THE NEWS SUN
The
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2013
Star
THE HERALD REPUBLICAN
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Letter Policy •
Weakness of Congress strengthens bureaucracy One of the more amazing spectacles in the days after the government shutdown ended was the obsession in Washington with who won and who lost in the showdown. Yes, the capital is focused on next year’s elections, but honestly! There was only one real loser, and that was the American people. Why? Because nothing got resolved. The agreement leaves the LEE government open only until mid-January, and HAMILTON gives the Treasury the ability to borrow through early February. This is the barest minimum that we needed. So the question is, can we avoid a similar crisis down the road? To do so, Congress must confront three Great democracies enormous challenges. do not lurch from To begin doomsday moment to with, great democradoomsday moment.” cies do not lurch from doomsday moment to doomsday moment. They plan ahead, they resolve their challenges, they fulfill their responsibilities abroad and respond to their own people’s needs. Congress can do none of these things so long as its members respond only to brinksmanship, resolving one crisis by setting up another a few months down the road. Second, I find myself thinking often these days of the skillful legislators I’ve known over the years. Where are their counterparts today? Congress only works well when politicians and staff understand that each party has to walk away with something; that it’s crucial to preserve flexibility and avoid scorched-earth rhetoric; and that it takes people with the fortitude not to walk away from talks when things are going poorly. Congress needs legislators who are willing to roll up their sleeves and commit fully to the process. Finally, Congress is weak today. By its inaction, it has given power to the president, who can use executive actions to enact policy. It has strengthened the federal bureaucracy by leaving regulatory decisions to federal agencies with very little direction or oversight. It has given massive economic power to the Federal Reserve, since someone has to promote economic growth. And it has allowed the Supreme Court to become the central policy-making body on controversial issues from campaign finance to affirmative action to environmental regulation. “Any society that relies on nine unelected judges to resolve the most serious issues of the day is not a functioning democracy,” Justice Anthony Kennedy said in a recent speech. I’m sorry to say that he’s talking about us.
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LEE HAMILTON is director of the Center on Congress at Indiana University. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for 34 years.
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2-year-old sees her problem clearly Audrey, 2, crying because she wanted sweets, told her mother, “I want tissue. I have mad eyes.” — Audrey is the daughter of Andrew and Ani Wallach of Syracuse
nice. She threw her hands up in the air and said, very melodramatically, “If I can’t tell them what not to wear, then I don’t want to have a costume party. In my opinion, it is my party and I should be able to do what I want, but I understand, Mommy. I will just not have one this year.” — Dawn Keen (mother of Katelyn) of New Mexico
Here are some stories from Zelma Feltner of Kendallville: Zelma was watching Dakota, now 3. She said, “Zelma, I am really, really hungry. I just want Sandy’s niece believes her some food that I don’t have kindergarten teacher is the smartest to chew. (She was pointing to person in the world. Recently pudding!) she was imparting some of this Zelma was babysitting a knowledge to her mom over 1-year-old and a 2-year-old. She When offered milk or put in a DVD that they love, GRACE breakfast. orange juice she pondered and said, “The Wheels on the Bus Go better have water, Teacher said Round and Round.” The 2-yearHOUSHOLDER “I people will die if they don’t have old took the 1-year-old’s hand water for three days.” Her mom and said, “Come on, let’s party! laughed and gave her a glass of Let’s dance!” water but it was no laughing matter. Dakota, 2, was washing her A few weeks later Kenzie became ill with hands. The paper towels rolled out all over a virus. She was sick with vomiting and the floor. She looked at Zelma and said, diarrhea for two days. Her mom was able to “I’m getting sick of this.” Dakota, 2, was playing. She came keep her hydrated with a sips of an electrorunning to Zelma and said, “Zelma, call the lyte replacement and could see she was ambulance.” Zelma asked, “Why?” Dakota getting better the second day. Obviously replied, “I hurt my finger really bad.” improving but feeling very weak, Kenzie shocked her mom by saying, “Don’t worry Katelyn’s birthday party was in mid-Oc- about me anymore. I’ll be dead tomorrow. tober. When her mother asked her what kind Tell my baby sister I love her.” When her mom asked why she thought she was of birthday party she wanted, she said she going to die, Kenzie sighed and said, “It’ll wanted a costume party, but she had a few rules that she wanted her mother to write on be three days without water.” — Sandy Whitaker from a small farm in central the invitations. “You can wear a costume, Missouri but it can’t be monsters, scary witches, clowns or bloody.” Her mother tried to explain to her why she couldn’t tell people Thank you to everyone who contributes what costume to wear because it wasn’t stories. If you have a story to share please
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PHOTO CONTRIBUTED
Michelle Glenn sent this photo and wrote, “Vivian visiting Fashion Farms Pumpkin Fantasyland in Ligonier! She loved all the pumpkins. Great family fun. Very inexpensive, great pumpkin doughnuts. Mommy took the photo.”
