Republicans, Democrats and the Media Are Responsible for the Mess in the House

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United States House of Representatives or Office of the Speaker of the House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

INTERVIEW ON THE PRICE OF BUSINESS SHOW, MEDIA PARTNER OF THIS SITE.

Recently Kevin Price, Host of the nationally syndicated Price of Business Show, interviewed filmmaker Warren D. Robinson (image below).

For the first time in our nation’s history the U.S. House of Representatives has gone weeks without a speaker, effectively paralyzing the lower chamber of one of the three branches of government. While there is no argument that Republicans caused this mess; Democrats are partially to blame for not fixing it sooner. “I believe that both sides of the aisle are playing for the cameras instead of governing for the people.” Says entertainment executive, producer and lawyer Warren D. Robinson, “you have a small group of Republicans who don’t care about legislating or creating chaos as long as they get their name and face on TV; At the same time the democrats care more about keeping the republicans looking dysfunctional than about compromising on a solution. Television and social media have made both sides hyper partisan which is not good for the people.” Robinson believes that in years past, before 24 hour cable news and social media fame, a situation such as this would never have happened. “The rule for one member to bring a motion to vacate had been around for nearly two hundred years prior to this but it had never been successful, until now”, Robinson points out. Furthermore Robinson believes that both parties have an obligation to keep the government moving, regardless of party politics. “Democrats should have said for the sake of not paralyzing the House we are not going to support this motion (they didn’t have to vote at all, simply having a few members leave the floor or vote present would have lowered the threshold) if that wasn’t ideal they certainly should have negotiated a bipartisan deal to get someone elected Speaker. While that may still happen, it has taken far too long. At the end of the day governing for the people should outweigh publicly owning the other party.”

According to a statement, “Entertainment executive and producer, Warren D. Robinson believes that when organizations are willing to have open and honest conversations about race and their own bias they can commit to meaningful change. We have seen this recently in the form of Hollywood award shows, particularly, the Grammys and the Academy Awards (Oscars). The Recording Academy and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have both taken concrete steps to diversify their ranks and address inherit biases in their voting processes. As a result we have the most diverse crop of award winners/nominees, respectively, we’ve ever seen. Contrast that with the scandal and production shutdown currently at CBS’s The Talk, which resulted because a co-host was unable to properly engage in a conversation about race, address her own bias and commit to doing better. ‘The key part to every conversation’ Warren says, ‘starts with listening. Listening and hearing are different and if you are unable to listen then you are unable to have a conversation.’

“Warren D. Robinson, is an avid and accomplished entertainment executive, motivational speaker, host, life coach and award winning producer who created the wildly popular series, Buried by the Bernards, which is currently streaming on Netflix.

“Warren has served as an entertainment consultant, manager and producer, facilitating, appearing and negotiating high powered deals on behalf of his clients in front of such companies as: Warner Brothers, BET, CNN, Freemantle, Best Buy, TV ONE, Netflix, Lifetime, Fox News, WE TV, E!, NBC Universal, Viacom and more. In addition, Warren’s entertainment prowess includes coordinating, partnering and/or producing events for: legendary actress Pam Grier, Taraji P Henson, Gabrielle Union, Vivica A Fox, Soul singer Eddie Levert (of the O’Jays), Comedian Mike Epps, Angie Stone, Flavor Flav, the Indianapolis Colts, Donna Joyner-Richardson, Stephanie Mills, Erykah Badu and Tom Joyner among others. Warren graduated from Indiana University (B.A.-Political Science) and Howard University School Of Law (J.D.).”

Learn more about Warren D. Robinson and his work here.