Compromise essential to solving our problems

Has our government lost the ability to solve problems?

I certainly have had enough experience in politics and government at the local, state, national and even international level to understand what motivates political officials in making statements and decisions. Sometimes the public may question why their elected official made a certain decision at a particular time. Maybe that’s why politically unpopular announcements get made on a slow news day, like a Friday afternoon during the hot summer months. The viewing audience is not likely to be tuned in.

On the other hand, you can almost guarantee that a mayor, governor, president and even a pope or celebrity will use a wellpublicized event to get their message out to the broadest audience. Which gets me to a little challenge that I give myself at an event like a White House announcement, a State of the Union address, a State of the City or State of the State speech, like the one I attended the other day at the State House by Gov. Charlie Baker. Or the one on Jan. 15 that I’ll have the opportunity to attend and listen to Mayor Marty Walsh at Symphony Hall.

The national press reported Tuesday on whether President Trump would announce an emergency executive order, authorizing necessary funding to build the southern border wall without congressional approval. Most of the national media interviewed highranking Democrats who repeated their standard line “that they are for controlling the border of illegal immigrants coming into our country, but they are opposed to a wall.” So the question that should be asked by the public is, how do our public safety officials keep drug dealers and violent gang leaders out of our poor communities if we don’t stop them at the U.S. border?

But as I said before the president’s speech, neither Republicans nor Democrats responding to the crisis will try to be clear and precise on decisive action with the public in building the wall. They will continue to deceive the public and make vague, political, self-serving statements. They will continue to make these ridiculous conflicting statements as long as the public continues to allow them to get away with their evasive and politically self-serving statements.

It’s also almost certain the public will not hear any critical agreements on the big problems in our country today, such as the scandalous lack of medical research for children and adults with undiagnosed diseases, the flow of deadly drugs into our neighborhoods, how to reverse the decline of the family structure in society, or hear any compromise about enacting a working wage or ending the violent killing of innocent people by illegal gang members in our cities.

But we constantly hear about all the other personal political accomplishments that make great TV sound bites and clever headlines but solve none of our country’s deep-rooted, plaguing problems. I don’t care if Democrats hate Trump or vice versa. I want our elected officials to love our country and serve all our people as best and as honestly as they can.

But the next step is up to you. If you see it the way I do, you can do something about it. Tell our politicians in Washington that you want them to stop the partisan political posturing and start working together.

I didn’t see the political division at the State House last week and I’m certain I won’t see it at Mayor Walsh’s speech on Jan. 15. Compromise is not a dirty word. It ended military wars and conflicts, settled major workers strikes and brought people of different races together. Have our elected officials lost the ability or determination to do that any more?