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‘People are afraid,’ former Sen. Domenici says
Former U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, shown here during today’s interview at New Mexico State University. (Photo by Heath Haussamen)
Retired GOP senator still says civility in Washington is critical but also understands the fear that’s leading to emotional outbursts
A year ago, U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., came to Las Cruces to tell attendees at the inaugural Domenici Public Policy Conference that Washington needed more people like Pete Domenici.
That’s because, Dodd said at the time, senators like the Republican Domenici treated each other with civility and respect even when they vehemently disagreed with each other, and that made bipartisan compromise possible.
The discourse hasn’t necessarily been all that civil lately, with angry outbursts at town-hall meetings and one Republican U.S. House member interrupting a speech by the president to call him a liar.
Months after he retired from the Senate, Domenici says he understands emotional outbursts that have come to characterize much of the debate lately. Domenici’s primary focus since he left the Senate has been attempting to bring attention to the problem of the nation’s debt, which he says has Americans worried.
“There is more fear and concern, in my opinion, in the hearts and minds of Americans,” Domenici said today in an interview. “… So you have a lot of things that look like non-civility, but it’s really people are afraid.”
The retired senator was speaking on the opening day of this year’s Domenici conference at New Mexico State University.
Domenici, who served in the Senate for 36 years and was once chairman of the budget committee, said he is concerned that programs being discussed, including a government-run health care plan, will only increase the debt.
“(The debt) is a bigger problem that we’ve had, and I think that’s contributing to emotions,” Domenici said.
‘How long will democracy work without civility?’
In today’s interview, Domenici appeared to be conflicted. On one hand, he sees a trend toward greater government involvement in people’s lives as a serious problem that is understandably leading to many of the emotional outbursts coloring the debate. On the other hand, he believes a spirit of bipartisanship and respect will be necessary to address the debt and other problems.
“Civility and bipartisanship are necessities. The question is: How long will democracy work without civility?” Domenici said. “I don’t know.”
Domenici said he was once part of crafting a truly bipartisan piece of legislation — the Energy Policy Act of 2005 — along with Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M. They were able to accomplish that because, even though he was the committee chairman and Bingaman was the minority party’s ranking member, Domenici said he didn’t start off by trying to force a Republican bill on Bingaman. Instead, Domenici said, staffers for both worked together to craft a bill from scratch.
He said that hasn’t been the case in the current debate over health care reform. Instead, the Democrats started with a bill they wanted and asked Republicans to work with them.
“True bipartisanship means you’ve got to have equal input in the process, and you’ve got to start equal,” Domenici said.
If lawmakers started from scratch in a bipartisan manner, he said, “we’d have a completely different bill” that, in addition to addressing a proposal to create a public option or something similar, would also deal with tort reform and create a catastrophic coverage program. Such an insurance option, Domenici said, would be the preferred option for many, including young people, and would dramatically cut costs.
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I have come to the conclusion that the embrace and rationalization of crassness, bad behavior and moral hypocrisy is now the “Conservatives” philosophical approach of the day. Even the great Pete Domenici fell victim to it in the waning years of a career that mostly was founded on principle, whether we agreed with him or not.
Crowds of protesters mouthing the made-up numbers and talking points of the race-baiting Rush and Sean and Glenn and their ilk do not help anyone accurately assess the current state of our nation, as these talk-show hosts rarely base their assertions on any valid, reliable, authoritative information. They have been allowed to take over a once dignified and modest political party, and have become so arrogant that they no longer hide their pride that they will not be held to any standards whatsoever. It frees them up to focus on creating fear, propagandizing falsehoods, and inciting anger.
Being the carni-folk they are, they know “there’s a sucker born every minute” and it takes little to get them to tune in each weekday at 10am. While they feign Patriotism and Being Right, what really motivates them is pure, money-grubbing narcissim. Like an addiction to Meth, individuals with a certain weakness of the mind simply cannot avoid seeking out their clamor over and over again until they fall, completely dopamine-deficient, in a little ball of depressed rage. “WHO did they say I should blame for this awful feeling?” they ask themselves as they mindlessly project the worst they can imagine on a target that most resonates those deep, dark, biases and fears.
And so, minimizing the difference between gun-toting, “Obama = Antichrist” Tea-Baggers to the pathetically wimpy antiwar stunts of Code Pink and Cindy Sheehan (and others who were outright arrested by the “Freedom-loving” Bushies for wearing t-shirts that expressed a lack of support for the little Prince) is just a way to assuage one’s conscience, and because of that, is indirect support for violence, ignorance and incivility.
Similarly, ignoring the huge amount of debt and trauma inflicted on this nation by the previous administration, them blaming the current one for having to borrow to prevent total economic collapse, is disingenuous and convenient, and doesn’t change the facts of the situation: our nation will have to invest–yes, through borrowing and eventually taking in additional revenue–in order to correct the disastrous course of 8 years of foolish, irresponsible and immoral economic choices. There simply is no way around it. (Besides, Dick Cheney said we didn’t have to care about deficits–why, they “don’t matter” and were “owed” to their regime!)
