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Dean Peterson

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    Congress

    Can we all just get along? Now it is a question for Congress.

    Aubrey Neal
    Dean Peterson
    October 28, 2019
    Can we all just get along? Now it is a question for Congress.

    "The dysfunction in Congress mirrors these trends in our culture, its members having circled their wagons and given up even trying to get along," argue the authors.

    Zach Gibson/Getty Images

    Neal is federal government affairs manager and Peterson is vice president of public affairs at R Street Institute, a nonpartisan and pro-free-market public policy research organization.

    Rodney King's famous lament sums up our collective feelings and frustrations about society today.

    Passions are at a fever pitch. Our heated political debates have led family members to stop speaking to one another, individuals to live only around like-minded people, religious adherents to seek out worship spaces that only attract those whose political views match their own, and even people to only eat at restaurants or purchase items from brands that share their ideology.

    The dysfunction in Congress mirrors these trends in our culture, its members having circled their wagons and given up even trying to get along.

    Fortunately, Congress' greatest problem is also a solvable one and members don't have to be in leadership to help make it happen.

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