Fighting for Common Ground: How We Can Fix the Stalemate in Congress

In his "A Promised Land," reviewed by me in this forum, President Obama gave a lot of credit for the passage and eventual shape of his 2009 Great Recession stimulus bill to a Gang of 4 in the Senate -- 3 Republicans (Arlen Specter, Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe) and one Democrat (Ben Nelson). Had Arlen Specter (who like Winston Churchill switched parties twice during his political career) lived to write his memoirs, his would have been the ones I wanted to read most. Fortunately, however, one of the four, Olympia Snowe, has written a book, which I finally got around to yesterday and polished off in one day (though not in one sitting).I am compelled to deduct a star because of Senator Snowe's support (like all but one other Senate Republican during the Clinton era) for a balanced budget amendment, to the need for which she devotes an entire chapter. A balanced budget amendment may work in a high-tax social democracy like Germany (which has now had one for nearly twenty years and appears to be doing all right). It emphatically will not work in a society like ours which has more in common with the Third World, particularly the unwillingness of elites to pay their fair share in taxes, and would have the effect of driving down spending on Medicare to nothing while Social Security would have to be privatized. In a low-tax oligarchy like the United States, deficit spending (sometimes in excess of 10% of GDP per year, as this year) is key to economic recovery after every recession.However, Senator Snowe is dead on in her critique of the evolution of the Republican Party during the latter phase of her career. Had she remained in the Senate to see the shenanigans of Ted Cruz from the viewpoint of the Capitol (as John Boehner did for his book, the last one I reviewed here) she, as a person genuinely committed to public service, would have been even more determined to get out while the getting was good. I don't know how Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski do it, but they (and maybe Tim Scott) are the last Republican moderates in the Senate.I suspect that if the book had been written in today's environment, the tone would have been less "The filibuster is overused" and more "The filibuster must be preserved." This is not because Senator Snowe is a Republican, but because she would agree with my position. The filibuster seems like an insuperable obstacle to getting anything at all done -- when your party is in power. Someday, however (perhaps in less than 2 years), there will be 51 Senate votes to both abolish Obamacare and privatize Social Security. The other side's policy objectives look just as apocalyptic to us as our policy objectives look to them. It is better to make no policy at all than allow policy like that to be made.The real standout of this book is the parts about Senator Snowe's childhood as a member of a huge Greek-American extended family in Maine. Orphaned at nine, Snowe went away to boarding school in the Hudson Valley, where she became self-reliant and responsible before eventually returning to Maine for high school. This part of the book would make a really great movie about the childhood of a baby boomer who would come to stand out in more ways than one. Four stars.

In a time of hurtful rhetoric, tribalism and stalemate in Washington, hope has been rekindled in me that governance could again happen in Washington if people in congress and the administration could take a step back and realize that politics does not have to be a zero sum game. Lasting progress is more likely to happen if listening and compromise occur. Also, civility is essential.

Olympia Snowe of Maine spent over 30 years in Congress, first in the House of Representatives and then the Senate. In this well-written book she describe how the process of making law has degenerated from a deliberative process that engaged members of both parties to a now less democratic process in which the leadership of the majority party in each chamber writes proposals for legislation. They then choose when and how to present the bills and often restrict amendments. Both Democratics and Republicans are to blame for this mess. Congress effectively works a 3 day week, which is understandable considering that their members may be asked to spend up to 30 hours a week doing political fund raising! Ms. Snowe also describes her childhood and how she entered politics and this is surprisingly interesting.

I am about a quarter of the way through this book and will update my review as I continue to read it. I am appalled that people are writing reviews on a book without having actually read the book. Senator Snowe who is seen by most as a moderate Republican explains why she choose not to run for the Senate for a 4th time and also tells the story of where she came from. This is not a difficult read and is written in smooth enjoyable prose.It is improper for someone to not read a book and then attack the author for what one believes are her political views. In fact, it is offensive. You can not review a book by looking at who wrote it and the title. That is ridiculous.

Olympia Snow discusses critical actions by Congressional leadership with insight and passion. I am a fan of some of her policies (find common ground, work with others, support the actions that make democracy work) but not others (her focus on reducing budget deficits). But she makes sense and I learned a great deal. She helped me understand what I had long suspected: the villains of the stalemates are on both sides of the aisle in both houses of Congress.

Olympia Snowe has always been a hero of mine, despite our differing political persuasion -- or maybe because of it. I appreciate greatly that she has chosen to take this route after her career as a legislator -- suggesting how we can fix what we all know to be broke. Bottom line: we the voters have it in our hands to make the difference, if only we would..

I thought that this might be a stuffy political look behind the scenes. However, this is a well written and thoughtful look at a career that ended because of the current partisan atmosphere in Washington. Olympia Snowe is putting it all out there for those to read. It is an interesting look at a political problem that is STOPPING America from being an even greater nation.

The dysfunction in Congress is coming to a boiling point. Definitely the civility attitude is lacking quite often and compromise now a days is a bad word. I sincerely hope something can be done and quickly before a different 9/11 or another financial crisis engulfs us. Apologizing at that point is fruitless. Enjoyed the latter half of the book better. Since she is not a writer, the book drags often. Perhaps, Bill Clinton can explain more succinctly her major points of view. She means well and tries though.