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The NewsHour on Wednesday tapped retiring moderate U.S. Senators Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) to discuss congressional dysfunction. Interviewed by Senior Correspondent Gwen Ifill, the two provided a free-wheeling inside view of what has happened over the last couple of decades on the Hill. They touched on the roll played by the media, no-tax pledges, no-compromise candidate platforms and sacred-cow entitlement programs. They also offered suggestions on what they would do, if they could, to address the gridlock that poll after poll suggests is detested by the vast majority of American citizens.

Watch Retiring Sens. Snowe, Bingaman: Political Center Is Fading on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

A condensed version of the exchange:

Ifill: Are things irreconcilable?

Snowe: People have to step back and say, What’s the purpose of the United States Senate? What’s the objective of serving in public office. I happen to believe it’s problem solving. That I’ve come here to solve problems. That’s why I’ve been in public office for virtually 40 years. I believe we have an obligation, a responsibility to address the issues that come before your state or your country.

Does it seem to you like things are stuck?

Bingaman: Well… the whole country has become much more polarized politically. You have– the media is polarized. If you are of one point of view, you have one channel to watch. If you are of another point of view, you have a different channel to watch. I think that’s being reflected in the Congress. The Congress is more polarized. You have a lot of people running on a platform that they won’t compromise once they get to Washington They will stick to their guns. And of course our system of government was designed so that you gotta compromise.

Is it that people won’t compromise because they can’t or won’t compromise, or because, politically, they can’t afford to compromise?

Snowe: … People say to me, Why won’t you work together for the common good of the country? Now, the whole issue unfortunately with compromise is that people view it with disdain. It’s viewed as a capitulation of your principles. It’s not.

Sen. Snowe, I hereby grant you a magic wand. What’s the fix?

Snowe: A return to transparency and accountability would really build confidence in the integrity of the outcome of the legislation. We don’t have that anymore. It’s a closed door. It either comes to the floor without going through a committee. It’s crafted behind closed doors. We have up or down votes. I mean it’s sort of similar to the House. I feel like I’m back in the House. We have up or down votes. Have an open amendment process. Have people air their views.

And, sometimes, when you have that opportunity, you might not agree on everything in the package, which you might not because — if it’s a big package — but, at the end of the day, so, you know, I’ve made my voice heard on behalf of my constituents, and the ultimate result is something that I now can support, even if it’s not everything that I wanted.

Doesn’t the dysfunction have a chance to take greater hold with your absence?

Snowe: Well, you know, my concern is that it’s not going to change on the short term, and that’s what I had to consider at where I am in my own life…

I am concerned that the lines have drawn. I mean, the analyses that have been done recently about ratings of various — of all of us as senators, whether conservative or liberal and so on, back in 1982, there were 58 senators that came between the most conservative Democrat and the most liberal Republican. Today, there are none.

So there’s not much of a center, and we have to decide that the institution has to not only solve problems, but the American people have to give rewards to those people and individuals who are willing to work across party lines. There are no political rewards for that today.

The discussion echoed the question Daily Show host Jon Stewart in 2004 famously took to Crossfire, the CNN cable debate show that folded soon after Stewart appeared and told the hosts their predictable ginned-up left-right debates were doing a disservice to the country. “Just stop,” he said. Video of the exchange went viral and Americans applauded Stewart for articulating an exhaustion with the way cable news- and talk radio-style political theater seemed to be overtaking political reality.

In the short time he has been in office, Colorado U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet has made news for his evocative railing against the do-nothing anachronistic nature of the Senate and has taken to the floor on occasion to desperately plead for action.

[ Image: Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, NewsHour screengrab. ]

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The Colorado Independent

A veteran Democratic senator has put his weight behind the surging online Kony 2012 phenomenon.

A key U.S. senator voiced his support for Kony 2012, the online video which portrays atrocities committed by a Ugandan warlord and has become a celebrity-fueled viral Internet cause.

Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy visited Champlain College in his home state of Vermont Monday, to praise the role of students there in the Kony 2012 movement, which seeks the capture of Joseph Kony, a brutal warlord who has forced young boys to serve in his Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), and young girls into sexual servitude.

The under-30-minute video, produced by the nonprofit organization Invisible Children, reportedly has been watched by more than 70 million people. Celebrities, including Oprah Winfrey and Justin Bieber, have been pushing attention to Kony 2012 in recent days.

“I am very pleased to be part of this effort to highlight the atrocities of the Lord’s Resistance Army, and I congratulate the Champlain students who have taken the initiative to educate other students and the entire community,” says Leahy, who long has focused on human-rights issues.

