Priorities

Forward motion

Mar 10 2011

Since Monday’s town hall with business leaders in Richmond, the bipartisan efforts of Senators Warner and Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) have gotten more attention.

Their role in leading the so-called “Gang of Six” in proposing a responsible, long-range plan to cut spending, reform taxes and strengthen entitlement programs like Social Security has been endorsed by newspapers across Virginia, including the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Danville Register & Bee, and the Lynchburg News & Advance.

“Sen. Mark Warner has never been shy about describing himself as both a pragmatic centrist and a reality-based businessman. Right now, Warner deserves both descriptions,” the Times-Dispatch editorial board wrote yesterday.

And today’s Wall Street Journal reported on new allies joining the effort, including Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who “many had seen as a potential obstacle of the senators' effort to build a larger consensus within Congress” as well as conservative deficit hawk and philanthropist Pete Peterson.

Meanwhile, CNN and Daily Beast analyst John Avlon is recognizing that “there is a larger dynamic at work that is worth appreciating -- the recognition that the most exciting and substantive work in American politics is occurring when leaders from opposite sides of the political aisle put aside their differences to work on issues of common cause.”

Avlon suggests that if “you're part of the 93% of Americans who say they want to see less partisan fighting in Washington, it's time to stand up and support efforts like the Gang of Six."