Tags
American Government, compromise, Democrats, gridlock, legislation, negotiation, progress, Republicans, Steve Scalise, two-party politics
Do you remember a time when we elected representatives to serve in Congress based upon their ability to get things done? Remember when a President, responding to the ravages brought upon America after the 1929 crash, conceived of and pushed through Congress a plan for long-range economic security for the aged? The plan included government-sponsored social insurance that encompassed unemployment insurance, old-age assistance, aid to dependent children, and grants to states to provide medical care. You may recognize this as what we now know and rely upon as Social Security. Accomplishing such a game-changing plan required all congressional participants to listen to each other, to acknowledge each other’s problems and issues, to find solutions to those issues, and to compromise enough that two parties overwhelmingly supported said legislation. Okay, not many of us remember this time, but a hell of a lot of us are now happily benefitting from it.
How about Eisenhower’s recognition of the need for a national road system, which became our current network of Interstate Highways? Do you think for one minute that this plan was achieved without both Republicans and Democrats working together to make it right?
Perhaps you remember the enormous strides that were taken in the late 60s and early 1970s to clean up our environment, to address inequality, to protect workers, to protect drivers from faulty manufacturing? None of these important achievements happened in a one-party vacuum. They all required consensus, negotiation, and compromise.
In assessing the government’s greatest achievements of the past half century, the Brookings Institute found that “Only nine of the endeavors can be credited primarily to Democratic presidents, and just five can be credited to Republican presidents. The rest span Democratic and Republican administrations.”
But since about 2008, if not earlier, our representatives in Washington, DC have proven to be so pig-headed and determined to not let the “other side win,” that any important achievement within an administration must happen through executive order, which is then reversed when the “other side wins control” so it can dismantle everything the previous administration achieved. Rinse, repeat, ad nauseum.
Steve Scalise, number two leader in the House of Representatives, released this statement: “House Republicans need to be solely focused on taking back the House in 2022 and fighting against Speaker Pelosi and President Biden’s radical socialist agenda . . . .”
To be sure, there is blame on both sides of the aisle. But when the sole purpose is to for one party to win the next election, nothing is getting done. This is no way to run a country.
Rangewriter 
One concrete step we can take is to start controlling the unhindered influence of wealthy reactionaries in government. Their lackeys in the legislature defend against even modest election reform such as forcing disclosure of campaign contributions and lobbying funding claiming paradoxically that open disclosure infringes on free speech! When did secret speech become free speech?
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Oh yes. I’d love to control the unhindered influence of wealthy puppeteers. But, exactly how do I go about that? I mean, I can vote. I can support candidates who are not kissing up the wealthy, but they overpower me with the $$$. 😦
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There are efforts to change campaign laws to require disclosure of donations. Repubs claim it harms free speech. Ludicrous.
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Sadly, I fear that gun reform has a greater chance than meaningful campaign finance reform. And that’s not saying much….
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Linda, I called Scalise, McCarthy and my Congressman telling them how much I admired the courage of Rep. Liz Cheney and how shameful it is that my former party is punishing the truth tellers while celebrating those who rationalize and lie for the former president. I said the party is adrift and we need them to be leaders to gain viability. By the time I got to Scalise, I had read conservative editorialist Michael Gerson who said yesterday, if you are supporting the Republican party in the mindset of the former president, you either a “sucker or a liar.” These are the words of a conservative opinion writer. Keith
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Well done. I do hope they listened, Keith.
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So true and so disheartening. The light at the end of the tunnel???? So far away.
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I fear that our two-party system has about reached the end of its reign. Something has to change, or America will not survive.
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I certainly don’t have an answer for why things have become so screwed up, at least not one that probably wouldn’t cause some vehemently debate. I do believe we’ve entered a time in our history where the country is going through a metamorphosis of sorts, demographically the profile of our citizens and our residents doesn’t look as it did during the early part of the last century. There are some people who don’t like that. That sort of thinking will get us nowhere except behind. We need to focus on making America the best it can be with all of the diversity of resources we have, human resources included.
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I think you are absolutely correct about the demographic fear factor. Perhaps it is that which is really at the heart of the “my way or the highway” attitude of political parties. But I think it goes even deeper than that. I think it can be traced back to Gingrich era when compromise became a dirty word and winning was the answer to everything.
