Feels like summer, looks like summer - fountains on, flowers blooming, bright blue sky. No D.C. humidity yet, so I'm grateful.
Votes expected tonight to proceed on the climate change bill in the Senate. Before the Memorial Day recess, the war supplemental and farm bills were passed. Pending nominations may be considered, as well. More than any other type of bills considered seem to be those resolution declaring "weeks" and "months" - very popular (and easy).
This month looks fairly routine (if there is such a thing): constituent visits, recommending bills to consider cosponsoring (I suggested seven today alone, but am catching up), briefings and hearings (two scheduled for this week, on infection control and health information technology), and following up on pending legislation - one bill close to being dropped/introduced, and another at the beginning of the process. I also hope to find time to draft two statements for the Senator to consider crafting policy from (too soon to mention here).
Two weeks away was quite relaxing - visiting family and friends in three states, catching up with pets and garden, reading (10 books, with all that traveling), and coping with being in an airplane for 11 hours rather than the 2.5 expected. Yikes!
Am working on a presentation about the federal legislative process and how to influence it, waiting to hear about a proposed session at my national conference in the fall, and watching my state and town struggle with budget deficits. These are big problems to solve, and I hope the decision-making process is less partisan than what I observe federally.
It seems to me that the 24/7 attention of the media, the rapid sharing of unvetted information through the internet, and the unrealistic expectations of the public (coupled with their lack of serious attention) makes it harder for elected officials to be particularly forthcoming or thoughtful without being attacked. I can't help but think our policy outcomes are much weaker because of this. Yet our problems are large, and the solutions seem so small in comparison.
Does anyone else feel this way?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I couldn't agree more. In this age of 15 second sound bites, it seems as though people are willing to make decisions based on what feels good at the moment rather than really analyzing the situation and then making a truely informed decision. This creates a bad situation for someone proposing public policy in that you really have to be creative in order to get people to pay attention to things they don't seem to want to hear.
Post a Comment