Kony’s LRA has terrorized the people of northern Uganda, the Congo, and elsewhere in Central Africa, for more than 20 years, Leahy notes. Thousands of people have been uprooted from their homes, children have been kidnapped and forced to kill and mutilate members of their own families, he adds.

“Over a decade ago I sent one of my staff to northern Uganda to meet with people who had been displaced and victimized by the LRA,” the senator, who chairs a Senate subcommittee which controls spending of the State Department foreign operations. “He visited some of the tens of thousands of children known as ‘nightwalkers’ who walked every evening, for as much as two hours, from their rural villages to shelters in town where they were protected from abduction by the LRA.

“For too long, this savage brutality received too little attention, as had the need for additional efforts by the United States and others to bring the LRA’s leader, Joseph Kony, to justice and to aid the victims,” Leahy adds.

U.S. Government Already After Kony

While Kony 2012 is the first introduction many around the world may have had to the thuggish Kony, he is no stranger to the U.S. government, according to Leahy.

Congress approved the the “LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act,” in 2010, which Leahy calls “a real breakthrough.” Leahy adds that his Senate subcommittee included “up to million” to begin implementing the law, “and I plan to include additional funds this year.

“I also strongly support legislation, introduced by Representative Ed Royce of California, to offer rewards for information that leads to the capture of Kony and other LRA commanders. We should pass it this year,” Leahy says.

President Obama also deserves credit for developing a “Strategic Plan to Support the Disarmament of the LRA,” and deploying 100 U.S. military advisors to help capture Kony, Leahy says.

“He did that over the objections of some Members of Congress who felt it was not a priority –- some of the same people who voted to spend billions of dollars to send hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops to Iraq,” he says. “So there is progress, and students like you have been pushing and pushing – writing letters, lobbying Congress, raising money, doing everything you can to bring more attention to Joseph Kony and his child victims, to stop the LRA.”

Scott Nance is the editor and publisher of the news site The Washington Current. He has covered Congress and the federal government for more than a decade.

The Democratic Daily

FRISCO — Saying the economy is intrinsically intertwined with the environment, U.S. Sen. Mark Udall rolled out a proposal Sunday to designate 236,000 acres of new wilderness in central Colorado and establish a 20,000-acre national monument along the Browns Canyon stretch of the Arkansas River.

He called on the public to help him craft a pair of public-lands bills.

In the first — the Central Mountains Outdoor Heritage Act — the Democratic senator wants to consider 32 pockets in Eagle, Pitkin and Summit counties for wilderness protection, many of them additions to Holy Cross, Eagles Nest and Maroon Bells-Snowmass areas. Udall said he envisions a bill that would foster “a world-class destination for outdoor recreation while protecting pre-existing uses,” such as the Colorado National Guard’s high-altitude helicopter training area.

Draft maps for the proposal are largely based off of Eagle and Summit County wilderness plans that U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colorado, submitted to the House two years ago, along with input regarding Pitkin County from Carbondale-based Wilderness Workshop. The three counties comprise a veritable paradise for skiers, hikers, cyclists, mountain bikers, snowmobilers, hunters and fishermen.

“Many of these areas have been exhaustively vetted and debated,” Udall said.

Sen. Mark Udall in Frisco on Sunday. (Photo by Troy Hooper)

The second bill — the Arkansas River Canyon National Monument and Browns Canyon Wilderness – borrows from former U.S. Rep. Joel Hefley, R-Colorado, in identifying wilderness on both sides of the iconic river between Salida and Buena Vista in south-central Colorado. Hefley introduced a similar bill in 2006 but the legislation didn’t get very far. Hefley’s successor, Rep. Doug Lamborn, abandoned the plan.

“A national monument designation would put a star on the map, drawing more visitors to the area’s world-class river rafting and outdoor recreating activities and support our local tourism economy,” Udall said against a backdrop of blue skies and snow-covered mountains.

As he spoke, cross-country skiers snaked around a meadow in the distance. Giggling children raced inner tubes down a nearby hill. And snowboarders in SUVs passed by on their way to Breckenridge.

“The outdoors is an important part of our quality of life here in Colorado,” Udall continued. “For many outfitters and small business owners the preservation of our state’s majestic mountains and valleys is vital for their livelihoods.” He called for “a collaborative community driven process.”

Eagle County Commissioner Jon Stavney, Summit County Commissioner Dan Gibbs and Breckenridge Mayor Dr. John Warner also spoke in favor of protecting more of Colorado’s rugged landscape, and they emphasized how it serves as the backbone of their economies.

