On-Topic Republicans to Blame for Dysfunctional Congress

[palemale]

Everyone knows that Congress is dysfunctional. Thomas Mann and Norman Orenstein, scholars with the Conservative Brookings Institute and American Enterprise Institute, have identified the problem. It is the Republicans who are unwilling to compromise or engage in the minimal level of bipartisanship necessary for us to have a functioning country. From their essay on the subject:

We have been studying Washington politics and Congress for more than 40 years, and never have we seen them this dysfunctional. In our past writings, we have criticized both parties when we believed it was warranted. Today, however, we have no choice but to acknowledge that the core of the problem lies with the Republican Party.

The GOP has become an insurgent outlier in American politics. It is ideologically extreme; scornful of compromise; unmoved by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition.

When one party moves this far from the mainstream, it makes it nearly impossible for the political system to deal constructively with the country’s challenges.

Let’s just say it: The Republicans are the problem. - The Washington Post

The Tea Party and today's conservatives, who advocate fealty to the US Constitution, obviously don't understand the most basic feature of the Constitution. It set up a system of government based on compromise between competing factions. It worked pretty well for over 200 years. Thanks to today's Republicans, it no longer works.

 

[portchar1908]

The American people care about jobs and the economy. They want something done. They are not railing against government that works and performs. They are tired of the hard right ideology of the Tea Party, nationally and in the states. Republicans had proposed cuts in this fiscal year in the neighborhood of $30 billion (not much but a start – a compromise) until the Tea Party folks ratcheted it up to $61 billion. Efforts at compromise have hit a wall.
Rep. Joe Walsh (how in the world did such a DUD get elected to Congess is beyond my comprehension), who spoke at Thursday’s Tea Party rally, was quoted on a government shutdown: “Might it be a good thing? Hopefully it won’t happen, but who knows, maybe America needs to be jolted a bit. I think the American people are ready for this.”
No, Joe, we are not ready to see our servicemen and women denied pay checks, we are not ready to see employees sent home, we are READY for those in Congress to start EARNING their PAYCHECK and give the American people real and effective REPRESENTATION. Tea Party members go home, GOP members get a spine, a back bone and start doing your job.
For some reason, the Tea Party members think they are driving the bus—they are barely passengers. Their extreme views now are hurting Republicans.

 

[White Eagle]

Everyone knows that Congress is dysfunctional. Thomas Mann and Norman Orenstein, scholars with the Conservative Brookings Institute and American Enterprise Institute, have identified the problem. It is the Republicans who are unwilling to compromise or engage in the minimal level of bipartisanship necessary for us to have a functioning country. From their essay on the subject:





Let’s just say it: The Republicans are the problem. - The Washington Post

The Tea Party and today's conservatives, who advocate fealty to the US Constitution, obviously don't understand the most basic feature of the Constitution. It set up a system of government based on compromise between competing factions. It worked pretty well for over 200 years. Thanks to today's Republicans, it no longer works.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.............
I have been looking for this link ever since the campaign started.
This is the text that I will be sending to my 30 cousins. Only a few of you need to hear this, but I'm gonna post it anyway. It is so refreshing to read that the conservatives will tell Romney he sucks.

Let’s just say it: The Republicans are the problem. - The Washington Post

Let’s just say it: The Republicans are the problem.


By Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein, Published: April 27

Rep. Allen West, a Florida Republican, was recently captured on video asserting that there are “78 to 81” Democrats in Congress who are members of the Communist Party. Of course, it’s not unusual for some renegade lawmaker from either side of the aisle to say something outrageous. What made West’s comment — right out of the McCarthyite playbook of the 1950s — so striking was the almost complete lack of condemnation from Republican congressional leaders or other major party figures, including the remaining presidential candidates.

It’s not that the GOP leadership agrees with West; it is that such extreme remarks and views are now taken for granted. We have been studying Washington politics and Congress for more than 40 years, and never have we seen them this dysfunctional. In our past writings, we have criticized both parties when we believed it was warranted. Today, however, we have no choice but to acknowledge that the core of the problem lies with the Republican Party.

 

[portchar1908]

Allen West, Joe Walsh and their type are the source of what will bring down our nation. They are self-centered, do anything say anything just to get their name in print or be in front of a camera. They have no interest in doing ONE THING that will improve the daily lives of our citizens or advance our nation. They are IGNORANT, they hate America and hard working Americans. They and their type are the REAL enemies of our nation. And they're going to destroy it while America sleeps.

