In the March 27 Conway Daily Sun article about the county racing to beat the budget deadline, Daymond Steer quotes from an open letter by former state Rep. Frank McCarthy titled “Unmitigated Cowardice and Dereliction of Duty,” which denounced the work of the current county delegation led by the Democrats.
McCarthy’s choice of the militaristic metaphor in his letter demonstrates why it can be so difficult to achieve bipartisan political cooperation and compromise in legislation and budgeting. Politics is different from doing battle. In a battle, the goal is to win, to defeat the enemy as decisively as possible. In legislating and budgeting there are competing interests and philosophies; to achieve any progress, compromise and cooperation are required. Legislating should not be viewed as a battle in which you try to destroy your opponent, but instead a process in which you listen to one another, respect one another and work together.
Jerry said: "In my first term in the House, the Democrats and Republicans sat intermingled on the House floor. I was surrounded by Republicans and enjoyed getting to know them. Because I got to know them, we still connect in the hall to talk and discuss issues. Unfortunately, this session, the Democrats and Republicans are separated into different sections, which inhibits newer members from being able to get to know “the other side.”" -------------- That leads me to wonder who exactly made the seating changes, and why? Seems to me, segregation is not desirable or helpful.
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism
that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness
accounts, the history behind an article.
(2) comments
To Jerry Knirk and other Democrats, bipartisan means agreeing with them.
Jerry said:
"In my first term in the House, the Democrats and Republicans sat intermingled on the House floor. I was surrounded by Republicans and enjoyed getting to know them. Because I got to know them, we still connect in the hall to talk and discuss issues. Unfortunately, this session, the Democrats and Republicans are separated into different sections, which inhibits newer members from being able to get to know “the other side.”"
--------------
That leads me to wonder who exactly made the seating changes, and why? Seems to me, segregation is not desirable or helpful.
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.