supported their words about the value of bipartisanship in solving real problems.
Colorado, as it turns out, saw some real contrasts in behavior, none greater than the differences between two of Boulder's favorite Democrats, Sen. Michael Bennet and Congressman Jared Polis.
Sen. Bennet gave us an extraordinary view of what reaching across the aisle to solve a real problem looks like. On the same day that the president announced his plans for DACA, Sen. Bennet and Republican Sen. Cory Gardner publicly announced that they were co-sponsoring the Dream Act of 2017. Sen. Bennet said, "The Dream Act offers a promising solution amid a time of uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of young immigrants around the country." Revving up the bipartisan atmosphere, Sen. Gardner added, "I'm proud to join with Sen. Bennet and co-sponsor the Dream Act to provide certainty to the thousands of law-abiding Coloradan Dreamers and demonstrate bipartisan leadership on this important issue."
Unless you're a screaming member of the Resistance and don't mind deporting a bunch of young immigrants to make a point, you have to like what these guys did, and Michael Bennet deserves a great deal of credit for it.
Congressman Polis, on the other hand, took the other road. Instead of seeking any bipartisan accommodation, Mr. Polis sent out an email that began with, "I am outraged that more than 17,000 Coloradans, who I consider my fellow Americans, got the news that their lives have dramatically altered by a callous and short-sighted decision of our president." Mr. Polis's entire message was a broadside of partisan rancor serving no purpose other than to fan outrage over the dire situation these poor Dreamers were facing. Yikes.
Note that several days before Mr. Polis began pouring gas on the flames of partisan discontent, 1) fellow Colorado congressman Mike Coffman — a Republican — had already put forth a bill to help the Dreamers and 2) Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan had already announced his support of legislation to help the Dreamers. The stage could not have been better set for Mr. Polis to solve real problems of deserving people by working with these Republicans in the House of Representatives. Instead, he took the low road driving the wedge ever deeper.
All signs are that the Dreamers will get a permanent solution to their immigration problem. That's good. But, it's also good that we got a chance to size up how much our local politicians really wanted to work across party lines to solve real problems.
What did we learn? Michael Bennet works to unite government to solve a problem while Jared Polis, it seems, would rather divide our government to preserve a wedge issue for the next election.
Politics around the world share at least one common trait — the people who seek careers in elected office don't always do what they say they will. Shocking, right? Not really. A Rasmussen poll in 2014 found that 83 percent of likely American voters don't think that politicians keep their campaign promises, which leads me to wonder what the other 17 percent have been smoking.
The lesson is simple — to determine a politician's intentions, skip what they say and watch what they do.
A few weeks ago, we were offered an opportunity to evaluate our nation's elected officials with respect to their willingness to work across party lines to solve problems. After decades of rancorous and unproductive partisanship, all but the extreme partisans among us are looking for more cooperation on the road to forward progress.
This opportunity to see how much our politicians really want to work together was launched by President Trump when, on Sept. 5, he announced his intent to end the DACA program. DACA has allowed unregistered immigrants who came to America as children to stay here on an ongoing temporary basis. However, the president made very clear that his intent was not to ship all those Dreamers back to countries they never knew but that he hoped that Congress would do its job and pass laws that could help these kids stay from a legally sound basis. By the rules of government in today's Congress, this requires bipartisanship.
The president's commitment to bipartisanship was ultimately demonstrated by an agreement over dinner with Chuck and Nancy on DACA legislation that is also supported in principle by the Republican leaders of the House and Senate.
However, given the need for a bipartisan solution to a problem that Democrats claim to care about, what our Democratic U.S. congressmen and senators did immediately after the president's DACA announcement was a great opportunity to see if their actions supported their words about the value of bipartisanship in solving real problems.
Colorado, as it turns out, saw some real contrasts in behavior, none greater than the differences between two of Boulder's favorite Democrats, Sen. Michael Bennet and Congressman Jared Polis.
Sen. Bennet gave us an extraordinary view of what reaching across the aisle to solve a real problem looks like. On the same day that the president announced his plans for DACA, Sen. Bennet and Republican Sen. Cory Gardner publicly announced that they were co-sponsoring the Dream Act of 2017. Sen. Bennet said, "The Dream Act offers a promising solution amid a time of uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of young immigrants around the country." Revving up the bipartisan atmosphere, Sen. Gardner added, "I'm proud to join with Sen. Bennet and co-sponsor the Dream Act to provide certainty to the thousands of law-abiding Coloradan Dreamers and demonstrate bipartisan leadership on this important issue."
Unless you're a screaming member of the Resistance and don't mind deporting a bunch of young immigrants to make a point, you have to like what these guys did, and Michael Bennet deserves a great deal of credit for it.
Congressman Polis, on the other hand, took the other road. Instead of seeking any bipartisan accommodation, Mr. Polis sent out an email that began with, "I am outraged that more than 17,000 Coloradans, who I consider my fellow Americans, got the news that their lives have dramatically altered by a callous and short-sighted decision of our president." Mr. Polis's entire message was a broadside of partisan rancor serving no purpose other than to fan outrage over the dire situation these poor Dreamers were facing. Yikes.
Note that several days before Mr. Polis began pouring gas on the flames of partisan discontent, 1) fellow Colorado congressman Mike Coffman — a Republican — had already put forth a bill to help the Dreamers and 2) Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan had already announced his support of legislation to help the Dreamers. The stage could not have been better set for Mr. Polis to solve real problems of deserving people by working with these Republicans in the House of Representatives. Instead, he took the low road driving the wedge ever deeper.
All signs are that the Dreamers will get a permanent solution to their immigration problem. That's good. But, it's also good that we got a chance to size up how much our local politicians really wanted to work across party lines to solve real problems.
What did we learn? Michael Bennet works to unite government to solve a problem while Jared Polis, it seems, would rather divide our government to preserve a wedge issue for the next election.