“Future generations will … judge our wisdom by the places we protect,” Stavney said.

As a member of the Senate’s Subcommittee on National Parks and co-chairman of the Outdoor Recreation Caucus, Udall plans to leverage his leadership “to take this [proposal] to the next level.”

Browns Canyon (Image: Friends of Browns Canyon)

Getting Colorado’s conservative congressmen on board could prove difficult. Not only did Lamborn fail to see Hefley’s vision through, he and U.S. Reps. Scott Tipton, Cory Gardner and Mike Coffman have a history of voting against public land protections and for allowing GOP-friendly industrialists to mine minerals and harvest forests.

Udall does have the assistance of Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colorado, who revived a plan to better protect public land in the San Juan Mountains with Udall in September. That bill, which would declare roughly 61,000 acres of southwestern Colorado as federal wilderness or special management areas, had died in the 111th Congress.

Whether the 112th Congress is any better for wilderness remains to be seen.

Another ally for Udall is Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colorado.

“Coloradans want to preserve their quality of life and their opportunities,” said DeGette, who has spearheaded similar measures. “With efforts in the U.S. House and now the U.S. Senate, our state’s precious lands are that much closer to being protected. I look forward to working with Senator Udall to set forth a balanced approach to protecting some of the last remaining wild places in Colorado.”

The Department of Interior also supports several aspects of Udall’s plan.

Udall said it could take several months, or longer, before legislation is introduced in the Senate.

“I don’t have a deadline. Of course if we’re standing here 10 years from now, we’ve fallen short.”

The Colorado Independent

Click on the link below to see the video.

A pioneering Tennessee lawmaker says she is only walking in the footsteps of those who came to serve before her.

While serving near the bust of Samson Keeble, Tennessee’s first black lawmaker, Sen. Thelma Harper, D-Nashville, knows it’s on his and others’ shoulders she stands.

“I know that I’m where I am because of people like Avon Williams and many others who are here now,” Harper said.

In 1991, Harper made history herself, when she became the first black woman elected to Tennessee’s Senate.

via TN lawmaker still inspires after two decades in office – WSMV Channel 4.

TNDP News

Add Mrs. Virginia Lasater, a 91-year-old woman in Rutherford County, to the list of known Tennessee seniors who are struggling to comply with state Sen. Bill Ketron’s new Republican voter ID law.

Mrs. Lasater went to a driver testing center in Mufreesboro to get a state-issued photo ID so she could vote, but ran into a problem. From The Daily News Journal¹:

Aided by a walking cane to get around, she quickly decided she couldn’t stand up long enough to wait and her son could find no chairs available for her to sit. (Her son) Richard estimated at least 100 people were in the building, and workers were “way overworked and way understaffed.” He was told at the help desk there was nothing they could do but wait.

They left, upset about the law and the long lines.

“I’m just afraid people will say it’s too much trouble,” said Mrs. Lasater.

With Republican plans on the table to gut Medicare and privatize Social Security, it’s not a wonder why Republicans are making it harder for senior citizens to be voters.

This past legislative session, Tennessee Republicans passed a voter ID law—written by big, corporate specials interests—that requires all voters to have a government-issued photo ID at the polls.

The law sounds reasonable on its face. But there’s a huge problem: 675,000 Tennesseans, who, like Mrs. Lasater, are law-abiding citizens and eligible to vote—have no state-issued photo ID.

This law was passed in a hasty manner with insufficient funding and absolutely no mechanism in place to efficiently educate voters and distribute hundreds of thousands of state-issued photo IDs.

With only 19 weeks until the Primary Election, we’re running out of time. Since July, according to the article, the state has only issued 561 new voter IDs.

It’s almost guaranteed that some citizens who have voted for years without a problem will be turned away in next year’s elections when the discriminatory law goes into effect.

Would it bother Sen. Ketron if the votes of law-abiding citizens like 91-year-old Mrs. Virginia Lasater were not counted because they couldn’t wait in an hours-long line for a state-issued picture ID?

Ketron said, “NO… I’m not that concerned about it.”²

This is the difference.

The Tennessee Democratic Party won’t stop fighting until every law-abiding Tennessean can be a voter and participate in this democracy. Republicans like Bill Ketron, well, they just aren’t that concerned about it.

If you have a problem getting a state-issued photo ID, we want to help. Click here to share your Voter ID Story.

Your fellow Democrat,

Chip Forrester
Chairman
on behalf of YOUR Tennessee Democratic Party

1. “After long wait, no seat , voter, 91, quits on ID,” The Daily News Journal.

