Posted on 10/13/2013 6:25:59 AM PDT by Jim Noble
GRANITE STATERS are rightly frustrated and fed up with the current gridlock in Washington that has resulted in a government shutdown that is hurting families and small businesses. We share that frustration - and we know that our country deserves better from their elected representatives. That's why we're calling on Republicans and Democrats to come to the table now, work out a plan to reopen the government, and develop a long-term deficit reduction plan that will move us beyond this impasse.
Too many in Washington are wasting time and energy finger-pointing and playing the blame game instead of working together to find a way forward. During an informal bipartisan get-together we hosted earlier this week for our women colleagues in the Senate, there was unanimous agreement that members of both parties need to put politics aside and act in the best interests of our country.
Washington could take a lesson from our state's long, proud tradition of bipartisanship and compromise. In the Senate, we don't agree on every issue, but we are committed to working together on behalf of our constituents. And we've been successful as a result.
In just the past year, we've worked together to bolster our small business exporters because we know it will help grow our economy. Together we lead a key Armed Services subcommittee responsible for overseeing our military's readiness, which has allowed us to be strong advocates for the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and its dedicated workforce. And we were proud to support the Pease Air National Guard Base's 157th Air Refueling Wing's successful effort to become the new home of the KC-46A refueling tanker.
When it comes to our nation's fiscal challenges, we have been part of bipartisan efforts to produce a long-term deficit reduction package that will put our country on a more fiscally sustainable path. That effort would be bolstered - and future crisis situations could be avoided entirely - if Washington did its job and passed a budget and appropriations bills on time. To that end, we support legislation that would force Congress to budget responsibly and rein in excessive spending while also requiring better oversight and stewardship of taxpayer dollars.
The American people sent 535 representatives to Washington to work together to address difficult issues and to move our country forward. They did not send us here to manufacture crises, skirt our responsibilities, and bicker with one another. Regardless of political party, everyone should agree that the stalemate in Washington is unacceptable. And for each day that we let it continue, our country is paying too heavy a price.
We have a divided government, but governing is not a winner-take-all sport. We should seize this opportunity to successfully address the many challenges facing our country - and that means putting an end to partisan bickering and starting to actually listen to one another. It's time for our nation's leaders to stop the partisan gamesmanship and start governing and working across the aisle in good faith. That's what is expected of us as elected representatives of the American people, and they deserve nothing less.
Jeanne Shaheen, D, and Kelly Ayotte, R, represent New Hampshire in the U.S. Senate.
As I've said here before, Kelly Ayotte appears to be both a follower and a wannabe - this editorial, I goes, is her confession to both charges.
The first sentence was so full of bullsh-t and phony assumptions that I couldn’t read any further.....
In the Age of Obama, it is. No negotiations. He wants 100% of what he wants.
Can’t make it through it either—they don’t know how to govern; this is about total control of the sheeple.
Exactly. Not that we needed it, but this shutdown is a perfect measuring stick for media bias and double standards.
The GOP are being portrayed as absolutists yet they are the ones proposing, modifying and, as a minimum, explaining what they are seeking.
Obama, on the other hand, starts with pointing fingers and never stops. He’s rejecting offers before they are even made while accusing the other side of bad faith (his sense of irony has always been quite weak).
It would help all sides and observers if they would state the obvious: this is strictly about ego. The stories about Obama resenting the Obamacare nickname are risible: he is completely wrapped up in it as a tribute to his munificent greatness. It also explains, quite easily, why he will never accede willingly to shelving it.
Gee...Ayotte could have spared our time and just say she supports ObamaCare
Yes, exactly so.
I wonder if a female leader stepping into the role of a kindergarten teacher - "Children! stop bickering!" hasn't been tested in focus groups by the enemy.
It may be more effective than we have hitherto realized, as a tool to infantilize the voters and keep them from thinking.
Isn’t Kelly Ayotte a Dingy/Hussein accolade?
Kelly Ayotte is the Republican former Attorney General of NH, elected in 2010 with conservative support - obviously, misguided support, but what else is new?
There is no double standard.
Good for the Revolution, harmful to America = good, Bad for the Revolution and helpful to America = bad.
The media has one, clear, consistent standard and they never vary. No double standard at all.
I still like the NH State Motto, but find it surprising that the State isn't so embarrassed as to remove it from the plates.
Hey Ayotte, there is nothing worse than a con artist and liar. Both describe you. I hope you are voted out.
The Old Man of the Mountain collapsed in shame several years back when he saw all the people from Assachusetts and New Yuck flooding into the state. Many believe it was a suicide.
INFORMED conservatives did not vote for her.
Ayotte has also shown she is a supporter of obamacare. With the GOP riddled with careerist pigs like her it is hard to see a way out this mess without a conservative POTUS.
Still on the back of the NH Quarter!
I was surprised to find that the formation had been supported by man-made reinforcements for decades before the eventual fall.
No - she has become a confidant of Senator McCain. That might be worse.
Typical story: she defeated her primary opponent (who I supported and worked for) by successfully running as a conservative-minded reformer who would change things in Washington.
Now, after cozying up to the establishment, she wants to "work together" to "get things done". Sound familiar? Eventually, every Republican who becomes intoxicated by power does the same damn thing.
Of course, she still pretends to support entitlement reform and deficit reduction, just like her new pals John and Lindsey. But they'll never vote for either, when it actually counts. Why? Because while there's no organized constituency for smaller government (other than the Tea Party, which is not a party but a movement).
But there are lots and lots of powerful little constituencies militating always for increased spending and more centralized power with which to dole out favors - to them.
Various and sundry DC ‘gangs’ are now on the loose; when it gets dark, the bats emerge.
“develop a long-term deficit reduction plan”
What the hell do you think Refusing to Enslave our Children in more debt is all about???
refusing to raise the DEBT CEILING is DEFICIT REDUCTION in it’s purest form.
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