Opinion: New Beginnings
This New Year ushers in a new Congress and a large Freshman class. Here's hoping that new faces create needed change on the Hill.
While the leadership remains the same -- which is especially distressing when you see the dysfunctionalality of the Republican House Caucus -- perhaps a new class will arrive ready to make up for the lack of results from the previous Congress.
One law that Republicans failed to act on was the Violence Against Women Act. That should be addressed and passed quickly.
So should the relief for Hurricane Sandy victims that House Republicans failed to move on in the closing hours of the previous Congress.
We have looming financial issues to address especially government spending -- including the spending that is done through the tax code. We still need a balance of revenues and spending cuts to restore fiscal sanity and undo the damage of the Bush Years.
This Congress should immediately move to reassure markets and take Government default off the table.
Congress and the President also have to work out a deal on immigration.
In light of the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School and the annual senseless killing of so many kids it is time to put kids before guns so that our children don't end up in front of a loaded weapon.
There is much work to be done on these issues and many others that I have chronicled over the past seven months for CBS Local. I hope that this Congress is up to the task.
Today also marks my final post for CBS Local.
I want to thank readers for taking the time to read what I have posted and look forward to working with CBS Local in the future.
I have enjoyed this opportunity and want to thank CBS Local's political team for allowing me to write these opinion pieces.
Happy New Year, Bill.
About Bill Buck
Bill Buck is a Democratic strategist, President of the Buck Communications Group, a media relations and new media strategies consulting business based in Washington, DC, and Managing Director of the online ad firm Influence DSP. He has over twenty years of international and national communications experience. The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of CBS Local.
