Mary Bono Mack: We can get past political gridlock

Palm Springs congresswoman says jumpstarting economy top priority

by Erica Felci • The Desert Sun•

After two years of Democratic policies designed to stimulate the economy, reform health care and overhaul financial regulations, voters nationwide decided on Tuesday it was time to take the House of Representatives in a new direction.

Republican Rep. Mary Bono Mack, 49, believes her party is up to the task.

“We should be able to make a difference in two years,” she said after Tuesday’s midterm election.

“(Democrats) believe huge government spending will stimulate the economy. It clearly doesn’t work. Our view of less taxation, less regulation, less litigation — within two years you should be able to see a difference.”

Bono Mack spoke with The Desert Sun on the heels of a 10-point election victory in the 45th Congressional District against Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet, the Democratic challenger who gained significant attention and resources from the national party.

She now enters her seventh term optimistic that federal leaders can turn around the sputtering economy that’s led to double-digit unemployment rates in Riverside County and a foreclosure crisis nationwide.

In an exclusive interview at her Palm Springs home, Bono Mack also expressed hope that she’ll become the first Republican woman to chair a subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and that the federal government can move beyond party-line stalemates.

“I believe that now, we have, as Republicans, a much better seat at the table to bargain,” she said.

“We have absolutely been gridlocked this entire year. The House, (Speaker) Nancy Pelosi, passed the health care bill and since then we have stopped. We haven’t passed the spending bills. We haven’t passed a budget.

“I believe we can get beyond gridlock.”

She’s seen it happen before.

Bono Mack was first elected in 1998 when President Bill Clinton was in the White House and Republicans controlled Congress.

She also served during President George W. Bush’s eight-year administration, including the two-year span when Democrats controlled the congressional agenda.

“They were able to move some legislation, but it took a good leadership on both sides and willingness to work together,” she said of the years when control was divided between parties.

Since Tuesday’s election, Republicans have made it clear that the economy will top their legislative focus.

Bono Mack said that should include repealing the health care reform Democrats passed without GOP support. She also puts a “very high priority” on extending the tax cuts enacted during Bush’s term before they expire in January.

She’s already reached out to Republican Rep. John Boehner — presumed to be the next House speaker — about increasing transparency.

In September, she introduced legislation requiring the text of federal legislation to be put online and that the mark-up process of bills and resolutions is broadcast on the Internet. After the election Tuesday, she sent a letter to Boehner highlighting the importance of the legislation and asked that it be part of any effort to bring accountability and transparency to the legislative
process.

Bono Mack said Tuesday’s vote sent “a very clear statement that the Democrats didn’t listen” to the country’s viewpoints and sent a “definite mandate” that Republicans must.

“Passions run very high on a number of these bills,” she added. “There are huge pieces of legislation that affect people’s lives. I think the American people have made a great case for the importance of them being part of the process.”

One policy area Bono Mack doesn’t think Republicans will be able to get compromise is foreign policy.

“I don’t know that President Obama is capable of changing his foreign policy,” she told The Desert Sun.

“He believes in appeasement. He has, I think, very weak positions on foreign policy and I don’t see that changing. I think that is who he really is.”

While Bono Mack’s outlook for the next Congress is generally optimistic, voters nationwide don’t have the same positive feeling.

A poll released Friday by Rasmussen Reports found 56 percent of voters are pessimistic about Obama’s ability to work with a Republican House.

Another telephone survey found nearly 60 percent believe voters will be disappointed in the GOP House by the 2012 elections.

“I think people are fed up right now with the growth of government, that we’re growing the size of government, spending more and spending our children’s money,” Bono Mack said last week.

“I think that’s what they’re frustrated with, that it’s not in the right direction. As families across this country have had to tighten their budgets, the government has not. It makes people mad. And it should.”

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