Why Congress has become so dysfunctional, discredited
“Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.”
— Mark Twain
Voters have rarely held Congress in high regard. In fact, over the 38 years in which Gallup has asked the question, only 34 percent of Americans typically say they approve of its performance. These days, however, public disgust has never been deeper. In its most recent poll, Gallup found that just 10 percent of Americans approve of how Congress is operating.
Personally, I don’t know what that 10 percent is thinking, because Congress is by any measure a broken institution. While never a paragon of efficiency, in recent years it has lost the ability to function at almost any level. It produces nothing, it solves nothing, it does nothing. It serves solely as a stage upon which political actors strut and prance.
The question of why has many answers, most of them traceable back to the very beginning, to the days in which the Founding Fathers were designing the structure of government that we still retain today.
Given their ties to Great Britain, it would have been natural for the founders to model the American system after the British parliamentary system they knew so well. They didn’t. Instead, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and their colleagues consciously rejected the parliamentary model, and they did so for very American reasons.
First, they had seen enough to recognize that a parliamentary system was a “winner-take-all” system. The party that controls the majority of votes in a parliamentary system also wins the right to name the prime minister, giving it control of both the legislative and executive branches. Our founders distrusted the untrammeled power that produced, so they built a system that conspired against it.
The founders also understood that under a parliamentary system, voters cast their ballots less for individual lawmakers than for the party they represent. Moreover, once in office, members of Parliament owe more loyalty to their party leaders and platform than to the folks back home who elected them. Those were all evils that Madison, Hamilton and others wanted to minimize, even if they could not avoid them altogether.
As a result, the American system of government diffused authority and undercut party loyalty. Individual politicians could be more independent, able to vote their own conscience and the interests of their own district. And with neither party able to dictate to the other, and with the legislative and executive branches acting as competitors, compromise across party lines would be required to get anything done.
For most of our history, that system functioned more than adequately. So what has changed?
I would argue that over the past two decades, our political parties have gravitated toward a mindset in which elections have been nationalized, party discipline takes precedence over personal conscience and compromise is considered losing. It is in essence a parliamentary mindset, which is precisely what the founding fathers had hoped to discourage. And when you take that parliamentary, winner-take-all mindset and graft it onto a political system designed specifically to frustrate that mindset, you get what we’ve got: No movement.
Put another way, if you take a system that is designed to run on compromise, and you deny it access to compromise, it cannot operate.
Historically speaking, the party most responsible for that transformation is the Republican Party, and the single individual most responsible is Newt Gingrich. That observation is not intended as criticism, because from their point of view it made perfect sense. By the early ’90s, they had served as the minority party for most of the preceding 60 years, and they had grown frustrated. They could and did compromise, thus allowing the system to function, but as they compromised they saw the arc of history bending against them. They saw compromise as a way to lose slowly, and they no longer wanted to play that way.
The result, however, is a system in which two things are true: 1) With no compromise, change can now occur only when one party holds absolute dominance and 2) The pursuit of absolute dominance is hopeless, particularly in a country as evenly divided as this one.
The result, sadly, is a system of governance rapidly losing credibility with its people.
– Jay Bookman
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818 comments Add your comment
Towncrier
August 28th, 2012
9:01 pm
“BTW…. I peruse RedState have it bookmarked as one of my favorites. I had not come across that particular article though. That one is also in my history folder now. I appreciate the link.”
You’re welcome. Maybe I should give RedState a look (I hate the name for the site – too overtly partisan). The review has encouraged me to read Trende’s book The Lost Majority, in any case.
The Fresh Prince of Bill Ayers
August 28th, 2012
9:02 pm
Welcome to the Occupation
August 28th, 2012
9:00 pm
As a country, America is a disgrace
Foreigners are ignorant. Did you overstay your visa?
Soothsayer
August 28th, 2012
9:02 pm
Man, them RepugNOwecan’ts are the SALVATION OF THE WORLD! Why, oh, why wouldn’t I vote for them?
IT’S A MIRACLE! That’s what it is! A miracle!
The Fresh Prince of Bill Ayers
August 28th, 2012
9:04 pm
TaxPayer
August 28th, 2012
9:01 pm
Immediate opening: Bull shyte shoveler at the Republican National convention. Bring you own shovel. Pay: $7.25/hr.
Union labor: Lean on your shovel for 35 an hour and it wont move..
So, does anyone know if union labor was used to set up any of that convention for the Republicans and what the pay was.
Nope, they had to call in the locals as soon as the union goonies saw that there was a chance of rain.
Jay
August 28th, 2012
9:04 pm
Betty, cease the insults. That is unacceptable.
Recon 0311 2533
August 28th, 2012
9:04 pm
Paul, Yes… staging battalion was starting to form when I went over the first time in 65. I had been mostly an East Coast up until then. M-3-6 and 2nd. Recon. Could never get out of the grunts and super grunts.
moonbat betty
August 28th, 2012
9:05 pm
Welcome: You are a piece of batscat.
Del, I’m wondering if this is even the same Paul from years past.
I’m thinking we have an intruder Paul here.
moonbat betty
August 28th, 2012
9:06 pm
Sorry, I would retract it if possible.
John Boehner And His Thugs. They Have No Rhyme nor Reason.
August 28th, 2012
9:06 pm
@Brosephus™
August 28th, 2012
8:20 pm
the conservative movement has pretty well written off the black vote.
Seems like the plan that started in 1888 has finally borne fruit. Or, the plan is finally coming to it’s intended targeted end…
The term Lily-White Movement is generally attributed to Texas Republican leader Norris Wright Cuney who used the term in an 1888 Republican convention to describe efforts by white conservatives to oust blacks from positions of Texas party leadership and incite riots to divide the party.[1] The term came to be used nationally to describe this ongoing movement as it further developed in the early 20th century.[2] Localized movements began immediately after the war but by the beginning of the 20th century the effort had become national.
