POLITICS - Bob Dole to Lawmakers, Get It Together

Note that Bob Dole was from the era when politicians were interested in governance, which is totally different from today's politicians who are interested only on forcing their agenda on U.S. citizens.  There is NO real bipartisanship today.

"Former GOP leader Bob Dole tells lawmakers to ‘get together’" PBS NewsHour 10/20/2014

Excerpt

JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  Senator Bob Dole, thank you for talking with us.

FORMER SEN. BOB DOLE, (R) Kansas:  Thank you, Judy.

JUDY WOODRUFF:  You are 91 years young.  You have led a remarkable life after those terrible injuries you suffered in World War II.  You have gone on to be a very busy man.  How are you doing today?

BOB DOLE:  Doing great.

I’m in great shape.  And I keep busy, which is important.

JUDY WOODRUFF:  And you have been gone — as I understand, nine trips to Kansas this year?

BOB DOLE:  Nine trips, and we have been in 96 of the 105 counties.

We don’t have any agenda.  It’s just a thank you tour to thank the people for voting for me five times in the U.S. Senate.  Now, many in the audience aren’t old enough to have voted for me five times.  So you meet a lot of new friends.

JUDY WOODRUFF:  You have talked a lot about how Democrats and Republicans worked together to do important things.

But you have also talked about the Senate doesn’t work that way anymore.  How much do you think it has changed?  How different is it today?

BOB DOLE:  Well, it’s hard to criticize the Senate, when I was there for 28 years, but it does seem to be more confrontational, not as much bipartisanship.

I go back to the time when Ronald Reagan told me one day, he said, Bob, I’m going to send this legislation to Congress, and I want 100 percent.  And then he said with that little twinkle in his eye, well, if you can’t get me a 100, get me 70, and I will get the rest next year.

So, he believed in compromise and working together.  And I just don’t see much of that now.