We truly live in interesting times. I’ve heard more than once in recent weeks from pundits and politicians that there is a lack of cooperation by both parties, and that you cannot blame congressional Republican obstructionism for the total stand still in our federal government. The argument goes one of two ways, the democrats control the executive and half of the legislative branches of government they are in charge. Or Obama has failed to lead by not presenting a bill. The problem with these assessments is that our government has several pinch points that can be used by individuals to induce a paralysis in the system not unlike severing the nerve endings in your spine will prevent you from walking.
Congress my fellow Americans has been broken. Not in the way that it is traditionally thought of as broken in which it seemed like an old beat up Chevy that could only muster first gear. No at this point the transmission has fallen off, the tires are flat, and someone nicked the steering wheel. At one point during the debt ceiling debacle the only thing, THE ONLY THING, congress could accomplish was the renaming of post offices, a truly useless exercise especially when you consider the absolute dire straits the US postal system is in, and the only way to address it is through said defunct congress.
As I write this the congress is on a five week recess, at the same time the stock market is on a roller-coaster causing daily 500 point swings in the Dow. Lest you think this is some aberration caused by unfortunate timing pop over to the posted congressional schedule, and you’ll realize congress is in recess almost every other week. To argue that both parties are to blame for the inability to get anything done is to ignore the character of legislation that actually managed to pass in the last three years. In the two years that Democrats held “control” of both chambers of congress only 20% of the legislation that passed the House finally made it through Senate (almost entirely due to abuse of the filibuster). at the end of the debt ceiling stupidity the GOP Speaker said he was satisfied with getting 98% what he set out to get, looked alternatively he compromised 2% of what he wanted.
My indictment of Republican obstructionism breaking congress might sound biased due to my obvious liberal leanings, until you look at the brief shutdown of the FAA. One of the sticking points that forced the temporary furlough of federal employees and the immediate stoppage of ongoing construction projects was unionization rights. Not specific union rights, like a too generous pension or health care package but the right for the union to exist. What House Republicans wanted was compulsory reaffirmation of the union every year which every non-vote was counted as a no vote. The problem with this notion is that if congress was held to a similar standard we’d hardly ever elect, much less reelect a congress person again. The senate said they would not pass a bill with this provision, the president said even if it did, he’d veto it. Another sticking point was a demand to cut $16.5 million dollars from the budget for rural subsidies that the senate refused agree to. So looking at this landscape the House decided to let FAA authorization lapse, causing the previously mentioned disruptions and costing over $250 million in lost revenue.
The most frustrating aspect of this is that even the eventual “compromises” resolve nothing. The debt ceiling deal did not result in a proposal that would produce a budget that actually puts our deficit to rest. Even the deal that reauthorized the FAA will expire in two months. Look I understand the Republicans, and conservatives do not like Democrats in charge. The problem is their actions only serve to further break the system. If the goal is to prevent the Democrats from doing anything what is to stop Democrats from employing the exact same tactics using the exact same logic.
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