I have been a successful businessman for over 30 years. I’ve run a variety of businesses throughout my career and they all had one thing in common: they had problems that needed fixing. I viewed Washington the same way. I decided to run for Congress a decade ago because I wanted to help fix the dysfunction in the nation’s capital. I was optimistic. I thought I could make a real difference.
I was wrong.
Even when one party controls the House, the Senate and the White House, good policy outcomes can be elusive. That’s a sure sign that the system is broken. When I came to Congress as part of the GOP’s great comeback in 2010, we were supposed to get our country back on track. But Republican leadership was afraid to take political risks for the people, because they were afraid of losing the majority.
Republicans controlled Congress for the last decade, and we didn’t deliver on the promises that were made to the American people. Key reforms fell by the wayside. The situation at the border remained unsettled and still today there is no meaningful immigration reform in sight. Obamacare survived largely intact. The GOP’s prevailing decade may be one of the greatest missed opportunities in American history.
The congressional leadership of that era forgot that creating good policy, passing meaningful legislation, and compromising with lawmakers on the other side of the aisle in support of our democratic ideals are what the people want and deserve. It didn’t matter if a piece of legislation was sound policy. Political gain came before legislative achievement, and it still does today.
If politics didn’t get in the way, both parties could work together and make the tough decisions necessary to solve our problems. But it’s far easier to keep ignoring the problem and attack members of the opposing party for their motives then offering up solutions. It’s also the best example of Washington’s prevailing strategy: Kick the can down the road and hope you’re not still there when everything implodes.
Six years into my tenure in Congress, I realized that the only thing that could fix Washington was an outsider. Someone who didn’t toe the “Washington as usual” company line and could disrupt the status quo. That’s the appeal of President Trump.
And America now needs more solid disrupters to come to Washington to upend the system.
The urgency of doing so is growing. Our budget isn’t balanced, our deficits have ballooned and spending continues to rise. Congress has put nearly $22 trillion on its credit card, not including its unfunded liabilities for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. These are strategic threats to our economic well-being and even our national security.
Sadly, an examination of the Democratic field of presidential candidates shows just how far we are from a solution. These politicians are becoming celebrities, not public servants aspiring to use the levers of government in service to the American people. Angry extreme partisanship is on the menu, even though a majority of Americans crave leaders who will reach across the aisle and do what’s right for America.
Fixing our broken system requires outside disruption. It cannot be fixed from the inside, and it requires doing what’s unpopular. For any good elected official, if you’re making necessary changes, you aren’t going to be liked. In business, I made decisions that were tough, not liked by everyone, but they were the right decisions. And my companies were better for it.
Our political system can work, but only if we let it. We must put toxic partisan politics aside and learn to work together. Our nation was built on compromise. No matter how bitterly we disagree, everyone working to govern the country must recognize the need to cooperate. Leaders of both parties need to worry more about the people and less about maintaining power. Only then will we be able to move our country forward.
Jim Renacci represented Ohio’s 16th Congressional District from 2011 to 2019. This piece is adapted from his new book, “The GOP’s Lost Decade: An Inside View of Why Washington Doesn’t Work.”
