It can be done!

For the first time in what seems like a long time, Democrats and Republicans were able to come together and pass legislation that will help Americans. Of course, it took the deaths of Americans to overhaul food safety, but at least when American lives are on the line our legislators can do something. Thank goodness we can all agree that Americans shouldn't die because of salmonella in eggs and peanuts.

I'm not sure if it's my naivete, my optimism, or if those are really just the same thing, but perhaps this can be a building block for fixing a government that is less and less capable of providing for its citizens.

America needs a lot of things right now: we need to create jobs; we need to decrease our dependence on fossil fuels and invest in green energy; we need to reform education; and we need to cut spending/raise revenue (gas tax anyone?). Still all of this will be difficult if not impossible to achieve if we don't trust our government. So perhaps primarily, we need a government that can show people it has the ability to do it's job, legislate and govern.

Passing a bill to regulate food safety seems like an obvious and simple decision, but then again, so do a lot of things that we HAVEN'T done. Maybe this will be a first step in the direction of compromise. As much as I'm happy to live in a country in which people don't die from eating bad eggs, I'd also like to live in a country that is globally competitive, wealthy, strong and tolerant. Right now, I live in that country, but if I want to stay there, it's going to fall on our government to make tough decisions and legislate responsibly. Because even though I'm not going anywhere, America may be, that somewhere just may be the wrong direction.

Congratulations Congress, on ensuring that our spinach is safe. Now could you kindly sit down together again and start to fix our nation's troubles?