Our Voice: Congress should forgo payback attitude

Congress is supposed to be the collaborative branch of the federal government, but that teamwork only happens if both political parties want it to.

Now, with the 115th Congress just getting started, and with power clearly tipped in Republican favor, members of the GOP may be rubbing their hands together in anticipation of how much easier it should be to push their agenda.

We would caution against such arrogance.

Gloating is never attractive, and political power typically doesn’t last. It’s better to get your opposition on board if you want legislation to endure.

And as for Democrats who may be tempted to obstruct everything they can because that’s what the Republicans did to them — please, don’t.

Americans are tired of gridlock.

Voters do not want more of the same from Washington, D.C. They want cooperation, respectful discourse and progress.

Even though President-elect Donald Trump ran as a Republican, we all know he is not beholden to the party. How his presidency will unfold is anybody’s guess.

So our advice today is for Congress.

We want both political parties to acknowledge many of their past strategies were mistakes, and should not be repeated. Finding ways to work together should be the focus, not finding ways to undermine one another.

It was not so long ago when the Democrats were in the same position that the Republicans find themselves now. They exploited their majority status, however, which helped set in motion much of the entrenchment that has plagued Congress in recent years.

In 2009, Democrats held the presidency, the House and the Senate. With the checks and balance system weakened, Democrats saw their power as a mandate, and an opportunity to get what they wanted — notably the Affordable Care Act.

In her promotion of the health care overhaul, Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who was Speaker of the House at the time, will be remembered for saying, “… we have to pass this bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of controversy.”

Regardless of how she may have meant it, the perception that the Democrats wanted to get the ACA adopted without fully vetting it still causes resentment among GOP members.

The Affordable Care Act is now in jeopardy, in part, because Republicans did not like how Democrats rammed it through in the first place, and they have wanted to change it ever since.

But Republicans should be careful not to dismiss their Democratic counterparts from the process — on this, and on other issues.

Controversy can be healthy when it is focused correctly.

There is nothing wrong with pointing out flaws or concerns in a piece of legislation. Typically, laws are stronger and fairer when they have been created through a collaborative process.

That means, too, that Democrats should be careful not to oppose Republican ideas simply to make life more difficult for the GOP — even though that was a go-to strategy used by the Republicans when they were in the minority.

This “they did it to us, so now we are going to do it to them” attitude in Congress has to stop.

Voters want their lawmakers to rise above political party vengeance and get back to the business of governing the country.

This story was originally published January 8, 2017 at 4:43 AM with the headline "Our Voice: Congress should forgo payback attitude."