Behavior — action — must rule the day

It’s tempting to simplify and view Washington as the lair of three different types of people — Democrats, Republicans and now the ever-growing Tea Party faithful. Pundits and political scientists are prone to slide the actors of this political drama into these three columns. When you know where one sits, it’s easier to understand where they will stand on the issues of the day.

Yet when it comes to executing the decisions that matter, that will truly affect this country for generations to come, another set of three come to mind: those who don’t know what’s happening, those who watch what’s happening, and those who make things happen.

I won’t attempt to draw parallels between the three known political factions with the “doers” versus those who dawdle, for all bear some responsibility of seemingly waiting for something good to happen to them through no actions of their own.

It is in this instance where lawmakers must examine themselves and prove they are worthy. The pursuit of self-esteem must yield to self-control. We live today in a society where emotion precedes behavior. If lawmakers feel good about a path they are taking, they’re more apt to choose it. Such an outcome will not and cannot occur with the debt. Behavior — action — must rule the day. And those actions of austerity must continue whether a lawmaker feels good about it or not.

America is waiting for its next class of political heroes. And I sense those who step forward and answer the call will be remembered less as Republican or Democrat, and more as those who chose to stop watching the process and started transforming the process.

---