2. Ketron says he’s not concerned about uncounted votes. The Daily News Journal.

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TN Democratic Party News

District 8 State Senator Florence Shapiro, a Plano Republican, announced this afternoon that she will not seek re-election next year. Shapiro has served in the state Senate since 1992, where she has chaired numerous committees including the Transportation Committee and most recently the Public Education Committee. Shapiro is also a member of the powerful senate Finance Committee which helps craft the state budget.

When first elected to the senate Shapiro represented a rural suburban district that stretched from Collin County north of Dallas to Smith County in East Texas. Since then, her district has been consolidated into the fast-growing suburbs of Collin and north Dallas counties. In the statement announcing her retirement Shapiro said,

“My parents came to the United States in search of the American dream, and I lived it. I entered public service as a Plano city council member, then mayor. I entered the Texas Senate, with a desire to promote opportunity and to make a difference in the lives of everyday people. It has been humbling to serve in the state Legislature with so many outstanding men and women from all across our great state. I am leaving public service, knowing that I have given my best to hopefully make Texas better.”

On June 28, 2011 Gov. Perry signed a 2 billion 2011-13 budget passed by the super Republican majority Texas House and Senate. The budget signed by Gov. Perry cut billion from the level of spending last authorized in the 2009-11 state budget.

Serving as chair of the Education Committee and a member of the Finance Committee Shapiro helped shape the biennium budget, in which, the largest individual spending cut was to public education. Over billion was cut from the public education budget for the current biennium, which started on September 1, 2011.

During the 2011 legislative session Shapiro argued that school districts should be allowed to give teachers unpaid furloughs and cut their salaries to help pay for the spending cuts.

“One of those burdens that we have placed on our school districts is that they cannot decrease teacher salaries and they can’t furlough teachers. It’s not allowed in the law. The only option is to fire,” said Shapiro. “We need to give them the ability to lower teacher salaries.” [Houston Chronicle]

According to the Texas Tribune, Shapiro will move into the private sector working with an education company.

State Rep. Ken Paxton, R-McKinney, who sought to topple House Speaker Joe Straus at the start of the 2011 legislative session, is widely considered to be among the possible front runners interested in running for Shapiro’s senate seat. After learning Shapiro’s retirement announcement Paxton commented, “I want to congratulate Senator Florence Shapiro on her many years of service to fellow Texans. Angela and I extend our appreciation for the sacrifice she has made as a public servant, and we both wish her the very best in her future plans.” Paxton also indicated he will shortly announce his plans related Senator Shapiro’s SD-8 seat.

Shortly after Shapiro announced her her retirement, Scott O’Grady, a retired U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, became the first Republican to announced his definite intention to file as a SD-8 candidate for the March 2012 Republican primary. O’Grady’s campaign spokesperson Keats Norfleet, said that recent polling among likely Republican primary voters in Shapiro’s district placed O’Grady ahead of a possible primary contest between the two men. O’Grady had previously announced his intention to run for a Texas House seat. O’Grady was shot down in Bosnia in 1995 and evaded capture for six days before the Marines rescued him; he’s now an author and lecturer.

Plano native Jack Ternan had already filed with the Texas Ethics Commission to run for the SD-8 seat in the Democratic primary next March. In a statement released by his campaign Ternan said,

“As someone who grew up in Plano, I know Senator Shapiro has had an enormous impact on our community. Moreover, I want to thank Senator Shapiro for her service and for opening the door to a new generation of leadership.”

Upon learning of Senator Shapiro’s decision not to seek re-election, many local Democrats were quick to show support for Mr. Ternan’s candidacy. “The Texas Democratic Women of Collin County has gotten to know Jack over the last couple years. We are quite impressed with his competence and passion to be our next State Senator,” said Barb Walters, President of the Texas Democratic Women of Collin County.

Ternan received his law degree at The University of Texas and he currently practices law at the Dallas firm of Bickel & Brewer. Ternan’s complete biography can be found on his campaign website @ http://jackternanforsenate.com.

Democratic Blog – News

The senior senator from Massachusetts has made a personal fundraising appeal to help residents in his home state who are struggling in the aftermath of the tornadoes that ripped through Bay State towns last week.

Democratic Sen. John Kerry emailed his roster of supporters Wednesday, soliciting contributions to the local Red Cross in western Massachusetts, where separate tornadoes struck neighborhoods in Springfield and neighboring towns, reportedly killing four and causing widespread damage.

