My Point of View by Brian Hensley

Losing stinks.  Any type of losing sticks. From a friendly game of basketball with friends, to a stupid guy argument about who won the 2013 Super Bowl MVP. Winning is so much better.

Losing elections stinks worse than the examples from above because elections have consequences. As you move from city council races, to senator and governor races, all the way to a U.S. presidential race, the pain only increases. It hurts for the candidate; it hurts for their staff; it hurts for the volunteers. But again, elections have consequences.

When your political party, or those who share your opinion, have won a majority you get benefits. As a political party in the majority, you get to set the agenda, determine which bills get heard, and which bills don’t. You compromise or dictate from a sense of control.  That’s where the winning and losing party really start to hammer home. Being in the minority party of a legislative body really stinks. You don’t have enough votes to make the things that you want to have happen, happen. That’s frustrating.

Currently, the U.S. Congress is controlled by the Republicans, and President Obama from the Democrats. That means not much happens.  Why? Because both groups feel like they won, they are thinking about future elections and they don’t want to compromise.

We see the same thing happening in the Minnesota Legislature right now. Republicans control the House, the DFL control the Senate — they both disagree on how to move different items forward.  Since they can’t agree, nothing happens. Some argue that’s bad, but it’s my opinion that sometimes when nothing happens, we win.  Bad ideas and crazy ideas that can’t gather support from both Democrats and Republicans don’t move. Sometimes, it’s really bad when nothing happens.  Currently in Minnesota we don’t have a transportation plan. Local cities and counties can’t plan how to solve our bridge and road problems.  The stakes are high. Both Republicans and Democrats want a victory, so odds are a solution will be found — probably somewhere in the middle of what they both want. Let’s just hope that doesn’t mean in a year with over a $1 billion dollar budget surplus, the compromise is to tax us more with an increase in the gas tax.

The consequences of the past few elections on a national scale are currently very visible in another situation. That situation is the passing of Justice Scalia and the nomination of Merrick Garland for Supreme Court of the United States.

Article II, Section 2, Clause 2  the Appointment Clause:  He (the president) shall have the power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and councils, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law: but the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers as they think proper, in the president alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.

The president shall have the power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint judges to the Supreme Court. Elections have consequences. Win or lose.

A vacancy has occurred on the Supreme Court. President Obama is the president, which he won, and he should nominate a judge. He has done that. The U.S. Senate, which is controlled by Republicans, won that control in an election. The U.S. Senate should advise the president and provide their consent to the nominee. By not holding hearings, vetting the nominee and voting they are not upholding their powers appointed by the Constitution.

But remember — elections have consequences. The U.S. Senate does not have to approve the nominee. They can reject the nominee and advise the president to select a new nominee that is more in line with those values held by those that have been elected to the U.S. Senate. That type of system is called a Republic, and that’s what our citizens through the Constitution established. There is no obligation to approve a nominee until the U.S. Senate feels the nominee meets their values of the majority elected, but to not vote, is not upholding their end of the agreement. Both President Obama and the U.S. Senate can find a nominee that matches the value of both parties, or they can nominate and vote, and nominate and vote, and nominate and vote, until a new president and new U.S. Senate are seated after Jan. 3, 2017.  Neither may like the consequences of that decision.

As a child and even today as an adult, I hate consequences, but that doesn’t mean they can be avoided.

 

Brian Hensley is the volunteer chairman of the Freeborn County Republican Party.