Written by: Kristine Pratt
ontherecord@abc4.com
Though he's been out of the elected public office for a while, former Congressman Jim Hansen is still very much a part of the political arena. He goes On the Record to talk about what he did during his time in office, and what's going on in the country now.
Hansen says that sometimes he misses it. He says that during his time in office he had some very good committee assignments that kept him busy and involved.
"I had about as good of an office as you could have when I left," Hansen says. "It was the former house speaker's office in 1906.
And while on the topic of House Speakers, Hansen says that incoming Speaker John Boehner will be very good. "'He's a bright person, he's pretty low-key. I was very impressed with him." He doesn't get pushed around. "I think he'll be a good speaker, and be ablso to do some good things."
And on current Speaker Nancy Pelosi, "I consider myself a friend of Nancy Pelosi. Never agreed on much, but we're good friends."
However, Hansen says he doesn't understand why they put Pelosi back os minority leader, because she was the cause of the problem in the first place.
In the upcoming years, with the Republicans controlling the House of Representatives and the Democrats controlling the Senate, Hansen still believes that things will get done.
"They'll play for the cameras a bit, but in reality, they'll sit down and get things done."
Hansen also has his ideas for the budget. He says that the federal government needs to raise the social security age, then take a 10% reduction out of several departments. If you do they, Hansen says the government could work it's' way out of the hole. Yes it does make some people upset, but you can't please everyone.
