2007.06.03: June 3, 2007: Headlines: Figures: COS - Somalia: Politics: Congress: Oshkosh Northwestern: Oshkosh Northwestern says: Under Democrat reign in Congress, Petri oddly seems to be flourishing
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2007.06.03: June 3, 2007: Headlines: Figures: COS - Somalia: Politics: Congress: Oshkosh Northwestern: Oshkosh Northwestern says: Under Democrat reign in Congress, Petri oddly seems to be flourishing
Oshkosh Northwestern says: Under Democrat reign in Congress, Petri oddly seems to be flourishing
Many politicians saunter into a room and bury the needle on the "Partisan Meter." They drone the party line. They carry the water for embattled leaders. They spin. They exude "partisanship." Not Tom Petri's style. Never has been. Folks in his 6th Congressional District should be thankful this Republican is both open-minded and intellectual when it comes to investigating and weighing proposed legislation in this Democrat-controlled Congress. U.S. Rep. Petri, R-Fond du Lac, has typically stayed out of the bare-knuckled fistfights in Washington. He has preferred a more professorial tone and approach in politics. That didn't win him much face time or responsibility under pit-bull Republican leadership. Congressman Tom Petri of Wisconsin served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Somalia in the 1960's.
Oshkosh Northwestern says: Under Democrat reign in Congress, Petri oddly seems to be flourishing
Editorial: Petri and 'partisan' just don't go together
Many politicians saunter into a room and bury the needle on the "Partisan Meter."
They drone the party line. They carry the water for embattled leaders. They spin. They exude "partisanship."
Not Tom Petri's style. Never has been.
Folks in his 6th Congressional District should be thankful this Republican is both open-minded and intellectual when it comes to investigating and weighing proposed legislation in this Democrat-controlled Congress.
U.S. Rep. Petri, R-Fond du Lac, has typically stayed out of the bare-knuckled fistfights in Washington. He has preferred a more professorial tone and approach in politics. That didn't win him much face time or responsibility under pit-bull Republican leadership.
But now, under Democrat reign in Congress, Petri oddly seems to be flourishing.
No party bosses to stifle him.
He swung through the district last week, talking about everything from college affordability to fish viruses.
It is clear he is emerging as a leading voice in the college loan reform debate – a topic he has urged Congress address years before state attorneys general began targeting the industry to correct wrongs and reap publicity.
Petri continues pushing his STAR Act and other loan reforms, one rewarding colleges and universities with increased Pell Grant funds if their students chose government-sponsored loans that curtail taxpayer waste.
It's an $87 billion – "with a 'B'" – industry, Petri emphasizes. "It's practically $1,000 for every baby born in America," he told the Northwestern's editorial board with a grin, not an angry fist-pound.
Thanks to the work of Petri, this nonpartisan subject and beneficial legislation is poised to actually see action. Good.
Another big nonpartisan score for Petri: Immigration.
He acknowledges it's "a complicated issue" but doesn't shirk the questions nor get addicted to the emotion and vitriol driving the debate in America. Don't know if you caught it, but Petri said last week that he thought a legal, guest-worker program – something akin to what Wisconsin farmers long benefited from – "makes sense."
On the war, Petri is just as balanced. He supported the giant bill to support troop supplies and operations but stands by his vote with Democrats expressing no-confidence in the president's 20,000 troop-surge plan.
A year or two ago, Petri would have been bashed for his stance.
Now he even questions the timeline supposedly measuring surge's effectiveness. "I don't know when the six months start and when the six months are over," he frankly said, further questioning whether Iraqis have a country to take control of. "… Is there really an Iraqi nation that Iraqis swear allegiance to?"
He even speaks fairly of his technical adversary – Democrat Speaker of the House, U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi.
"She's obviously very partisan and a partisan leader, but we've always had a cordial relationship," Petri said of Pelosi.
He thought the photo opportunity he and his daughter had with the House speaker after she historically took her post as first woman speaker was pretty neat.
Keep pumping fresh air into the Capitol, Rep. Petri.
Final Thought: U.S. Rep. Tom Petri's fair-minded, intellectual approach to leadership is just what Washington needs, whether Democrats or Republicans are in control.
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Headlines: June, 2007; RPCV Tom Petri (Somalia) ; Figures; Peace Corps Somalia; Directory of Somalia RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Somalia RPCVs; Politics; Congress; Wisconsin; Peace Corps Library; Peace Corps Directory; Peace Corps History; Bulletin Board; Recent Peace Corps News
When this story was posted in July 2007, this was on the front page of PCOL:
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Story Source: Oshkosh Northwestern
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Figures; COS - Somalia; Politics; Congress
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