“A few hours after the tornadoes ripped through western Massachusetts, I almost couldn’t believe what I was seeing with my own two eyes in front of me: homes ripped apart, schools and businesses so badly damaged they would be condemned just days later, and, worst of all, Mayor Gibson and Police Chief Burke of West Springfield describing to me the injuries and loss of life, including a mother, Angelica Guerrero, who was killed protecting her daughter. It shook all of us to our core,” Kerry says in his email, sent to his national distribution list built from his 2004 bid for the White House.

“When I walked into a shelter around midnight that night, people were looking at cellphone pictures of the wreckage where their homes had stood just hours before, and many were trying to explain to their young children how something like this could happen. I arrived at Union Street in West Springfield hours after the tornado to find it completely destroyed, buildings demolished and houses literally tossed on top of other buildings,” Kerry adds.

Damage included a church in Monson, Mass., which was founded in 1762 but was left “with its beautiful steeple toppled to the ground,” he says.

“We have a long way to go – but we will rebuild – and we will come back stronger. I’ll be back again and again, but even while all of us in Massachusetts are working with state and federal officials to get relief delivered right away, I hope you’ll help me send a message back home that all of us – all the millions of folks on this email list from around the country – are pulling together,” Kerry says.

Kerry’s personal appeal is in addition to what the senator is doing in an official capacity to help storm victims.

Interested people can donate online here.

Scott Nance is the editor and publisher of the news site The Washington Current. He has covered Congress and the federal government for more than a decade.

The Democratic Daily

DR. OMAR ALI: Americans are Open
His message: Islam ‘part of American culture’ (North Raleigh News) “What’s important is to not make a distinction between Americans over here and Muslims over there,” Ali said. “I think that Muslim Americans have the same response as other Americans, which is a sense of relief.”

KENTUCKY’S CLOSED PRIMARIES CONTROVERSY
The Pros and Cons of Kentucky’s Closed Primaries (Stu Johnson, NPR Radio WKMS) Higdon has heard from independents who tell him they’re taxpayers, they help pay for elections, so they should be able to vote. The state senator argues the first political party that voluntarily opens up its primary will enjoy an unfair advantage during the general election….
Read more about the fight for open primaries in Kentucky at Independent Kentucky

POLITICAL AND ETHICAL REFORM

• Fixing Congress (U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, Boston Review – This article is part of Fixing Congress, a forum on the causes of legislative partisanship and corruption.) States with party-registration laws further protect extremists by outlawing independent as well as opposition voters. With a firm grip on their districts and no worries about alienating voters in the other party, gerrymandered extremists are often the loudest voices in Congress.
• Ending the Permanent Campaign (Norman J. Ornstein,Boston Review) Externally, adopt on a wider basis the California system of open primaries to provide opportunities for a wider range of moderate candidates to win nominations and elections. Even better, adopt a version of the Australian system of mandatory attendance at the polls. 

2012

• Newt Gingrich to (finally) announce 2012 run on Wednesday – Gingrich tweets that he’ll be on Fox News to ‘talk about my run for President.’ (Politico) 
• Jon Huntsman’s South Carolina Debut Suggests It’s Wrong To Write Him Off (by FRANK JAMES, NPR) Meanwhile, the very thing that could hurt Huntsman with the GOP activists whose support could be crucial to winning the early primaries and caucuses — his role in the Obama Administration — could help Huntsman in a general election if he could get that far. Many independent voters like politicians willing to work across party lines.

UNIONS AND THE DEMS
Richard Trumka: Talking Loud and Saying Nothing (By Mike Elk, In These Times) The AFL-CIO has not talked of restarting the Labor Party experiment in the late 1990s, which several unions, including Trumka’s own the United Mine Workers, backed. Indeed, the labor movement has bowed to the wishes of the Democratic Party by not fostering electoral efforts like New York’s Working Families Party in states that allow fusion balloting, such as Ohio. In other words, the labor movement has no plan to declare political independence from the Democratic Party other than to spend money on electing Democrats through its own channels, rather than giving it to the Democratic Party to spend.

THEATER
The Castillo Theatre Dares to Dream (By Deardra Shuler, Black Star News)  If you live in an area that does not offer much hope you often dream of being somewhere else.  Anywhere where the grass is greener and the beaches are cleaner.  “License to Dream” is a play featured at the Castillo Theatre, located at 543 West 42nd Street in Manhattan, which bring youngsters from East New York together with underpaid dance instructors in East Hampton, in a bid to teach one another the art of dance.  And, along the way, respect each other’s culture and learn that no matter who you are, you can dare to dream.

The Hankster