No more bombast | The Salt Lake Tribune

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The latest Gallup Poll shows that Americans' confidence in Congress has fallen to its lowest point since Gallup started asking the question in 1973.

Earlier this year, when Public Policy Polling asked voters if they have a higher opinion of either Congress or a series of unpleasant or disliked things, voters had a higher opinion of head lice, colonoscopies, traffic jams, cockroaches, Donald Trump and used-car salesmen. (Congress beat out telemarketers, John Edwards, North Korea, the ebola virus, meth labs and gonorrhea.)

If Democrats and Republicans started working together, compromising and passing legislation to fix our problems — from roads and bridges to schools and jobs to the environment and immigration — their numbers would rise and all Americans would be better served.

Instead, loud-mouth obstructionists like Utah's Sen. Mike Lee and Reps. Jason Chaffetz and Chris Stewart revel in the headlines and publicity from being obstinate. Utahns need solutions, not bombast.

We should demand results or show them the door at the next election.

Samuel Clayton

Provo