 

[andysayshi]

As of July 21, Congress had sent just 54 bills to the President to be signed this year, around one fifth of what would be the norm 10 years ago. 14 of those were to rename post offices. 3 renamed other things. Nine of them approved real estate transactions. Just 5 of them were significant law enactments or changes.

The Doing-a-Lot-of-Nothing Congress - Businessweek

The US political system is badly broken. Every US citizen, regardless of political affiliation, should be writing to their Congressman in complaint.

 

[portchar1908]

As of July 21, Congress had sent just 54 bills to the President to be signed this year, around one fifth of what would be the norm 10 years ago. 14 of those were to rename post offices. 3 renamed other things. Nine of them approved real estate transactions. Just 5 of them were significant law enactments or changes.

The Doing-a-Lot-of-Nothing Congress - Businessweek

The US political system is badly broken. Every US citizen, regardless of political affiliation, should be writing to their Congressman in complaint.

I agree with the sentiment, really really do, but aren't the do-nothing elected members of congress the problem. writing them would otherwise seem like the prudent and reasonable thing to do but the majority of them just DON'T CARE. Or that's my impression of them. They all need to be VOTED OUT and let's start over. I know that's more rhetoric than a plausible solution. But something has to be done to break the log jam. I wish americans would take their voting previlege more seriously.

 

[portchar1908]

And are'nt we being just a little naive too -- I'd imagine that every or almost all of members of congress - house and senate, are pretty much owned by some special interest group and that's who they are there to serve, not the citizens who elected them, just the citizens who paid for their election. How do you fix that?

 

[CowboyBob]

The teabagger republican congress is the most worthless congress of all time. There's a reason they're despised by everyone. Here they take a break leaving a lot of important decisions hanging. Who voted in these losers anyway? It's those who voted in these assholes that are to blame.

 

[palemale]

As of July 21, Congress had sent just 54 bills to the President to be signed this year, around one fifth of what would be the norm 10 years ago. 14 of those were to rename post offices. 3 renamed other things. Nine of them approved real estate transactions. Just 5 of them were significant law enactments or changes.

The Doing-a-Lot-of-Nothing Congress - Businessweek

The US political system is badly broken. Every US citizen, regardless of political affiliation, should be writing to their Congressman in complaint.

Yes, but they voted 33 times to repeal Obamacare. If you gave a rat an electric shock every time it reached for a hunk of cheese, it would probably stop after the second time. The members of the Republican/Tea Bagger Caucus in Congress have less sense than God gave a rat.

 

[Sammie13]

The problem with the Tea Party and most conservatives these days is they think the Articles of Confederation is what governs this country, and not the Constitution. They seem to forget the past 150 or so years since Lincoln. The tea party pretty much drives the republican party (into the ground) as they are the most vocal and the so called "moderate republicans" generally don't exist anymore.

Damn. I agree with you again. In Texas, a conservative, traditional Repub was just upset in the Sen race primary by a Tea Party candidate. They are making Reagan/Bush look like flamin' liberals they've gone so far right. It's sad and SCARY when a traditional conservative is somehow outflanked to his right. Didn't used to think that was possible. And the Tea Party folks are far more vocal with their extremism. I mean...you could at least think that folks like Orrin Hatch were reasonable and just yielding to his base in more subtle ways. These Tea Party people are 'way out there in the ozone' as George HW Bush once said about Al Gore

 

[Sammie13]

In fact, I'm not real fond of the Prez and am an independent voter BUT this obstructionist Congress is perhaps the biggest reason I'm voting for him. They have blocked Obama more for political gain than genuine opposition...never yielding a compromise...all a plan to make people consider him a failure. Perhaps he has failed, but they have failed more and never did anything to advance solutions.

 

[chrisrobin]

.

YES..........

 

[chrisrobin]

The teabagger republican congress is the most worthless congress of all time. There's a reason they're despised by everyone. Here they take a break leaving a lot of important decisions hanging. Who voted in these losers anyway? It's those who voted in these assholes that are to blame.

The same ones who voted in Bush 43 twice and are going to vote for Romney.

 

[palemale]

I had remarked in another forum some time ago about Hannah Arendt's observation that committed totalitarians used democratic institutions to undermine democracy itself by making those institutions ineffective, thus convincing the masses that democracy itself did not work. The Tea Party Republicans are doing much the same thing today. They make governance impossible by grinding Congress to a halt, thus convincing people that government is ineffective.

