Broken? Duh! But is it Beyond Repair?
Senator Evan Bayh said bye-bye to the Senate in announcing his retirement Tuesday. In his speech the Indiana Senator made mention of a "dysfunctional" institution riddled with "brain-dead partisanship" and permanent campaigning.
Good. The more insiders that realize what the rest of us have been seeing for some time now, the better.
His solution? A “shock” to the system. Again, it’s refreshing to hear a beltway insider say this. But then he went on to talk about how the American people can do this by “voting incumbents out en masse and replacing them with people interested in reforming the process and governing for the good of the people, rather than deep-pocketed special-interest groups.”
You can take the hoosier of the Senate, but you can’t take the Senate out of the hoosier. Bayh’s “solution” is nothing more than pandering populist nonsense. Sure a “shock” is needed. But he’s dreaming if he thinks the system is capable of voting incumbents out “en masse.” Poll after poll shows that though the public might be frustrated with Congress, they still love THEIR congressman.
And even if you could get a 1994-like “shock” to Congress, what’s to stop the incoming Congress from embracing the same “dysfunctional” institutional procedures and “brain dead” partisanship?
No, the only real “shock” that can happen that will have any lasting effect must come from within. And unfortunately, that’s probably as improbable as the populist uprising Bayh fantasizes about.
–Solly Bowers
February 17th, 2010 at 7:28 pm
Good stuff. Did you see the graph included in the Yahoo article? The number of cloture votes has skyrocketed in the last ten years. Instead of an occasionally used procedure, the filibuster has become a standard in the Senate. Without a solid 60 votes, nothing can be done. Is it time for it to go?
April 12th, 2010 at 1:11 am
Жаль, что не смогу сейчас участвовать в обсуждении. Не владею нужной информацией. Но эта тема меня очень интересует….
Senator Evan Bayh said bye-bye to the Senate in announcing his retirement Tuesday…..
April 15th, 2010 at 9:53 pm
Вы попали в самую точку. Это отличная мысль. Готов Вас поддержать….
Good. The more insiders that realize what the rest of us have been seeing for some time now, the better…..
April 20th, 2010 at 9:27 pm
Можно восполнить пробел?…
Senator Evan Bayh said bye-bye to the Senate in announcing his retirement Tuesday…..