Ripon Forum


Vol. 48, No. 4

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In this edition

According to the latest polls, trust in government is at an all-time low. Depending on who you talk to, this may either be a good thing or a bad thing. For some on the right, it may be a good thing because it is consistent with their core belief that government has gotten too big […]

“We cannot achieve great things alone.”

We need to bridge the ever-growing chasm between the American people and their elected leaders – a rift that has been exacerbated by the Administration’s flagrant executive overreach, a loss of opportunity for middle-class Americans, and a lack of transparency that pervades the federal government.

“Republicans need to show that we can deliver.”

American voters were spectacularly supportive of Republican candidates in this year’s elections. We have 54 Republican Senators and we’ll have more Republicans in the House than at any point since Harry Truman was President. And, it could all be for nothing if we as a Party squander the opportunity we have been given by failing […]

“We can restore the trust and confidence by coming together to find common ground.”

If there is one thing that members on both sides of the aisle can agree on, it is that our country is divided politically. Members of Congress approach issues from different perspectives and come to different conclusions about the best solutions to the problems we face.

“Washington needs to be recalibrated so that it is smaller, less intrusive, and more accountable.”

While it will take substantial time to reverse the problems described above and to restore our country’s exceptionalism, we need to first focus on creating an environment for economic growth. Every piece of legislation and every federal regulation should be judged by its impact on an overarching goal of creating “more jobs and better paychecks […]

Q&A with Michael Dimock

The President of the Pew Research Center discusses the low-level of trust Americans have toward the federal government and how it compares to past years. “The perception of dysfunction in Washington, along with a persistent sense of economic insecurity, is clearly weighing down views of government. And just as with interpersonal relationships, trust in government […]

Want to Improve Trust in Government?

“Should we be surprised that so many Americans hold Congress in such low regard?” The veteran political strategist and former House leadership aide says the public’s view of government is not surprising given the vitriol they are exposed to during political campaigns.

Restore Regular Order

Regular order is Congress doing the basic work of legislating which includes deliberating in committees, engaging with stakeholders, offering and voting on amendments and ultimately passing or rejecting legislative proposals. These cornerstones of the democratic process were not hallmarks of the 113th Congress.

The Michigan Example on Immigration

Our country needs a long-term, comprehensive solution to an immigration policy that everyone knows is broken and continues to hold back our economy. It’s essential that the White House and Congress work together on an innovative approach that will address our country’s present needs as well as those long into the future.

Where Consensus Exists

Was the end of this election the beginning of a period committed to governance or merely the beginning of the 2016 campaign season, with all of the gridlock and divisiveness that implies? More to the point, can the Congress and the White House earn back the trust our citizens deserve to have in their government?

Frontrunners, Dark Horses, and the Presidential Nomination Contest

Frontrunners don’t always win, but presidential nomination contests are rarely wide-open races. Dark horses don’t emerge from the back of the pack. The 2008 winners were in second place in their respective party’s poll.

REMEMBERING BILL FRENZEL

If there are wise men left in Washington, then Bill Frenzel was most assuredly one of them. He was both a scholar and a statesman who served his country in many important ways.

Ripon Profile of Mia Love

“I ran for Congress because I believe this country is in real trouble, and it’s up to We the People to fix things before it’s too late. The people of America want a government that is transparent. Our citizens deserve to know and understand the ‘hows and whys’ for decisions made at every level of […]

In this edition

According to the latest polls, trust in government is at an all-time low. Depending on who you talk to, this may either be a good thing or a bad thing.

For some on the right, it may be a good thing because it is consistent with their core belief that government has gotten too big and is trying to do too many things. For some on the left, it may be a bad thing because it contradicts their core belief that government can be a source of good and should be doing even more.

Lost in this debate are those in between – the Americans who view government not in ideological terms, but in practical terms. These are the Americans who simply want to know their money is being well-spent – who want value out of the tax dollars they send to Washington, DC. For these Americans, restoring trust in government is not a liberal or conservative issue. It’s a pocketbook issue.

It’s also an issue that the new Republican majority in Congress must confront in the coming year, and one that we look at in this latest edition of THE RIPON FORUM. We do so with essays from four of Capitol Hill’s brightest stars: Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who Chairs the House Republican Conference; Charlie Dent, who Co-Chairs the House Tuesday Group; Bill Flores, who Chairs the Republican Study Committee; and, Shelley Moore Capito, who has represented West Virginia’s 2nd District since 2001 and was just elected as the first woman Senator from the state.

The latest edition of the FORUM also features an interview with Pew Research President Michael Dimock , who discusses the low level of trust in government and how it compares to previous years, and a pair of essays by veteran strategist John Feehery and Bipartisan Policy Center President Jason Grumet, who examine and propose ways in which Members of Congress can end the era of dysfunction on Capitol Hill. With immigration continuing to be in the news these days, we also hear from Governor Rick Snyder about the effort he is leading to address the issue in the State of Michigan. And in our latest Ripon Profile, newly-elected Utah Representative Mia Love discusses why she ran for Congress in the first place, and what she hopes to accomplish in the coming year.

We close this edition of the FORUM with a tribute to Bill Frenzel, who served as Chairman of our Editorial Board and who passed away on November 17th. It’s fitting that the last edition of the FORUM with his name on the masthead is devoted to trust in government, for if there was ever a leader who embodied the qualities that inspire trust among the American people, it was Bill. Among these qualities was Bill’s strong belief that good ideas can come from anywhere on the political spectrum – be it the left, right or center. He tried to instill this belief here at the FORUM. When we strayed, he let us know about it in his pleasant but direct way. After Republicans won back the House in 2010, for example, I wrote a column that Bill believed was a bit too strident in tone. He sent me a note about it in which he reaffirmed not only his vision for this journal, but his political philosophy, as well:

“Those who do not agree with us are the opposition, not the enemy,” he wrote. “They may be wrong-headed, but they are not (usually) evil. Their principles ought to be given the same respect we would want them to give to ours. We should be able to debate the opposition aggressively, but only fight after the opposing bully has thrown the first punch. I believe that we also have to be careful not to overdo our newly discovered aggressiveness. The convert often becomes the most rabid zealot. If we get rabid, we will have to be awfully sure of ourselves.”

Like so much of what he wrote and said, these words are timeless and are one of the many reasons he will be missed. They are also why – as we look for ways to restore trust in government – we would be wise to look at the example set by Bill Frenzel over the course of his long and distinguished career.

Lou Zickar
Editor of THE RIPON FORUM
louzickar@clu.ccw.mybluehost.me