This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Some common thoughts out there today:
— Utahns in Congress need to show more results — Salt Lake Tribune Editorial
" ... While there are deep disagreements in this country, there also are many things upon which a majority agrees. They want an immigration solution that respects law without dismissing the contributions of those who came here illegally. They want gun control that reduces firepower without infringing on anyone's liberty. They want tax policy where people of means pay their fair share without hurting business investment. And they want a longterm solution for the continued viability of Medicare and Social Security so they may honor their commitments to those who came before them. ...
" ... Ultimately, someone needs to blink — and take a little risk — so something can get done. Any move toward compromise will bring a shelling from special interests. If they just want to keep getting elected, our representatives can keep doing what they're doing. It seems to work just fine for them if the mission is simply persisting in office.
"But if they find themselves wanting to make this great nation even better, they need to move out of their comfort zone and embrace the chance to make progress. If they don't, we really ought to stop sending them."
— 'BrainDead' is 'coming out against' the 'loss of the moderate middle' — Meredith Blake | The Los Angeles Times
" 'BrainDead,' which premiered Monday (June 13) on CBS, is a summer series with politics on its mind. Arriving just as an already surreal presidential election begins to heat up, the pilot opens with clips of Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders on the campaign trail and text reading, 'In the year 2016 there was a growing sense that people were losing their mind.'..."
— What it's like to be a political moderate working in a ridiculously polarized Senate — Lauren Kosa |Vox
" ... Congress, in response, resorts to symbolism and grandstanding instead of compromise. But the more Americans on both sides insist on ideological purity, the more grandstanding we get. That's the problem, I wanted tell the callers: not corruption but political purity. By insisting that Congress act in a certain way and rejecting compromise on the issue they care about, the callers were contributing to the culture of grandstanding and stonewalling. ..."
— Scottish Leader, Speaking to Parliament, Strikes More Moderate Tone — Sewell Chan | The New York Times
" ... "I want to be clear to Parliament that while I believe independence is the best option for Scotland — I don't think that will come as a surprise to anyone — it is not my starting point in these discussions," said Ms. Sturgeon, who plans to travel to Brussels this week to confer with European officials. "My starting point is to protect Scotland's interests, to protect Scotland's relationship with the E.U." ..."
— Moderate conservatives are in a quandary — Lawrence Martin | The Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada)
"First Canada, then the United States, now Britain. ...
" ... If you like Brexit, if you liked the Iraq war, if you favour the retrograde prejudices of Donald Trump, you will like the direction of modern-day conservatism. ..."
— Moderate Republicans Credited For School Funding Bill — Elle Moxley | KMUW (Wichita, Kansas)
"Much of the credit for keeping Kansas schools open is going to Fairway Republican Rep. Melissa Rooker and other moderates who put forward a plan that didn't reduce school aid. ..."
— A moderate Republican just said she'd break ranks on gun control — Jeff Stein | Vox
"The Democratic push on gun control on Monday has at least one Republican open to bipartisanship: Sen. Kelly Ayotte.
"Late Monday afternoon, Ayotte — a moderate who represents the purple state of New Hampshire — announced on the Senate floor that she'll be supporting the Democratic caucus's plan to bar those investigated as terrorists from purchasing firearms. ..."
— Trump Embraces Executive Orders to Avoid Congressional Gridlock — Michael C. Bender | Bloomberg Politics
"Donald Trump may be one of Barack Obama's toughest critics, but when it comes to the president's use of executive orders to circumvent Congress, the Republican sees him as a role model. ..."
— Deadlock and gridlock, in Congress and the courts — Journal Times (Racine, Wisc.) Editorial
" ... Congress should have a say in developing immigration reform, it should not be done simply by executive fiat. But this dysfunctional do-nothing Congress has not been able to do its job — and that is what led to Obama's go-it-alone decision. ..."
— Zika virus spending package sitting in partisan gridlock — The Washington Times
"A spending package to fight the mosquito-borne Zika virus is mired in partisan gridlock, with Senate Democrats saying Monday they 'have no choice' but to sink the $1.1 billion measure because it swipes money from Obamacare and the Ebola fight and bars any of it from flowing to Planned Parenthood.
"The standoff comes four months after President Obama requested nearly $2 billion to combat Zika, which causes serious birth defects, and as mosquitoes begin to bite on the U.S. mainland, sparking fears of local transmission. ..."