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LaHood: Bipartisanship Will Survive

WVIK News

  Americans solve problems when they work together. That's the message from Ray LaHood, a former Illinois Congressman and US Transportation Secretary .

He gave a lecture at Augustana College on the subject Tuesday, and wrote about it in a recent book, "Seeking Bipartisanship: My Life in Politics."

LaHood says a good example of both parties working together was when Bill Clinton was president. 

"Republicans were in control: we passed welfare reform, we passed tax reform, we passed two transportation bills. None of that could have been done with just one party," he said.

He also blames the advent of the Tea Party, Super-PACs, and the influence of money for the current state of the federal government today. 

 "The Tea Party people are the nay-sayers in politics today. They vote "no" on everything, they don't really believe in the jobs they have, and they've influenced politics I think in a way that in some ways has brought government to a standstill."

 But despite how endangered bipartisanship might seem nowadays, LaHood remains optimistic, saying it's something the vast majority of Americans want.