{"id":294,"date":"2016-08-08T14:39:56","date_gmt":"2016-08-08T22:39:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/northerncompas.wpengine.com\/?p=294"},"modified":"2018-06-20T12:32:29","modified_gmt":"2018-06-20T20:32:29","slug":"there-is-great-responsibility-being-in-the-minority","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/in-the-news\/there-is-great-responsibility-being-in-the-minority\/","title":{"rendered":"There is great responsibility being in the minority"},"content":{"rendered":"

SOURCE: The Hill<\/a><\/p>\n

During my time in the Senate, it didn\u2019t take me long to realize that there are two types of people in Washington. There are the \u201ctalkers,\u201d who want to deliver the most attention-grabbing quotes and the \u201cdoers,\u201d who want to deliver results.<\/p>\n

Talkers are focused on Google alerts, retweets, and of course, approval ratings. A talker, for example, may see more value in a 3-5 minute cable TV interview than he or she does in a 3-5 minute conversation with a colleague.<\/p>\n

Now don\u2019t get me wrong. Doers see the value in discussing their work, but they also tend to believe that if you do high quality work, that work will speak for itself.\u00a0 They don\u2019t compromise progress for the sake of self-promotion.<\/p>\n

Every member of Congress can tell you what work they are most proud of or how they made a difference for their constituents. And in turn, their constituents can judge their claims by the progress they see in their own communities.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, judging effective leadership in Congress isn\u2019t quite as straightforward. Most Americans are thousands of miles from Washington, D.C. and are all too often left trying to sort out our leaders\u2019 efforts and intentions through the back and forth in the media.<\/p>\n

For example, just the other day I read a news story in which Senate Majority Leader\u00a0Mitch McConnell<\/span>\u00a0claimed that he and his party had run an \u201cincredibly productive session\u201d this last year and half. He goes on to try and convince the public that a Republican-controlled Senate is more productive than a Democrat-controlled Senate. His claims, however, lack some critical context.<\/p>\n

Republicans currently hold 54 seats in the Senate while Democrats hold 44 seats with two Independents caucusing alongside the Democrats. That means that neither party has the filibuster-proof 60-vote threshold currently required to move any legislation forward. Therefore, there is no scenario in which McConnell can claim legislative progress is solely the result of Republican efforts.<\/p>\n

For example, McConnell cited passage of the\u00a0Keystone XL Pipeline Act<\/em>\u00a0as an example of progress. What he didn\u2019t mention, however, is that the Keystone bill passed the Senate by a margin of 62-36, meaning it couldn\u2019t have passed without the support of eight Democrats who were willing to work across the aisle.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s consider some of the other legislation that has passed this session.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act,<\/em>\u00a0aimed at combating the growing epidemic of opioid use across America, passed with overwhelming bipartisan support: 94-1. While several senators missed the vote, the only \u201cno\u201d vote came from a Republican.<\/p>\n

The Senate also passed a $56 billion transportation-housing appropriations bill, but again Republicans didn\u2019t do it alone. \u00a0Strong support from Democrats allowed the bill to pass 89-8.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t take much to scratch beneath the surface of McConnell\u2019s disingenuous claims. The bottom line is that with the current makeup of the Senate, you simply cannot pass legislation without support from the Democrats\u2014even though they are in the minority.<\/p>\n

So what is different since McConnell became the Republican Majority Leader? The Senate has a minority\u2014the Democrats\u2014actually willing to work across the aisle.<\/p>\n

Democrats understand they can\u2019t get everything they want, but by putting aside partisan differences and working across the aisle they can still get things done.<\/p>\n

Democrats are doing what McConnell simply refused to do when he was in the minority: work with the other side. Rather than try to find common ground and put forward solutions, McConnell used his role as leader of the minority to proudly declare that his number one goal would be to guarantee that President Obama became a one-term president.<\/p>\n

While he wasn\u2019t successful in his goal, the intention behind his message isn\u2019t lost.<\/p>\n

The Senate is intended to be the deliberative body of Congress. Its members are supposed to stand up on behalf of their constituents and debate the merits of policy and explain how it will impact their communities directly. And at the end of the day, they compromise. There may be an impasse at times, but that is different than intentional obstruction.<\/p>\n

