Partisanship

(1:11:25) Guest: Jim Leach, Former member of Congress (R-IA) and former Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities  It’s no secret that Congress isn’t particularly effective at getting things done these days – the latest standoff over funding the Department of Homeland Security involved procedural maneuvers and grandstanding and ultimately an angry split among Republicans in the House, until finally, they passed a funding bill that kicks the can down the road for a few more months. Temporary solutions are seemingly all Congress is able to agree upon as elected Democrats and Republicans become increasingly polarized and divided internally.  Which brings us to Jim Leach, who served 30-years in the U.S. House of Representatives representing Iowa. He was elected as a Republican, but angered the party by voting against the Iraq War. Then, after leaving the House, he came out in support of Democrat Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign for President. Leach was branded a turncoat by Republicans. And he was subsequently appointed by Obama to serve as chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. He’s since left that post and now speaks around the country on the need for more peace and mutual understanding in the halls of government.  “… when it comes to final voting, you have to do what’s best for the country,” says Leach about representatives in the U.S.  “I was appalled with the foreign policy of the US by people that I had helped elect. I believe that America was in the process,” says Leach, “of making the biggest foreign policy mistake and so I voted against the Iraq war.”