Tag: gridlock

‘Clinton allies’ think voters hate current voter-imposed gridlock situation.

I keep getting told this.

Clinton allies also think that a bigger movement that the anti-Wall Street camp favors her candidacy: the anti-gridlock movement.

Voters are tired of a dysfunctional Washington and want leaders who can make the government work.

…and yet, every trend in American politics since November 5th, 2008 has been in support of a dysfunctional Washington.  I know that the Beltway hates hearing this, but the voters keep telling us at the ballot box that they never want to see the horrors of the 111th Congress – the mutant, deranged poster-child for ‘functional’ government – ever again.  That’s why we flipped the House in 2010, and the Senate in 2014.  That’s why we took so many governorships in 2010 and managed to keep them in 2014.  That’s why state legislature after state legislature has fallen to the Republican party.  Do the people love the GOP? No, of course not. They merely find us useful tools for promoting gridlock. Continue reading ‘Clinton allies’ think voters hate current voter-imposed gridlock situation.

Michael Gerson: our political class is exhausted. Me: they should go take a nap, then.

I don’t precisely disagree with Michael Gerson, here:

The budget agreement was passed by the House precisely because it was small — small in its discretionary spending increases, in its entitlement adjustments and in controversial ideological content. It was not a precedent for grand compromises on immigration or tax reform. We are seeing a truce in the budget wars, not the emergence of a centrist governing coalition.

Continue reading Michael Gerson: our political class is exhausted. Me: they should go take a nap, then.

#rsrh QotD, Self-Evident Truth About Congress edition.

The DC Examiner, on ‘productive Congresses,’ and why that phrase should make you shiver a little inside:

Our Founding Fathers were always wary of those who wanted government to do lots of big things. That’s why they created a system that separated powers among three more or less equal branches and provided each of them with powerful checks and balances. When professional politicians become frustrated with Congress, it is a sign that our system is working as intended.

Our system is not working as intended.