As a Maine representative, I make dozens of political decisions every day — in committee, in meetings, on the floor. Some are better informed than others. We do the best we can with the time, input and data we have. But the really frustrating part is that most of our decisions wind up in the dustbin of history. Time after time, good legislation is killed for reasons political or irrational, partisan or irrelevant. Bad or unnecessary policies often are discarded, too. But sometimes they become the law of the land for all the wrong reasons.
Why can’t the government get anything done or done right? Americans ask. The answer says reams about our society in 2015, as well as the history that got us here.
President George W. Bush famously declared he was “the decider.” Though some sneered at his odd syntax, he was right — sort of. Having the final say on important decisions often is the president’s prerogative, though newcomers are shocked by how little power they actually have. Founding Fathers, who feared tyranny above all, designed federal and state governments with constitutional protections to prevent one branch of government from having undue power over other branches. In these hyper-partisan times, these counterweights have become blockades.
In a parliamentary system, the executive and legislative powers are combined. The third branch, the courts, even if independent — which in many developing nations are not — usually plays a smaller role in reining in abuses of power. So with a new parliamentary government, one can expect major policy changes and quickly.
At the American federal level, paralysis has resulted from the combination of ideology-driven elected officials who disdain compromise and the constitutional checks and balances system. The rare exceptions occur when the president and both Houses of Congress happen to be controlled by the same party. Even then, legislators of both major parties are an unruly bunch, answerable as much to their constituents and their own ambitions as to their presidential leader. So it’s not surprising it’s always hard to get things done.
Maine’s state government is subject to the same forces. But there are differences. First, our districts are not blatantly gerrymandered, so representatives and senators answer to a broader spectrum of constituents. Clearly, some districts reliably are D or R; but even there, upsets occur. While some members of the Legislature might be seen as ideologues, the vast majority are pragmatic and try to find middle ground. This usually occurs in the committees’ work sessions, as well as by leadership as bills come to a vote on the floor.
There is another distinguishing feature of Maine politics. We have a chief executive, Gov. Paul LePage, who believes the Legislature is not an equal partner in the process. His dismissive manner suggests we are just an annoyance. He has threatened members of both parties with draconian punishments that hurt the whole state when legislators fail to agree to his terms. He has stymied the will of the people who voted in referendums to fund bonds to purchase conservation lands and easements. He has withheld crucial information from the budget negotiations in the Appropriations Committee. Flying blind, they cannot calculate how his or any other tax proposal will impact the population.
The governor says he will veto all bills introduced by Democrats unless we approve his constitutional amendment eliminating income taxes by 2020, even though he has no plan for paying for the lost revenue. This is no oversight. In town hall meetings, he says the way to balance the budget is by spending cuts. Few are specified. In the words of Republican strategist Grover Norquist, he wants to starve the government, reduce it to a size that can be drowned in a bathtub. Whether you believe state government is bloated or not, the huge revenue loss envisioned by the governor either will mean large increases in local property taxes or massive cutbacks — or both. This will not be pretty. No one will be spared. At stake is funding for schools, community colleges, police, fire protection, roads, bridges, Drugs for the Elderly and more — everything we have come to depend on local and state government to provide.
So who is the decider when one part of the government won’t talk to the other? The only correct answer is the voter. If people are fed up with this impasse, they only have themselves to blame. They elected people who don’t want to compromise. Only voters can change this dynamic, but it’s a long time until the next elections. In the meantime, voters can make their voices heard.
Rep. Janice Cooper, D-Yarmouth, represents House District 47, which encompasses Chebeague Island, Long Island and Yarmouth. She is serving her second term in the Maine House.