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You know, many of these political disruptors tout the wisdom of the Bible, probably not knowing that there are about eight verses that talk about reasoning together.
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Well, you probably know that I can’t help but smirk at anyone quoting the “Bible.” Who’s people? Who’s translation/interpretation of that bible? And for every pro anything you show me in the King James, I can find someone who will dig up the con for the same topic in the same bible. It works for some folks, but to be honest, I don’t understand why. What’s more, I understand the same conflicting interpretations exist in the Koran, the Old Testament, and the Torah. Terrible texts upon which to base ones actions and beliefs. Sorry, I don’t mean to disrespect your beliefs, but I just scratch my head.
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Wow! Of course, I only mentioned the Bible because of the hypocrisy so many politicians exhibit after quoting from it. BTW, King James isn’t one of my favorite historical characters. 🙃
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Thank you, my friend, by not taking offense. 💗
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A lot of people confuse Social Welfare with socialism. I too, strongly dislike the attitude of “us” vs “them.” Work together and get things done, for crying out loud.
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Very true, Jane. Just as a lot of people confuse sex with gender and haven’t got a clue what body dysmorphia is or does to a person. But these misunderstandings go deep and are in many cases rooted in and supported by fundamental religious dogma. Very hard to break out of that prison of the mind.
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Yes I do. We agree on all counts. I vote, but not sure of the point. I will continue to vote because it’s the one thing I can do for my country. But I’m not sure if it means anything.
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I hear you! Most important, I think, is voting at home, at the most local of local elections, which are the ones that a lot of people skip entirely because there is less media attention on them.
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Which is under attack. I live in a state which is strictly home vote. We will fight to keep it.
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Do you mean vote by mail? I’ve been voting absentee since the 1990s but that is under attack in Boise also. Funny, till COVID, most people didn’t even know it was possible. Like this country suffers from too many citizens taking part in the voting process….
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,Yes, that’s what I meant. I agree, we need more voters, not less. One party claims we have all sorts of fraud, and the other claims that party is trying to stop people like m from voting. I’m not quite a shut in, it I’ve been going by mail to years.
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We have compulsory voting by punishment in Australia but I can tell you, the system here is just as warped and silly.
A two party system that are just there to win at all cost. Here too, the word ‘social’ can only be uttered at night under the light of a candle. One lives in fear of the dreaded midnight knock on the door. Communist!
Give me the multiparty system of Europe at any time.
The American version of Netflix ‘House of Cards’, seems to throw some light on the American way of Governing.
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OMG, I LOVED that Netflix series. As they all do, as it drug on it got a bit silly, but really the machinations were so snide but so recognizable. And I hate that Kevin Spacey’s body of work has utterly disappeared since the revelation of his inappropriate dalliances in the 80s. I’m not a fan of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. But your point is taken. I do think that what I’ve seen of the German model of governance seems to work–for the most part. Not that they aren’t suffering from some troubling times. But the need to build a coalition holds a definite advantage.
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Just a tiny bit of trivia here—FDR was able to push through his agenda really early in his term because he won office in a major landslide. Landslide wins have become somewhat of an endangered species.
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That is true, about landslides being relics. And great perspective on his achievements. But what of Johnson and everything he pushed through for equality? Of course, he was on the coat tails of Kennedy, but I’ve heard it said that he pushed his agenda further than Kennedy had planned to take it.
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Johnson risked losing the Southern Democrats. And he did lose them—that’s when they started to turn Republican. Got to give him credit for doing the right thing in the face of massive opposition.
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Yes, that “risk losing” is the thing. For the first time ever, I respect Liz Cheney for the same thing. For once a politician is bold enough to speak truth to idiots, knowing that behavior will result in dismal consequences.
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I am beyond disgust. Congress is currently useless. I am watching!
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Believe it or not, things are actually worse in Idaho.
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I completely agree with your ‘other side wins’ observation Linda. And, I don’t think it’s just politicians either. Many seemed focused on disagreement even in the light of common sense.
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Seems to be a national malady. Or maybe even more widely spread than just us. 😕
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