Budget impasse

An email to Charles Bass, sent March 27, 2011.

There is compromise possible. But from the way I read about the recent negotiations, the House Republican leadership has somehow decided that they would lose something by continuing to negotiate by bringing back in their proposal as the starting point. Don't they get it? Republicans were voted in, not because of their sterling reputation for budget busting - we all know that the budget soared under both Reagan and Bush II - but because they were fed up with the quagmire that is in Congress. If the Republican Party's new recruits decide that doing nothing in the name of some dogma is better than actually getting something done for us, then you will be thrown out just as quickly as the last Democrats were in search of someone who will be willing to make progress in addressing our severe problems.

Smart people that we are in New Hampshire, we know that progress is not to be made by following some group that is trying to shout louder than the next. And progress is not going to be made by turning off our brains and following whatever Sean Hannity or any other Fox Personality has to say. Both Republicans and Democrats are responsible for the mess we are in. Both Republicans and Democrats are going to have to work together to get us out. Or else my grandchildren will be learning to speak Chinese as a second language in school.

Please just roll up your sleeves, take a deep breath, challenge your leadership in the name of your constituents, and don't try to fix the problems in one budget!!

Paul Courtney