Some constituents in the 8th District, represented in Congress by second-term Republican Larry Bucshon, want him to refuse any “fiscal cliff” compromise with Democrats. Those strident partisans are most likely in the minority, though.
Sixty-seven percent of Americans want Republicans in Washington to work with President Obama to resolve the fiscal cliff dilemma, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted after last month’s election. Even among Republicans responding to the Pew poll, nearly half — 46 percent — want their GOP senators and U.S. House reps to work out an agreement with the president. Likewise, 72 percent of the country wants President Obama to work with Republicans in Congress.
Bucshon has an opportunity to be a bit of a statesman in this situation by being reasonable, rather than rigid. The Republican side of the Hoosier congressional delegation will need such a voice in the years ahead. Bucshon can step into that role by distinguishing himself during this month’s important budgetary negotiations. He should avoid the partisan finger-pointing, and actively join other House members in finding a starting point through common ground and then build on that.
The stakes are high. The fiscal cliff serves as punishment to the Congress for failing to craft a budget deal last year through a deficit supercommittee of its members. Thus, if legislators can’t agree on a remedy by Dec. 31, the switch will be thrown on a two-pronged penalty — deep, automatic cuts to military and domestic programs joined by tax increases for millions of people, including the middle class. Economists agree the cliff would trigger another recession.
A thaw in the gridlock began after Americans re-elected the president and expanded the Democratic majority in the Senate. House Republicans, who also retained their majority, saw some members refuse to sign a no-tax-increase pledge by Washington lobbyist Grover Norquist. A handful of Senate Republicans said they, too, were ready to consider a variety of options to hammer out a budget deal that trims the deficit and strengthens the future solvency of entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare. Those legislators are approaching the task responsibly and realistically; President Obama campaigned on the plan to include an increase in taxes on the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans in the effort to reduce the deficit, and he won. That outcome should not be minimized or ignored.
Bucshon signed the Norquist pledge, and sees it as a commitment to the 8th District. He reiterated that view in a statement emailed to the Tribune-Star Editorial Board last week, but also hinted at changes in tax deductions and credits that some Republicans have expressed a willingness to consider to avoid the fiscal cliff.
“I pledged to my constituents that I would not raise their tax rates,” Bucshon said in that statement. “Hardworking Hoosiers and small businesses should not be asked to send more money to Washington, D.C., just to pay for bigger government and increases in spending. I have stated before that we need comprehensive tax reform and that we should focus on the long-term drivers of our debt during fiscal cliff negotiations.”
The latter part of his comments raises the possibility for compromise. Bucshon will best serve all of his constituents by asserting himself as a leader in the cause of solving this problem. A majority of Americans hunger to see members of Congress roll up their sleeves to get things done, instead of repeatedly telling us why they can’t. This is your moment, Congressman Bucshon.
Editorials
EDITORIAL: Stakes are high as fiscal cliff looms
Americans want their elected officials to be reasonable — not rigid
- Editorials
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EDITORIAL: Insult to an independent press
Distrust of government secrecy has been elevated to an exceptional level with the disclosure the Justice Department covertly examined two months of Associated Press phone records to determine who leaked details to the AP about a foiled terrorist plot.
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EDITORIAL: Noteworthy in the news: Dashing finish for the Sycamores
It’s always thrilling to see Indiana State University’s athletic teams do well in high-level competition, and two specific teams rose to impressive heights last weekend in the Missouri Valley Conference outdoor track and field championships.
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EDITORIAL: Better monitoring needed to prevent local environmental messes
The nasty, hazardous messes lurking in the community raise a bottom-line, red-flag question. Could these environmental problems have been monitored and, thus, prevented?
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EDITORIAL: Memo to U.S.A.: You can ‘SPPRAK’ just as we do in Vigo County
Our kids, truly, are ‘Making a Difference’
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Some words in praise of boring government — Indiana’s
A conservative Republican governor has super majorities in both branches of the legislature. One might suspect such one-party government leads to major changes in public policy. This did not happen in 2013 in Indiana.
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EDITORIAL: Doc’s prescient prescription
Viewed through a 2013 prism, Doc Bowen’s response to the AIDS epidemic looks merely prudent, routine.
