Congress in balance
No matter who occupies the White House come next January, it would be nice to think that Congress will function in the way the Founders believed it should — as a strong countervailing force to what in recent years has become an increasingly powerful chief executive.
President Obama has expanded the notion of executive decrees beyond anything the Constitution ever anticipated and occasionally the U.S. Supreme Court has told him so. But the best bulwark against a continuation of government-by-decree under a possible Clinton administration would be a Republican-led Senate and House.
New Hampshire voters, of course, can have a say in that process by re-electing the thoroughly decent and hardworking Kelly Ayotte to the U.S. Senate. She is precisely the kind of moderate Republican that Democrats always say they want — someone who knows how to compromise to get things done. But she has also voted with her party in opposition to Obamacare. And with insurance premiums escalating by more than 20 percent in the year ahead, that’s a position that looks smarter and sounder with every passing day.
Ayotte, who has disavowed her party’s presidential nominee, should not be victimized for having to share the ticket with Donald Trump.
As for those of us in Massachusetts — with our all-Democrat congressional delegation — there’s little we can do to further the likelihood of divided government. In fact four of those members of Congress don’t even have token opponents.
But two other incumbent members of the delegation — who do have opposition this year — have distinguished themselves by reaching across the aisle to get things done in a Republican House that is quite likely to remain so after Nov. 8. They are Joseph P. Kennedy III of Brookline (4th District) and Stephen F. Lynch of Boston (8th District).
Kennedy has taken up the cause of mental health parity — a cause near and dear to his late uncle, Ted. He also recently cosponsored the bipartisan POWER Act aimed as better connecting victims of domestic violence with legal representation. The bill may be a small step but the effort at finding common ground is an admirable one.
Lynch is one of those call ’em as he sees ’em kind of Democrats. He sits on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and is the ranking Democrat on the National Security Subcommittee — and those who have endured questioning by Lynch have the scars to prove it.
Closer to home he has been a stalwart advocate for charter schools after helping found one himself nearly 20 years ago. He hasn’t forgotten his roots in educational policy or in the neighborhood. The Herald is please to endorsed Kennedy and Lynch for re-election.