don’t put it off … call today or email me. The number is 347-0738; my new email address is ghousholder@kpcmedia.com. (Please note the spelling of Housholder, only one “e.”) You can also mail stories to me at 816 Mott St., Kendallville, IN 46755. Thank you in advance! GRACE HOUSHOLDER is a columnist and editorial writer for this newspaper. Contact her at ghoush older@kpcmedia.com.
Women serve well in the chambers of power WASHINGTON — Most Americans of a certain age grew up hearing the adage: “Behind every great man is a great woman,” or some variation thereof. The meaning is clear, though its origin less so. Whether the expression evolved from the women’s movement or was uttered by a wise man is less important than its truth. Today, as women excel in education and assume positions of power, we might flip the expression — but not too hastily. For even now, it is hard not to notice that the Senate solution to the government shutdown is credited primarily to men, behind whom were a handful of women who got the ball rolling. As Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced the bipartisan deal, the women hit the talk shows to discuss their collaborative efforts. They included Republicans Susan Collins of Maine, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Democrats Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota. It is natural, of course, that the Senate leaders should plug the victory. Thus Reid and McConnell grabbed the headlines. But the sidebar is really the lead story, as Arizona Sen. John McCain noted:
“Leadership, I must fully admit, was provided primarily by women in the Senate.” Before the applause subsides and the status quo grabs the wheel again, we might give this episode greater, sustained attention. We are, after all, trudging toward a repeat early KATHLEEN in 2014. The government PARKER is funded at current levels only until Jan. 15 and the debt ceiling, which was temporarily suspended, will require fresh attention by Feb. 7. That women were able to come together and hammer out a workable solution, if only temporarily, is little surprise to women (or to men who pay attention) and speaks to women’s unique abilities to communicate and collaborate without the requisite territorial marksmanship that often interferes with men’s better intentions. Sounds stereotypical? Welcome to Nature. We needn’t revisit the cave dwellings of primitive man — or the Garden of Eden if one finds greater comfort there — to remind ourselves that male and female are physically equipped
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quite differently but also are endowed with unique skills consistent with their survival tasks. Our cultural evolution may have accelerated in recent history, but our hard-wiring — those little lizard brains buried deep in the subconscious human-mammalian mind — is still busy fighting saber-tooths and nursing the young. As much as ever, we need both packages even as we move toward less-defined roles. And much as we try to dismiss these differences — and even fight madly to pretend they are irrelevant to present-day environs and templates — nature has a way of prevailing. This doesn’t mean we must capitulate. Women needn’t be tethered to birthing chairs nor men expected to always bear the burden of mathematics, but compromise might make some sense. To wit: Women serve very well in the chambers of power created by men, and men benefit from their influence. Those skills women developed while managing their mud huts, gathering nuts and berries while cuddling and nursing babies — the birth of multitasking and collaboration — have modern applications beyond the powder room, where women have been known to gravitate in groups for purposes of sharing secrets that far exceed men’s reasoning powers.
Relax. This is fun. Once upon a time, we’ll tell our sons and daughters someday, when women first entered the congresses and corporations of men, they dressed and acted like men to blend in. They feared that their ways would be considered “girlie” and not suitable to The Man’s World. In their attempts to excel, many became tougher than men and didn’t value their own best talents. Then one day, the government shut down and the men were erecting a giant fire hydrant on the Mall and the women said, “Whattha’! This is ridiculous!” So the women sat down at a table they called “The Campfire,” poured many chalices of fabulous wine, munched nuts and created a plan to save the country. And now you know the origin of Campfire Girls. Thus are parables written. Henceforth, may many more women invade the congresses and white houses of their states and nation to practice and teach the arts of compromise. And let it be said hereafter that behind every great woman is … probably a bunch of other great women. KATHLEEN PARKER is a syndicated columnist with Tribune Media Services. She can be reached at kathleenparker@washpost.com.