Having a frat boy in charge of the homestead means that when Mom and Dad come home from their vacation, they will end up having to pay for the repairs resulting from the damages from a giant party he threw in their absence. Obama is no Messiah, he’s no miracle worker. He is merely the first ADULT in the office of the President we have seen in decades. Being a responsible adult, he is doing the best he can as fast as he can to restore some order. And it appears that like many who end up shouldering a dirty job, he will not get the credit he deserves from the likes of those who helped create it. So be it. But the time has come to accept the fact that he is doing EXACTLY WHAT THE MAJORITY OF THE NATION ELECTED HIM TO DO. That’s democracy. And last time I looked, my 401K was up 20% in value, so something must be working right.
My message to all those out there who are “afraid” but still in denial about who or what created your fear: If you truly disagree with what you say you do, where were your voices during the insults of the past 8 years? Why is only NOW that you take such a life and death emotional stance on issues that have consequences which are MINISCULE in comparison to what happened under Bush? How are you going to stop the insanity and demand that we all get back to work in a decent, civilized way to solve these problems together?
I already know the answer, and it has something to do with taking stock of one’s own intellectual and moral honesty. Sadly, the days of Pete Domenici’s rules in politics are over.
I for one never supported Bush’s spending and not taxing ways. I never supported the Patriot Act, and BTW, if it is so hated and evil, why has Obama not repealed it? I’m not saying Obama is a communist or socialist, he is a progressive, and he believes big government is good government and government is more important to our society than free enterprise and business. Those are the choices he is making with most all his agenda. I don’t believe his actions are right, and I don’t believe the actions being taken by Obama over the last 9 months are positive for our country but will hurt us. It doesn’t matter if Bush started some of these things, they are just wrong in my opinion. Our public discourse should be civil, with elected officials or others. But many get frustrated and angry when they are not listened to and they lose respect for those frustrating them. Just look at all the things that have happened over the last 8 years when Bush was in power. What we see today is exactly the same, except it is the right that is active instead of the left. So I don’t see any difference in our country and am curious why so many think things have changed. Only the actors have changed, not the actions. Booing the President as he walks into Congress for a State of the Union speech, or saying “you lie” when he is speaking in Congress is not different. Tea Parties and town hall shouting is not unlike Cindy Sheehan, Code PInk, MoveOn.org, etc. doing much the same things.
Thinker;
The people are not selling out for a modicum of consistency of truth, but for a load of things that have been done that are plain ignorant. The people are beginning to see through the fallacies that are coming out of the Obama regime and the direction he is leading this country.
We are deeper in debt now than we were under Bush and Obama is digging us deeper each day. Where do you think we will be by the end of his first term in office? Sure he had some problems that were inherited from the Bush administration, but we weren’t in debt to the tune of 1,000,000,000 dollars and going further in debt. The taxes weren’t raised by Bush, but you can bet they will be under Obama.
The civility of one person to another comes from the heart and mind of a person. When people are scared of the future, they will say things they wish they could take back, but it is too late. You need to wake up to the facts of what is going on around you, in order to see the problems we are inheriting from our present government.
Sure. I am so completely stupid and blind as to believe that our problems in this nation JUST began 9 months ago, and that Barack Obama is the only person responsible for everything that’s wrong with our government.
Let’s see…Iraq invasion base on lies, lies and more lies? Vice President running a shadow government agency out of his private office? Gigantic, historic deficits that have no end in site so big business can get tax cuts? Ok with us. Medicare Part D with no cost controls or way to pay for it? The NewSpeak “Patriot Act” so you have no right to know when the government is snooping on your private business? Fine here. Dept. of Justice only hiring people from one party and demanding that US Attorney’s prosecute more Democrats so that Republicans can win elections? That’s a problem? Wall street bailout that was initiated by Bush and agreed upon by 90% of Republicans? That was ok when OUR guy was in office, but now it’s communism!!! Oh yeah, and now we need legislation to stop the Czars–even though OUR guy had 45, Obama must not be allowed to have them–or he’s a Stalinist!
To quote the Church Lady, “Now, isn’t that conveeeeenient?”
What scares me is just how quickly some people will sell out any modicum of consistency or truth in order to “over throw by inciting rage” a popularly and legally elected President. These folks don’t even care if they are hypocrites anymore, because hypocrisy is the Machiavellian means to their only end: always be in power but never intend to govern.
The looney right, which is now in complete control of the Republican party, is so easily and readily motivated by the most base, ugly and fear-based propaganda. They have absolutely no spine left to stand up to the likes of their talk-show rif-raff because it’s all they have to cling to anymore. This year, we have already seen murders and violent attacks by people who espoused their sentiments. What will we do if finally, some nut crosses over and creates a national tragedy? Will those folks who have been the most eager fomenters of this uncivil and hyperbolic garbage accept responsibility for screaming “FIRE” in a crowded theater? Or will they just throw their hands up like the cowards they are?
So, spare me the whiny “Their taking away our constitutional right to choose our preferred brand of light bulbs” crap. It’s dangerous exaggeration for political gain, and its point is to get people to feel helpless and desperate. Great leadership, folks.
““There is more fear and concern, in my opinion, in the hearts and minds of Americans,” “. Man, you got that right Pete. Just look at all the things government is trying to dictate and control in our lives, it has grown like Topsy over the last 9 months. From what kind of cars, light bulbs, and health insurance we can purchase, to telling us how we can sneeze! As Jefferson said: “When people fear the government it is tyranny, when government fears the people it is democracy”. I hope we return to democracy soon.