Capitol Words a project of the Sunlight Foundation

Rep. Earl Blumenauer

We begin the new year on the same sour note with which we concluded 2011--an appalling year, full of fabricated crises that didn't need to happen but which produced real-life consequences, the debt ceiling debacle being but one example. The Republican nomination of a Presidential candidate is showing the dark side of this new era of Super PACs and what happens when a party is captive to ideological extremists.

Even if you're not a Republican, it's a sad indictment. We need two constructive, effective, responsible political parties, or at least as close as we can come. It is past time to respond to things that Americans need and support.

It really doesn't need to be this hard.

I would suggest that one test going forward would be dealing with issues that could be supported by both the Tea Party and the Occupy Wall Street protesters--both movements responses to a shared concern that Americans are being shortchanged, that America is on a path that is not sustainable, and of a political process that is unable to respond to their needs. Both movements are understandable and have valid concerns, that the political process is too often stacked against people trying to make changes in how we do business.

The degree of overlap between the two narratives is very encouraging, and I think it is healthy that both have found political expression. The question is the extent to which people who identify with these movements can identify with each other and with practical, achievable responses.

I think they can.

This year, I hope that both sides of the aisle here in Congress will think about what those shared objectives might be.

Agricultural reform ought to be at the very top of the list. We have a system that the right and the left can agree shortchanges most farmers and ranchers and is far too expensive. It is tilted towards large agribusiness, not to smaller operations--the quintessential family farm. We know we can do better to help more people while we save taxpayer money, improve the environment, and enhance the health of our children in dealing with school nutrition.

Another major area of agreement deals with American leadership in helping the 2 billion poor people around the world who do not have access to safe drinking water or adequate sanitation or, tragically, to both. The United States has the potential to dramatically enhance the effectiveness of the work we are already doing and the money we are already spending. I am pleased we have bipartisan legislation with my friend Ted Poe from Texas as the lead Republican to enhance these international water and sanitation efforts.

For years, I've been working to enhance the capacity of our health care system to help people when they are most vulnerable. This has commonly been referred to as ``end of life,'' but it is not just that--it is much more. It is any time people are in difficult medical conditions, when they may lose control over what happens to them. We need to make sure that people understand their choices, are able to articulate what they and their families want, and that their health care wishes, whatever they may be, are respected.

This bipartisan concept got caught up in the madness of the 2009 political lie of the year--death panels--but it's now time to revisit it. It's overwhelmingly supported by the American people, including the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street. It costs nothing, and will help enhance the well-being of our families.

There is a golden opportunity to come together around a collective vision of rebuilding and renewing America. This is happening at the State and local levels as people are uniting around their visions and putting up money to achieve it. This is the fastest way to revitalize the economy and protect our quality of life, and the Federal Government should be playing.

While I strongly support efforts to correct the distorting and, in some ways, corruption of the political process by avalanches of secret money that are now savaging Republican candidates for the Presidential nomination, there is another corrupting process that is taking place for which there are no constitutional barriers to remediate--the legislative redistricting process. In most States, it's a scandal where politicians pick the voters rather than voters being able to pick the politicians. We all ought to identify with reform efforts that are emerging in this area.

These are five simple steps that don't cost money and certainly, in the long run, will save money while they enhance the integrity of the system. They can strengthen the economy while revitalizing the political process and addressing the frustrations of both Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party.