Blog: Let's Fix Washington

Statement

Today, President Obama did a Q&A session with the Senate Democrats, and I got to ask the President about the broken system in Washington and what he plans to do to reform the way things operate. During my very brief time in the Senate, I have come across too many aspects of Washington that need to be changed, especially in the wake of the health care debate.

There are too many important issues on our plates right now for us to allow the status quo of broken Washington politics to continue. As we continue to spend without concern for the debt, we are harming our children because they will have to pay it back. At an event in Colorado recently, I was talking about how we racked up this enormous debt only to pass it on to our children to deal with, and my daughter, Caroline said, "Dad, just so you know, I'm not paying that back." Can you blame her? She shouldn't have to deal with it, and even a 10-year-old can understand that.

We need to look at what we can do in Congress and what the President can do differently so that our democracy can withstand the tough challenges we're facing as a nation right now, so I asked the President for his opinion on what needs to be changed to make Washington work for the people.

To answer my question, President Obama said that the problem is the institutional failure to adapt to 21st Century problems and the economy. He specifically mentioned the use of the filibuster to gum up the work and stop legislation from passing. "In the Senate, the filibuster only works if there is a genuine spirit of compromise and trying to solve problems, as opposed to just shutting the place down," said President Obama.

After a little over a year in the Senate, I have seen countless good pieces of legislation disappear because the Republicans decide to block it. Instead of trying to come to the table and compromise, they choose to keep us from passing legislation to help Coloradans and all Americans. In fact, the President started his speech today with an interesting fact: the filibuster has been used more this past year than it was used in all for the 1950's and 1960's combined. That's startling.

Also, the President talked about the need for transparency in our system. He said we should welcome challenges and questions, so we can be absolutely clear and make sure everyone is aware of what is going on in Washington. I have been pushing for more transparency in Congress since I stepped foot in the Senate and think that is one key aspect of the reform needed in Washington.

Lastly, he called on all of us to turn off our TVs and go out to talk with our constituents more because Washington is too caught up with itself and not enough on the people it represents. I particularly agreed with him when he said, "It is much more difficult to get a conversation focused on how are we going to help people than a conversation about how is this going to help or hurt someone politically. And that's part of what the American people are just sick of."

I'm committed to continue my work to reform Washington and get away from politics as usual.

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