If Democrats take control of the Senate in 2017, they will not have the necessary 60 votes to move legislation without Republicans. We will get a chance to see just how cooperative Republicans want to be when they are in minority. \u00a0Meanwhile, Democrats could have the opportunity to remind the public what real leadership looks like and how we move our country forward.<\/p>\n

Everyone wants to be in the majority, but the truth is there is great responsibility in being in the minority \u2013 no matter what party you are in. You can choose to be the problem, or you can choose to be a part of the solution.<\/p>\n

Former Sen.\u00a0Mark Begich<\/a><\/span>\u00a0represented Alaska in the Senate from 2009-2015. He is now the President and CEO of Northern Compass Group located in Anchorage, Alaska. He also serves as a Strategic Advisor to Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck.<\/em><\/p>\n

Click here for original article.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SOURCE: The Hill During my time in the Senate, it didn\u2019t take me long to realize that there are two types of people in Washington. There are the \u201ctalkers,\u201d who want to deliver the most attention-grabbing quotes and the \u201cdoers,\u201d who want to deliver results. Talkers are focused on Google alerts, retweets, and of course, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nThere is great responsibility being in the minority - Northern Compass Group<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/in-the-news\/there-is-great-responsibility-being-in-the-minority\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"There is great responsibility being in the minority - Northern Compass Group\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"SOURCE: The Hill During my time in the Senate, it didn\u2019t take me long to realize that there are two types of people in Washington. There are the \u201ctalkers,\u201d who want to deliver the most attention-grabbing quotes and the \u201cdoers,\u201d who want to deliver results. Talkers are focused on Google alerts, retweets, and of course, […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/in-the-news\/there-is-great-responsibility-being-in-the-minority\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Northern Compass Group\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-08-08T22:39:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-06-20T20:32:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"NCG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"NCG\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/in-the-news\/there-is-great-responsibility-being-in-the-minority\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/in-the-news\/there-is-great-responsibility-being-in-the-minority\/\",\"name\":\"There is great responsibility being in the minority - Northern Compass Group\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-08-08T22:39:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-06-20T20:32:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4052c62f5751f040875dfd3928ef1453\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/in-the-news\/there-is-great-responsibility-being-in-the-minority\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/in-the-news\/there-is-great-responsibility-being-in-the-minority\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/in-the-news\/there-is-great-responsibility-being-in-the-minority\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"There is great responsibility being in the minority\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/\",\"name\":\"Northern Compass Group\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4052c62f5751f040875dfd3928ef1453\",\"name\":\"NCG\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4da0b94f1dbda4c07f9c9ac79454e1d3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4da0b94f1dbda4c07f9c9ac79454e1d3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"NCG\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/northerncompas.wpengine.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/author\/ncg-2\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"There is great responsibility being in the minority - Northern Compass Group","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/in-the-news\/there-is-great-responsibility-being-in-the-minority\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"There is great responsibility being in the minority - Northern Compass Group","og_description":"SOURCE: The Hill During my time in the Senate, it didn\u2019t take me long to realize that there are two types of people in Washington. There are the \u201ctalkers,\u201d who want to deliver the most attention-grabbing quotes and the \u201cdoers,\u201d who want to deliver results. Talkers are focused on Google alerts, retweets, and of course, […]","og_url":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/in-the-news\/there-is-great-responsibility-being-in-the-minority\/","og_site_name":"Northern Compass Group","article_published_time":"2016-08-08T22:39:56+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-06-20T20:32:29+00:00","author":"NCG","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"NCG","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/in-the-news\/there-is-great-responsibility-being-in-the-minority\/","url":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/in-the-news\/there-is-great-responsibility-being-in-the-minority\/","name":"There is great responsibility being in the minority - Northern Compass Group","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-08-08T22:39:56+00:00","dateModified":"2018-06-20T20:32:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4052c62f5751f040875dfd3928ef1453"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/in-the-news\/there-is-great-responsibility-being-in-the-minority\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/in-the-news\/there-is-great-responsibility-being-in-the-minority\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/in-the-news\/there-is-great-responsibility-being-in-the-minority\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"There is great responsibility being in the minority"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/","name":"Northern Compass Group","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4052c62f5751f040875dfd3928ef1453","name":"NCG","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4da0b94f1dbda4c07f9c9ac79454e1d3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4da0b94f1dbda4c07f9c9ac79454e1d3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"NCG"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/northerncompas.wpengine.com"],"url":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/author\/ncg-2\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}