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EDITORIAL: Education remains worth the cost
Within the next few weeks, each of the local colleges will have conducted graduation ceremonies. A few days later, a different Class of 2013 will don caps and gowns for commencement — the seniors at five Vigo County high schools. It is still a smart, worthy aspiration for those high school grads to replicate the achievement of those college students by earning a higher-education degree.
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EDITORIAL: Good news for downtown
For decades, it seems, downtown Terre Haute has been in the throes of change
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EDITORIAL: Overall, state budget step in the right direction
For average Hoosiers uninterested in political point-scoring, the budget crafted by the Indiana Legislature inspires only muted, if any, fanfare.
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EDITORIAL: The lessons of organ donation
The range of emotion surrounding life-saving transplantation of a vital organ is extreme. It is the ultimate “good news-bad news” scenario.
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READERS’ FORUM: April 26, 2013
• Pence’s tax cuts benefit wealthiest
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EDITORIAL: Noteworthy in the news
This does not qualify as a surprise in any way. But the Wabash Valley’s response to widespread flooding of recent days has been nothing short of impressive, even inspirational.
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EDITORIAL: Still waiting for the jobs reward
The forces in control of Indiana government for most of the past decade need to show some results to Hoosiers in one primary category.
Good-paying jobs. -
MARK BENNETT: Littered with irony: Why do people callously discard their trash, and who are they?
Though they aren’t acknowledged by the U.S. Census Bureau, there are basically two demographic groups of people … Those who would dump their old toilet on the banks of the Wabash River or a rural roadside. And those who wouldn’t.
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EDITORIAL: Doing the dirty work to clean up tossed trash
A first-of-its-kind, coast-to-coast project to remove litter from U.S. roadsides brought the Pick Up America crew through the Wabash Valley two years ago.
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EDITORIAL: Keep school security a local issue
The decision to provide armed security inside a schoolhouse should be made locally.
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EDITORIAL: Noteworthy in the news
Indiana’s parks need your help.
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EDITORIAL: The return of terror
Emotions today remain strong and raw in wake of Monday’s terror bombings near the finish line of the Boston Marathon.
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EDITORIAL: A solution to distracted driving … stop it … now
You’ve got to stop. You know you do it. It’s a miracle you haven’t caused a tragedy already.
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EDITORIAL: ‘Women of Influence’: 2013 selectees have given much to their communities
For the second year, United Way of the Wabash Valley has teamed up with local sponsors to select and honor a group of women who have made outstanding contributions to their communities, professions and families.
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EDITORIAL: Noteworthy in the news: A new honor for our veterans
A commendation goes out today to state Rep. Clyde Kersey, a Terre Haute Democrat who led the charge this week in the Indiana House of Representatives to pay tribute to the nation’s Purple Heart recipients.
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EDITORIAL: Shifting view on marriage
One could argue, as many have, that Sen. Joe Donnelly did the right thing last week when he dropped his support of government-sanctioned opposition to same-sex marriage. It wasn’t a radical move, considering most Democrats have now made the switch.
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MAX JONES: The American Newspaper: Changing? Yes. Dying? No way!
It happened again this past January when all those “looking at the year ahead” stories started popping up on Internet “news” websites and broadcast “news” programs. Under a provocative headline reading something like “Five industries/businesses doomed to tank in the coming year,” there it was, a prediction based on an unsubstantiated “expert” analysis that the newspaper industry will continue in 2013 to suffer its slide into oblivion.
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EDITORIAL: A chance to change our bad cultural habits
The sight of diligent, eager young people dragging trash out of the Wabash River wetlands is both inspiring and sad.
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EDITORIAL: Maintaining high standards
Standards
It’s the raging buzzword in education circles these days. Everyone insists that higher standards must be met. Anything less is, doggone it, unacceptable. -
Noteworthy in the news
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EDITORIAL: Crack down on dumpers
There is a reason it’s called “illegal” dumping. It’s against the law. And there is a very good reason illegal dumping is against the law.
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Season of Day 2s arrives
Calendars in Cincinnati contain one extra holiday — Opening Day, traditionally the first Monday in April.
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Congress fails to recognize problem of education costs
Who hasn’t gotten this message yet? The cost of a college degree has become unaffordable for a wide swath of middle-class America.
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EDITORIAL: The cause of public safety: Firefighter group dedicates itself to preventing tragedy
Ensuring that smoke detectors are in working order is one of those periodic chores that’s so simple, yet seemingly so difficult in terms of follow-through.
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