From DC to NM, tough decisions don’t get made — just delayed

John Grubesic

Capitol Report New Mexico - We still have a federal government. No furlough of nonessential employees. I doubt that we would have missed them, but thank goodness the brain trust in Washington avoided adding an additional layer to our fiscal fiasco. These things can get expensive, ask Newt Gingrich. Of course all the drama could have been easily avoided had Congress decided to deal with this back before the expiration of the federal fiscal year in October of 2010. You know, back when the Democrats controlled both houses of Congress? Unfortunately, they were frozen with fear. With the election looming in November there was no chance that a budget would pass. Congress was scared to death of taking any action that might have cost them a vote. This is a common affliction in public service, rarely diagnosed, not often fatal, but a slow growing, insidious disease that has infected politics and is slowly killing real leadership in this country. The disease has infected state legislatures. Look at Wisconsin, Texas — I am sure there are more. I saw guys get up and walk out of committees in New Mexico along party lines several times. You can’t win if you don’t have the votes and you can’t have a vote if nobody’s there. Once you lose a quorum in a committee the only thing left to do is eat all the free food the lobbyists bought for dinner. A two-party system doesn’t work when one side decides to walk out. Running and hiding is not an acceptable response. This country was forged by people who stood and fought — not by those who cut and run. Read full column here: News New Mexico

From DC to NM, tough decisions don’t get made — just delayed