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At some point during one of the many recent government shutdowns, I seem to recall a Republican senator explaining that “the American people don’t want us to make deals with the Democrats.” It could just as well have been said by a Democrat about making deals with Republicans.
Well, you legislators, I have news for you: We the People want you to make deals with each other. That is usually the way stuff gets done. Stubbornness and a certainty that the other side is wrong will always get in the way of any attempt to “meet in the middle.”
Let me tell you about an evening meeting that changed my thinking about the subject of an uncompromising belief that we are right and our opponents are wrong.
In my long career teaching high school English in Rock Falls, Ill., I sometimes had the privilege of being the chief negotiator for our teachers union in contract negotiations with the board of education. Over the years, we had some acrimonious negotiation sessions that led to bitter feelings. We engaged in informational picketing, outreach to the parents and threatened to go on strike. The board threatened once to fire us all.
Then, one year, we reached an impasse with the board just before the school year was set to start. Our contract included “impasse procedures,” which required us to ask for federal mediators to come in and try to help us reach an agreement.
The two mediators met with us in our caucus room. They asked only one question: “Where is there some flexibility in your proposals?” Instead, we immediately began to give them our rationale for each of our contract proposals.
They rudely and forcefully interrupted: “We don’t want to hear all that B.S.! We want to know where there is some flexibility!” They explained that in a moment they would go tell the board exactly the same thing. But first, they asked us two questions.
“Will this thing get settled some day?” We all agreed that, yes, someday it would get settled.
“When it does get settled, will you get everything you are proposing? Will the board get everything it is proposing?” Well, no, we guessed not.
“Then why not settle it tonight instead of fighting for another week or two?”
Then they left us to go confer with the board.
After some shouting and table slapping, we finally started talking seriously about how we could craft a proposal that would get us some of what we wanted and some of what the board wanted. Apparently the board did the same thing, because we got a settlement that night! Neither side was completely happy, but neither side felt they had lost. The next year, we completed negotiations in one night, shook hands and left without the rancor that had accompanied other years.
Now, back to government shutdowns. They do not go on forever. When they are settled, some compromises will have been reached. As The Rolling Stones sang, “You can’t always get what you want.”
Both political parties are at fault if they really think that we the people don’t want them to make deals. We want them to meet, hash things out and get the government back to full operation, including air traffic controllers, Social Security and other vital service employees.
In the old days, we used to talk about politicians making backroom deals in “smoke-filled rooms.” Forget the smoke, but just get in a room somewhere and come to an agreement. There are no winners in this foolish game, and many people will be hurt. Do what you were elected to do: Give us a government that works!
