Today really got to me. It may have been the lack of sleep, the lack of my morning coffee, or the hour commute that I make to work, but for some reason, I found myself utterly disgusted with the entire political system for the first time in recent memory. I won't bore you with a long drawn-out analysis but I just felt like I needed to rant and let a couple of things out quickly. The more that this debt ceiling debate continues, the more frustrated that I become. With the markets selling off today (and most likely until we get some type of deal), how can politicians not possibly realize that what they are doing, the brinkmanship that they are directly committing too, is negatively affecting the constituents that they were sent to Washington to represent? Furthermore, why does America so badly desire for "fresh faces" in Washington? There's a reason why we have career politicians in Congress. Sure, the longer you're in Congress, the more of a chance you have to be exposed to things that may be ethically questionable and the greater sense of entitlement you may feel. But there are so many positives to having experienced politicians in Washington: They get it, period. They understand that compromise is necessary, that both sides will have to suffer some if you're really serious about fixing the deficit. They try to beat back partisanship and don't play politics with issues that could have horrible consequences. But freshman in Congress just don't get it. Sure, they're a fresh face. Sure, they were swept into office because they were able to convince the American public that the nation was broke (even though, in the short term it really is not). Can a new voice in Washington help push things in the right direction? Sure it can. But freshman in Congress are not using their voices to start a dialogue, to compromise on the issues that were most important to them when they were campaigning. No, instead, they are using their voices to whine, complain, and spew talking points, doing all that they can to avoid compromise at all costs. This is not the way that Washington works.
Experienced congressman understand that there is a time and a place for every issue. If you want to talk about eliminating waste in government, reforming entitlements, or letting the Bush tax cuts expire, great -- I agree, and I think that's a debate that absolutely needs to be had. But why now? Why, when the economy is just starting to recover, when unemployment is still around 9%, when the debt ceiling needs to be raised to avoid a default and a credit downgrade, are members of Congress holding the economy hostage to their demands? Plain and simple, freshman in Congress are putting their own demands before their constituents and before the fate of the nation. I follow politics night and day. When I wake up, I immediately read Politico Playbook. When I get to work, I leave Politico and The Hill open so I can constantly check back for updates. I created a twitter for the purpose of getting up-to-the-minute breaking news. In my four years of real understanding and interest for politics, I have never once grown tired of it. I love the analysis, love the discussions, love the horse race. But for the first time, I'm starting to grow tired. I simply do not understand what is happening with our government anymore. How can such a basic, procedural vote essentially stop the entire United States government from talking about anything else for months? How can one party hold the entire economy hostage, risking the fate of our credit and our nation for years, over one vote? It is simply incomprehensible to me. The partisan bickering, the despicable brinkmanship, has finally gotten out of hand. President Obama said that "America voted for divided government, but they did not vote for dysfunctional government."  | ||||
| We are a centrist nation. Freshman Republicans say they have a mandate from the American people, that they speak for the American people, when they say that the debt ceiling should not be raised. They're not telling the truth. Every major poll shows that Americans are desperate for compromise. |
Americans are generally a centrist group of people. In most cases, voting Americans look for some form of divided government, and rightfully so. With divided government, both parties are forced to compromise, sacrificing a few points to the other party while gaining a few as well. But this is not what happened. Instead, freshman, tea-party supported members of Congress have put the fate of this country at risk in their attempts to discredit every single thing that President Obama has done in office. They came to Washington saying that they would end the partisan rancor once and for all and what did they end up doing but widening the ideological divide and standing directly in the way of any and all compromise.
I want to leave you with a quote. Steve Israel, the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said something that, to me, has never rang more true:
"The Republican Party is trying to repeal the 20th century."
