JP’s Mind

Re: The fiscal responsibility summit

Mr. President, I watched the news conference yesterday following the summit and must say I was impressed. I voted for you outside of my party affiliation because I felt you were the right person to get the government to work together for the good of the nation.

It is my opinion that now is the time for you to push the mantel of leadership and press the legislators to do what is right. The summit is the first step, what is needed now is your influence, and the power of your office to be the impetus for change in how our Congress acts. It is imperative now that you, as the leader of our nation, push the Congressional leaders to lay aside partisanship and include all players in the work to come.

The ‘task forces’, committees, work groups, what-have-you, that are developed to work on the problems discussed during the summit absolutely have to be bi-partisan, inclusive of dem’s and repub’s, AND business/public entities.  All participants must be given full voice and encouraged to set aside ideologies in order to find solutions.

It is your role, in my opinion and the opinion of many citizens like me, to set the ground rules for this collaboration. Do NOT allow the congressional leaders to set up committees and such based on the normal way of doing things. Make inclusion and cooperation mandatory for the work to come.

In my business when I establish a work group to design and implement a project I select members from a broad range of talents and skills and give them a short period of time to demonstrate the ability to work together to get the job done, if things seem to stall, I intervene to help correct the group dynamics, if things don’t improve soon after, I make the choice to either disband the group and rebuild, or replace members who do not seem to want to participate with the ultimate goal in mind.

As the Executive, I see this as your role.

Please, do not allow the legislators to drag their feet and perpetuate the age-old ideological stalemates. Push them to work together, do not accept lack of progress, and give them the understanding that no solution will satisfy all parties, but truly must come from knowing that all sides will have good ideas and that ALL sides must compromise.

Our national problems are not political chess pieces, they are real and effect the lives of millions.

Don’t let the American people down, and don’t let the political hacks serving in office forsake the American people in order to serve the political parties and special interests.

Thank you.