Congressional partisanship and inaction have often dismayed advocates of responsible fiscal policies in recent years. Phil LaRue, director of government relations for The Concord Coalition, points to examples such as the breakdown of the budget process and debt-limit showdowns that roil financial markets.
Yet in recent months, LaRue says in a blog post, there have been positive signs as well, with some lawmakers “coming back around to the fiscal realities facing them this fall and in the coming years.”
Congressional partisanship and inaction have often dismayed advocates of responsible fiscal policies in recent years. Phil LaRue, director of government relations for The Concord Coalition, points to examples such as the breakdown of the budget process and debt-limit showdowns that roil financial markets.
Yet in recent months, LaRue says in a blog post, there have been positive signs as well, with some lawmakers “coming back around to the fiscal realities facing them this fall and in the coming years.”
As reported by POLITICO, for example, the House’s New Democrat Coalition and the Tuesday Group of Republican lawmakers met this summer to, in the words of New Democrat Coalition Chairman Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wisc.), look for “overlap and common ground.”
Concord Coalition Executive Director Robert L. Bixby spoke to the gathering, which focused on upcoming fiscal deadlines.
Individuals and pairings of lawmakers have also stepped up with constructive proposals in a variety of areas.
”It would be premature to say that the tide has turned,” LaRue writes, “but key leaders are beginning to emerge.”
