In Praise Of Government Gridlock
David Harsanyi, in reason, hopes we get a special gift in November -- government gridlock. He makes the case for divided government:
There is no greater check on power in Washington than two strong political parties....Washington is stocked with folks who possess the extraordinary gift of believing that they have the ability to manage and organize complex economic systems--and our behavior in them.
The one thing that they won't accept is that businesses, consumers and citizens can "figure it out for themselves."
We need gridlock to help them. And us.
Robert Heinlein in The Moon is a harsh mistress suggested a two chamber legislature. One chamber is in charge of passing laws. All laws must be passed by a two thirds majority. The idea is that anything that has as much as one third against it probably has flaws and needs to be reconsidered. The other chamber is in charge of repealing/b> laws. This chamber can repeal any law as long as one third vote to repeal it. The rationale for this is the same as the rationale for the two thirds majority required to pass a law.
Sabba Hillel at August 26, 2010 6:43 AM
We need gridlock only AFTER we have repealed Obamacare and put a stake through the heart of cap and trade AND extended the Bush tax cuts. Gridlock at this point in only going to preserve the status quo and the "status quo" of our economy is circling the toilet bowl right now. Isabel
Isabel1130 at August 26, 2010 8:34 AM
Isabel, you're basically saying that you want one party to control both the Executive and Legislative branches so it can do the right things. Sorry, it doesn't work that way. If the Bush II era taught us anything, it's that Republican control of both branches is as much a disaster as Democratic control.
The damage that's been done (Obamacare, etc.) has been done, and won't be fixed. The best we can hope for is a return of gridlock to minimize future problems.
Rex Little at August 26, 2010 9:28 AM
Rex, it takes a lot of chutzpah to tell someone that your interpretation of what they said is more accurate than what they actually said. I will ignore that for now and say that I am not ignorant of how our government operates, as both a history major and an attorney. I believe there is a good chance but not an absolute one that the court system will find the most onerous parts of Obamacare unconstitutional. I would also point out that you don't necessarily have gridlock if the executive is controlled by one party and the legislative by another, since pork barrel spending is one of the few things that they all seem to agree on. In fact I think the least dangerous combination is probably a Democratic president, the house with a Republican majority and the senate with a Republican super majority. However it does not matter much at this point since gridlock is only going to delay the inevitable fiscal collapse of several states and the federal government because the tax and spend policies that are on auto pilot right now are unsustainable without immediate action to cut the spending and redefine both medicare and social security (which in a divided government there will be no political will to do) Even for the near short term, financially we are in serious trouble. The only question is whether we are better off if the collapse happens sooner or later. Isabel
Isabel1130 at August 26, 2010 9:54 AM
Rex - we've really got two options: repeal Obamacare, or total collapse.
The IRS is going to find receipts dropping rapidly as people are just going to stop paying. There's only so far you can push the people before they snap.
brian at August 26, 2010 2:14 PM
Amy, check out the Australian election last weekend. We're a Westminster system similar to the UK but with 150 seats, result was a hung parliament - 72/73 to the main left/right parties, 4 independents, 1 Green. No word yet as to when or if it will be resolved, we could well be going back to another election very soon - or the independents end up supporting one side or the other, with all the hell in terms of getting legislation through that that entails.
In the meantime life goes on. And fortunately any form of carbon cap and trade disappears further into the future...
Ltw at August 26, 2010 6:13 PM
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