Is Compromise Really A Dirty Word?
Last night in his address to the nation, President Obama said that Washington has become “a town where compromise has become a dirty word.” He was of course referring to the ultra-partisan, political jockeying and ideological grandstanding that have become part and parcel of the debt ceiling debate that has taken the country to the brink of economic calamity.
The lack of compromise, the inability to find common ground in order to craft real solutions to our nation’s shared problems—jobs, climate change, health care just to name a few—is why nothing of substance is getting done on Capitol Hill. No wonder the American public is angry and fed-up.
When I listen to the Democrats and Republicans arguing with one another, each side acting like spoiled little children screaming at the top of their lungs while at the same time covering their ears, I think of that iconic line from the movie Cool Hand Luke—“What we got here is a failure to communicate.”
We, at Turner Government and Public Affairs, understand the absolute necessity of effective communication—of successfully selling an idea or a position to both sides of the aisle. We pride ourselves in our proven ability to advance the priorities and goals of our bipartisan client base, and we do that because among other things, we understand that communicating effectively is predicated on establishing common ground, which is at the heart of compromise.
At Turner we have established a culture of accomplishment working with Congress and regulatory agencies in Washington. We know how to bridge complex constituencies and form strategic alliances with government and industry leaders to achieve success for our clients.
That is why I find what’s playing out in Washington these days so personally frustrating.
As President Obama noted in his speech last night, Americans may have voted for a divided government, but what they didn’t vote for was a dysfunctional government.
It’s time that our so-called leaders in Washington find common ground, hammer out a doable “compromise” and get to finally doing what we elected them to do—find real solutions to our nation’s concerns. In a word—GOVERN.
C.Z.T.
Turner GPA is one of the premier, highly respected government and public affairs firms in the nation. Turner’s state-of-the-art advocacy has earned them respect and acclaim from the media, clients, policymakers and even their competitors! Turner advocates on behalf of cutting edge businesses, municipalities, and non-profits that wish to ensure their perspectives and needs are taken into account in Washington, in state capitols and in City Hall, as well as in the media. The firm creates and implements intensely focused and targeted advocacy campaigns designed to meet and exceed its client’s expectations and goals. For more information on Turner GPA, visit www.turnergpa.com or call 202-466-2511.
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It’s Not the Deficit, It’s Jobs
If you have been reading us faithfully then you know that our mantra has been – job creation is priority number one.
Clearly, the rest of America agrees with us. A new Gallup poll, which was released last week, indicated that voters list the economy and unemployment/jobs as the nation’s top problems, with deficit/debt reduction running a distant third.
When asked to respond to the question: What do you think is the most important problem facing this country today?—31 percent of Americans indicated that it is the economy in general with an additional 27 percent specifically citing unemployment and jobs. That’s a total of 58 percent who see the economy and unemployment/jobs as the country’s most pressing concerns. Only 16 percent of those surveyed said that the federal budget deficit/debt is America’s biggest problem.
Further, the Gallup poll indicated that the “percentage of Americans naming jobs as the top problem has been on the rise” since April, “increasing 8 percentage points” from 19 percent to 27 percent.
On the same day that the Gallup poll was released the U.S. Labor Department reported that the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits had increased from 408,000 to 418,000 a week. What’s more, 30 percent of America’s jobless—4.4 million people—have been out of work for more than a year.
The ugly truth is that U.S. employers only managed to create 18,000 jobs in June at a time when unemployment stands at 9.2 percent and more than 14 million Americans are jobless.
Despite those appalling numbers our lawmaker’s are spending all their energy battling over raising the debt limit, something that had, in the past, been done almost routinely.
Clearly, Congress and the Obama Administration have strayed away from the one issue the majority of American’s care about—JOBS. When all of the political posturing is finally done and both sides are patting themselves on the back for “averting a crisis” by crafting a deal to raise the debt ceiling, American’s are still going to be asking what they have been asking all along—Where are the jobs?
Turner GPA is one of the premier, highly respected government and public affairs firms in the nation. Turner’s state-of-the-art advocacy has earned them respect and acclaim from the media, clients, policymakers and even their competitors! Turner advocates on behalf of cutting edge businesses, municipalities, and non-profits that wish to ensure their perspectives and needs are taken into account in Washington, in state capitols and in City Hall, as well as in the media. The firm creates and implements intensely focused and targeted advocacy campaigns designed to meet and exceed its client’s expectations and goals. For more information on Turner GPA, visit www.turnergpa.com or call 202-466-2511.
Debt Ceiling Fears Already Drag on Economy
Nervous — that is the one word that best describes the mood on the Hill as the August 2 deadline to reach a deal on raising the debt ceiling draws nearer.
The nervousness stems from the realization that if the debt limit is not raised, the U.S. will be unable to pay its bills. If that occurs, the country will either cease spending money on government programs, or default on paying its creditors, which in turn will lead to spiking interest rates, inflation, a second recession, and other financial disasters.
According to a new report released yesterday by the Center for American Progress, a Washington, D.C. progressive think-tank, all the drama surrounding the debt ceiling debate has already had a negative impact on the nation’s economy. Their researchers say that the poor job creation numbers in May and June are the direct result of uncertainty about the debt-ceiling. The report noted that the three months from February through April (2011) each had job growth of more than 200,000 jobs. However, that all came to an end in “May when only 83,000 net private-sector jobs were created.” Forecasts for the June number are also well short of the 200,000 jobs mark. (Let’s try 18,000 jobs created in June according to the Labor Department today.)
“Most businesses don’t make big investments or ramp up hiring when they see a substantial risk of the economy tanking. They don’t want to be on the hook for the costs if there aren’t going to be customers and revenue for what they produce. Right now the failure to increase the federal debt limit is creating such a risk and that may well be why the economy is starting to drag,” the report concluded.
Clearly, the nervousness on the Hill over the federal debt limit is magnified on Main Street.
C.Z.T.
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