Insist on cooperation for effective government

Regarding Lauren Crombaugh's letter of March 13 (“Obama taking trips, not governing”), I offer a correction and a civics lesson.

George W. Bush took more vacation days (1,020) in office than any other president since Herbert Hoover. Barack Obama took 131 during his first term.

No one person can effect change. Our system is set up to function by compromise. This means that political parties must work out deals that are acceptable to all. It is not meant to be a “win or lose” system.

Gerrymandering of House districts in many states has resulted in single-party (usually Republican) dominance. To win such a district seat, the candidate must first win the primary; his winning the district being a given. In Republican-dominated districts, the extremist has the advantage in the primary, and then goes on to win over a straw candidate (usually Democrat). Thus the U.S. House of Representatives has an abundance of extreme right-wing Republicans.

They do not like government and want to dismantle as much of it as possible. Thus we have a House whose dominant political party has no interest in working out compromises. Doing so would jeopardize their chances of winning their next primary, and thus their district seat.

We need to insist on cooperation.

Anne Salamon

Cedar Rapids