RSS Feed MenuSet aside the immediate political implications, the announcement that Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana will not seek re-election reveals a kind of ignorance of the legislative process and history that is startling.
Start with this general rule, former governors find the federal Congress processes too slow, too cumbersome, with too much sharing of credit. Former governors become frustrated very quickly in the Senate.
But, a larger question emerges from the Bayh announcement—if it isn’t working, then what are you going to do about it?
We have had partisan sniping, gridlock, and fighting since parties started in this country. Fortunately, except for the extraordinary example of the Civil War, America has solved this inherent political conflict through peaceful, if sometimes deadly slow, law making
For some reason, I am reminded of the quote: “The wheels of God’s justice move slowly, but grind exceedingly fine.” Yes, the Congress can be frustrating and, as I have noted often before, it was intended by our Founding Fathers to move slowly. Quick, executive-like action usually leads to serious unintended consequences, and, this is serious business, this governing of a great nation. We need to hear every side and every argument about important legislative proposals.
The solution achieved by the great legislators of the past was very simple and very hard—go find someone on the other side of the aisle, and discover those things upon which you agree. When you have found a like-minded ally on the other side, then sit down and draft principles and then legislation.
You take this legislation to like-minded “renegades” who want similar legislation, and expand your alliance. Then, you go to the Committee Chair, unless you happen to be the Chair and are working with the Ranking Minority Member, and say, “Hey, Jane and I have this idea. We are serious.”
The fact that you have done all this will transmit to the caucuses more quickly than email. The Majority and Minority Leaders may well object, and the a majority of the caucuses, following the tribal instinct, will probably call you “dis-loyal, not a team player, blah, blah, blah.”
Now the hard part comes in—you and your allies have to look party leaders in the eyeball and say, “Well, we are going to do this anyway.”
That is what Senators Max Baucus and Chuck Grassley did last week on their tax/jobs bill. That is what John Kerry and Lindsay Graham are trying to do with climate change legislation. It’s what could have been done on health care reform, if the far left wing of the Democratic Party hadn’t been given the task of writing the first draft of the legislation.
Things don’t work as quickly as some Senators want. They decide to take the ball and go home. A far more useful choice is to roll up their collective sleeves and take the literal years that the legislative process demands.
Gridlock exists only as long as individual Members lack the courage and the foresight to take on their own caucuses and leadership.
If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. Members of both parties are doing so. Good, we will get better cooks in the future, perhaps.
GOProud // Feb 17, 2010 at 1:19 pm
Steve, no offense intended, but I think you could use a course titled: “Punditry for Dummies 101″.
Evan Bayh isn’t leaving the Congress because he’s a frustrated former governor. He’s stated rather plainly he’s leaving because he doesn’t “love Congress” –like maybe you do. Potomac Fever is a tough disease to cure if the patient is unwilling.
I know it’s hard to imagine someone coming to DC and not being equally captivated and wow’d by the presence of power, prestige and precedence that working inside the Beltway –and specifically inside the halls of Congress– represents to an ol’ Congressional warhorse like you… but it’s true. Congress can be an incredibly inefficient, ineffective, wasteful expenditure of time and talent –unless you’re one of those types in society that can weather the frustration, the impass, the chronic failures Congressional service usually presents.
The smart talent find a way out of the Congress. It becomes a platform to do other things, venture elsewhere, make a positive contribution later. The lackluster talent stays behind and prospers–take TeddieK or JohnMcCain or FlipFlopKerry. And we both know long lists of talented staffers who have entered the blackhole of Congressional employment never to be seen again until the retirement party is planned.
Henry Clay once said “Smart men are few in Congress”. He was right 200 yrs ago; he’s still right today. Evan Bayh is one of the few and he’s getting out.
Evan Bayh didn’t leave because he was a frustrated former governor. He left because Congress, under the Democrats, had become a seething rat’s nest of corruption, self-interest, double dealing, smoke-filled rooms and secret deals. Hard as it is to imagine: Congress is one of the least respected institutions in America.
That you fail to appreciate the simpleness of that perspective says more about your need to protect the reputation of Congress –and your own service there– than about being an insightful pundit.
Punditry for Dummies 101 looks like a required course on your education program.
rbottoms // Feb 17, 2010 at 1:20 pm
Dummies is an accurate term.
MADDOW: During the Bush years, every single person arrested on terrorism charges in this country had his Miranda rights read to him. Under President Obama, Miranda rights equal coddling. Yes.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MADDOW: We learned in the conservative newspaper, “The Washington Times,” today, that after the underwear bomber was read his Miranda rights, he cooperated with U.S. authorities to such an extent that, quote, “U.S. and allied counterterrorism authorities have launched a global manhunt for English-speaking terrorists trained in Yemen who are planning attacks on the United States.” This manhunt is under way due to information that the underwear bomber, quote, “revealed during recent cooperation with the FBI that he met with other English speakers at a terrorist training camp in Yemen.”
What did the FBI interrogators due to earn the scorn and insult they‘re receiving now from conservative politicians? The underwear bomber‘s interrogation has turned out to yield a lot of useful information, but Republicans are still trying desperately to blame the Obama administration for somehow doing this wrong.
GOProud // Feb 17, 2010 at 1:29 pm
Hey rbottoms, try staying on-topic for one thread, just once.
Quoting farLeft radical mouthpiece MSNBC’s Maddow on anything is like quoting Saddam on his Iraq legacy or asking bin Laden to evaluate US efforts to aid Israel or quizzing Elliot Spitzer or Rod Blagojevich on ethics in govt.
Not credible. Not insightful. Not worth the tiny space taken in the blog-o-sphere.
May I suggest the next time you want to try to spin the thread’s topic away, you start your own blog? I know, no one would read it but with time, I’m sure you could get TeaBagged and DFC to visit 1x/day.
Governing Principles // Feb 17, 2010 at 3:34 pm
Mr. Bell,
Your appraisal of seems to take little heed of the conflicts inherent in the American system.
Congressional gridlock has occurred due to the fact that overtime the Senate has diverged from its role as the secondary chamber and increasingly attempted to subvert the primary chamber, the House of Representatives. As with most two chamber systems, the House of Representative is endowed with the greater legitimacy – with all members elected by a roughly equal number of voters – and should take should take responsibility for drafting legislation. The secondary chamber is usually there to represent a vested interest of some sort – in the case of the USA, the Senate represents the interests of the 50 States – and has less electoral legitimacy. This reduces its role to scrutinizing and approving legislation drafted in the primary chamber. However, increasing the Senate has taken to drafting its own legislation and taking a greater role in shaping the political debate. The result is not only the political parties clashing but the two chambers clashing.
Add to this an executive that, while originally only designed to request bills, is increasing campaigning on legislative change. The result is a massive clash of mandates and total gridlock.
http://governing-principles.com/2010/02/13/systematic-flaws-part-1-congressional-gridlock/
http://www.governing-principles.com