This Wednesday is the opening day of the newly elected United States Congress, and the beginning of a new opportunity for Republicans to show that they are more than just the so-called party of “No.”
The change-up in the House, now under Republican control headed by John Boehner, and the Senate, where Republicans picked up many seats, is a clear message from the American people that the change they wanted from the Democrats and President Barack Obama did not come fast enough for them. I mean, President Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress have already passed several significant legislative acts (healthcare, equal pay for women, financial reform to name a few), but Americans are still weary of the economy and the majority of us are not happy until we see the change in front of our face. This is unfortunate because a lot of these legislative acts passed under Democratic leadership will be better for our long-term good. But reality is reality and all we tend to see is short-term, and it is the short-term talk that we vote for in elections.
Now don’t get me wrong, many of us our right to think short-term over long-term because for example, as long as you don’t have a job there is no reason to be happy about the job stimulus you hear about. As long as you are not receiving proper medical coverage, there is no reason for you to be happy about a new healthcare law you see in the news. But, at the end of the day it is the long-term policies that will help us most.
This brings me to the newly elected Republican leadership in Congress. I hear a lot of negative things about how the Republicans will use their power to effectively block every long-term initiative the President and Democrats propose in the future. This is a horrible misconception. Let me keep it real for you now: Now that Republicans are in control, they can’t just say “No” to everything, just as the President can’t say “No” to everything because Republicans are in control. I think the new Congress will yield more successful laws for the country than the previous Congress because now Republicans will be held more accountable in getting things done. There is no way the Republicans can get away with just saying “No” to everything when they have the majority. The American people will no longer accept “No” as a solution. If the Republicans want to maintain their newly-gained power, they have to deliver results. This means that the President and Republicans have no choice but to work together and make compromises to get more things done.