Thus when the totalitarian movements invaded Parliament with their contempt for parliamentary government, they merely appeared inconsistent: actually, they succeeded in convincing the people at large that parliamentary majorities were spurious and did not necessarily correspond to the realities of the country, thereby undermining the self-respect and the confidence of governments which also believed in majority rule rather than in their constitutions.

Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism

We should all be alarmed that the Tea Party Republicans have adopted wholesale the the parliamentary tactics of early 20th Century totalitarians to undermine our democracy.

 

[Benvolio]

Brookings Institution is generally considered a liberal outfit.Brookings Institution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Obviously anyone who thinks the Republicans should compromise more is someone who wants the country to go in the direction the Democrats want. High taxes, high spending, more socialism, strictly regulated business, powerful labor unions, powerful plaintiff's lawyers, more abortion, more immigration, less personal freedom (except sex).
But our horrendous tax system and bureaucracy are the result of a long line of compromises by Republicans with Democrats. Even now fewer than half the eligible voters pay Federal income tax, but still the Dems are not satisfied. Every compromise with the Dems raises taxes on business, more free riders, less economic freedom Compromise this year, higher taxes. Compromise next year, higher taxes. The road to helll is paved with compromises.

 

[palemale]

Brookings Institution is generally considered a liberal outfit.Brookings Institution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Obviously anyone who thinks the Republicans should compromise more is someone who wants the country to go in the direction the Democrats want. High taxes, high spending, more socialism, strictly regulated business, powerful labor unions, powerful plaintiff's lawyers, more abortion, more immigration, less personal freedom (except sex).
But our horrendous tax system and bureaucracy are the result of a long line of compromises by Republicans with Democrats. Even now fewer than half the eligible voters pay Federal income tax, but still the Dems are not satisfied. Every compromise with the Dems raises taxes on business, more free riders, less economic freedom Compromise this year, higher taxes. Compromise next year, higher taxes. The road to helll is paved with compromises.

You completely ignore the fact that our Constitution was created to foster compromise. Would you support a constitutional convention to scrap our current legislative branch and put in place a parliament? Specifically, to avoid the need for compromise, it would need to be a parliamentary system like Britain's that nearly always has single party rule, making compromise unnecessary.

 

[chrisrobin]

You completely ignore the fact that our Constitution was created to foster compromise.

Compromise Republicon style: Our way or the highway - the mark of the average six-year-old.

 

[Stardreamer]

Brookings Institution is generally considered a liberal outfit.Brookings Institution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Obviously anyone who thinks the Republicans should compromise more is someone who wants the country to go in the direction the Democrats want. High taxes, high spending, more socialism, strictly regulated business, powerful labor unions, powerful plaintiff's lawyers, more abortion, more immigration, less personal freedom (except sex).
But our horrendous tax system and bureaucracy are the result of a long line of compromises by Republicans with Democrats. Even now fewer than half the eligible voters pay Federal income tax, but still the Dems are not satisfied. Every compromise with the Dems raises taxes on business, more free riders, less economic freedom Compromise this year, higher taxes. Compromise next year, higher taxes. The road to helll is paved with compromises.

Our horrendous tax system is the result of a hundred years of both sides using the system as a means of social engineering to get around the restrictions on federal power in the Constitution. In politics the road to getting anything done is paved with compromise it how the system works, which is made evident by the fact the system is not working right now.

 

[rareboy]

^ I have to agree.

As I've said repeatedly...Obama has behaved like a legislator and not an executive on many occasions...all because he and the Dems are afraid that they wouldn't have the second term.

Give Obama another 4 years and I think the picture will be much different in terms of how the White House deals with Congress.

 

[palemale]

the Republicans are certainly the instigators, but I can't help feeling a little "I told you so"-y over Obama's own inability to deal with Congress (a direct result, imo, of his inexperience and overall lack of qualifications in 2008)

I can't imagine LBJ would have let his entire agenda get hijacked by a minority of Congress... he faced a far more divided country and managed to get a lot more accomplished.

The country was far more unified in LBJ's time. First of all, WWII and the Great Depression were still etched in American's consciousness. We were in the midst of the Cold War, and Americans were very aware of the important role the government played, especially with the Marshall Plan, in keeping Western Europe democratic. People forget that France and Italy in the Post-War years were considered unstable countries. France had faced near coups in the fifties into the early sixties. The Communist Parties in France and Italy were very strong. People had a lot of confidence in the ability of the government to accomplish important goals.

LBJ came to power after the assassination of President Kennedy. It was only then that he was able to get passed the Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act and the Great Society programs, including Medicare. He also was re-elected by the biggest landslide in American history. The country was very unified in LBJ's early years.