Friday, July 27, 2012

Out on a Pledge

Here's a modest proposal: Instead of voting on candidates, from now on we just vote on the pledges that various interest groups currently have candidates sign.

In today's New Mexican, I took a look at single-interest pledges signed by New Mexico's two major-party U.S. Senate candidates have signed.

In the piece I quote David Walker, a co-founder  of the moderate political group No Labels. Walker is a former U.S. Comptroller who served under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

“What that basically means is that Congress has signed away its ability to ever seriously address our country’s fiscal problems,” Walker said in a statement issued by No Labels. “They are elected to solve problems, not to stonewall solutions.”

I also quote an editorial that ran last year in USA Today under the headline “Candidates who sign pledges outsource their brains.” You can find that HERE.

And of course I quote Heather Wilson and Martin Heinrich saying why the pledges they signed are good.