Why Government is Broken

All the rage on today's Sundays Talk Shows dealt with the public's perception of why Washington is broken. Republican representatives argue that it is the Democrats tactics via the administration and Congressional leadership as the main reason why Washington's is failing, while the Democrats argue it is the inflexibility of the Republicans that do not allow the movement of governmental policy. To their credit, they are both right and because they are both right we as a nation lose.


With the Republican blaming the Democrats for the failings and the sluggishness of Washington politics argue that the Democrats have full control of both branches of Congress and do not care about Republican ideas or amendments. Granted, this is true that Democrats do not need the Republicans blessing to pass many forms of legislation. The problem that the Republicans have is not that they disagree with the Obama administration's view on items, but actually put out legislation that is successful make a good counter argument. Example in November, the House Republicans put out a health care bill on their ideas of healthcare reform. When the Congressional Budget Office scored the bill, it said that it would only cover 3 million Americans instead of 36 million that the Democrats proposed.

That leaves Republicans with their favorite tactic deny that the Democrats have done anything and call them names. If this is not true an examples of Republicans failings of actually debating policy is when they tell the public about "death panels" and "killing grandma". Both of these items are not true, but they can stir emotions of people that do not have favorable views of Democrats and cause them to protest. Another example is claiming the stimulus package did not work, but request funds for their home state. Granted, the argument that if the money is being spent that all states should have a piece is valid. In reality though, they get to position themselves in a politically favorable view and get to receive funding at the same time.

Now the Democrats blame the Republicans as the Party of "No". This is evident by their non willingness to go along with any of the Democrat's major bills such as Healthcare and the Stimulus. The Democrats had an interesting position by having filibuster proof houses of Congress. By having this it allowed them the option to pass anything, but infighting and a strong Republican resistance caused the biggest problems. To help the Democrats out would be a branch of bipartisanship to the Republicans, but the problem with that is that the Republicans do not want to do anything that might help a Democratic agenda.

The problem going with bipartisanship is that people are not going to like the change. Liberal Democrats do not like the catering to the Republicans and Republicans do not like the catering to the Liberal Democrats. This leaves a problem with the Democrats in control of the Congress. If they lean too far toward the Republicans, their base is angry, and if they stay with their base the Republicans argue that they are too partisan. The best measure for the Democrats would be to go with what they can get for the American public.

The gridlock will continue if the political policies are still enacted. We have lost our political middle. The need to have moderates that are willing to work across the aisle is the only solution. For both parties if moderates are willing to broker a deal between both sides comprehensive legislation can be accomplished. Unfortunately, we as a nation have become polarized in our views of political policy and by our actions have helped caused this gridlock. The answer though does not come from the Tea Party or T.V. Pundits, but from the Youth of the United States. We as youth are able to move with our ideas and bring unity to this country for the common civic good. Instead of yelling at your opponent, have a good conversation and agree to disagree at least.