*************************************************************************************
The chickens have come home to roost.
The consequences of doing wrong to people always catch up with the wrongdoer.
Brosephus™
August 28th, 2012
9:07 pm
What would you say they are now?
The core ideologies of the parties are the same, maintain our power so we can enrich ourselves by pushing our ideas. They simply sell it as whatever they think their people want to hear. You still have the true Conservative ideology in the limited government, fiscal responsibility type as well as the true Liberal ideology in pushing forward and adapting to the dynamic world while ensuring everyone has equal opportunity to participate.
What happens is the demonization drowns out the true ideologies and what we hear is the reverb from the talking heads instead.
Soothsayer
August 28th, 2012
9:07 pm
betty: Jay’s gonna flush you down that toilet if you’re not careful!
Welcome to the Occupation
August 28th, 2012
9:07 pm
Fresh Prince, it’s painful to hear it, I know. But like a hideously obese person who’s presented with his options for a healthier physical regimen, through which he can shed some of his pounds and become less unhealthy, your first temptation is to blame the messenger and try to dismiss him for claiming to occupy a position slightly higher than the run-of-the-mill stupidity on offer (even if the actual claim is not to a higher intelligence, but just to a greater awareness of the gangrenous plague of stupidity that’s up to our necks, which itself is at least a step on the way towards being less stupid.)
But you are right about one thing. I am an ingrate. I am ungrateful for a country that has sold its soul to stupidity and avarice, to a type of hideous mental obesity without any apparent cure. The result of which is that millions of minds are ruined, soaking in a swamp of imbecility. So, yes, I have no respect for such a nation or a culture. It needs to be ripped down and rebuilt from the ground up.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
August 28th, 2012
9:07 pm
Yellow card!
josef
August 28th, 2012
9:07 pm
DOGGONE
@ 8:48
Well, there is that!
WELCOME
A disgrace as a country? Get real, for all our foibles, flaws, and failures to live up to our promise, it’s a pretty good place to be. As the old Souithernism says, “I ain’t as good as I oughta be. I ain’t as good as I wanna be. But, thank G-d, I ain’t as bad as I was.” You’re either part of the problem, or you’re part of the solution.
Welcome to the Occupation
August 28th, 2012
9:09 pm
Burn the effing Constitution, a truly monstrous joke of a political document. That is where your problem lies.
F. Sinkwich
August 28th, 2012
9:10 pm
“As a country, America is a disgrace.”
You and O’bozo think alike!
So sad.
getalife
August 28th, 2012
9:10 pm
Free the moonbat.
moonbat betty
August 28th, 2012
9:11 pm
It’s cool, Sooth 9:07. Move your head outta the way first, please.
switchblade==>Sooth.
barking frog
August 28th, 2012
9:11 pm
getalife
still above water?
That Black Guy,
August 28th, 2012
9:13 pm
Fred ™ August 28th, 2012 8:16 pm
Why are YOU a republican That Black Guy? – Fred, my man, I’m not a republican. I voted for Obama last time. I voted against Bush in 2004. I voted for Clinton.
I’m curious. You don’t spout the typical talk radio bumper sticker crap. You ahve a reasoned well thought out position every time you post. As you know I’m an independent who leans left on some issues and right on others yet I won’t support EITHER party. – My Brother Fred, we are in the same field, fighting the same gnats.
Why do YOU choose the Republican? – I don’t. Romney will NOT get my vote.
And if you choose not to answer just say, none of your business Fred and I won’t think any less of you. I will still hold you and your posts in high esteem. – Fred, you are my dude (you like to kick BOTH sides in the knutz). I’ll always answer you.
I’m a indie like you. Lonely ain’t it?
Recon 0311 2533
August 28th, 2012
9:13 pm
moonbat, Paul’s been a regular here for quite sometime.
getalife
August 28th, 2012
9:13 pm
crier,
The owner of red state is a good ole boy from Macon Ga.
He tones down his rhetoric to get paid on cnn.
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
August 28th, 2012
9:13 pm
Anti-Obama Campaign Ad ……… by a woman who was aborted ……….. yet lived !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwFIEprF_9Y
josef
August 28th, 2012
9:13 pm
moonbat
You don’t have to retract it. Big Daddy’ll do it for you…he’ll do if for you if you wouldn’t retract it, too!
I think he must’ve been called on the carpet and told to rein in his chirren!
Soothsayer
August 28th, 2012
9:13 pm
Rockers on the porch over at Kyle’s blog. Guess those new rules are paying off, huh?
F. Sinkwich
August 28th, 2012
9:13 pm
“Burn the effing Constitution, a truly monstrous joke of a political document. That is where your problem lies.”
Jay, O’bozo is posting on your blog!!!!
Kewl.
moonbat betty
August 28th, 2012
9:14 pm
getalife,
I think Isacc had:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_EWaKmCuuQ
Towncrier
August 28th, 2012
9:14 pm
Brosephus
“I’ll flood you with a few of them…”
I looked at your comments, but I guess I am not following your argument as it was not fleshed out there. You speak about liberal Republicans once being the ones who opposed slavery and promoted black advancement. And you say that blacks have gone where the liberal vote is (because over a hundred years ago being liberal meant something good and moral???). That is where you lose me. As I tried to intimate the other day, liberalism now means a whole lot more than it did in the mid 19th century. Some changes are neither good or moral in my view (i won’t list them here to avoid aggravating some readers). What ideologies NOW keep blacks out of the GOP? Or is more perceptions than ideologies?
Soothsayer
August 28th, 2012
9:14 pm
FREE THE moonbat!
getalife
August 28th, 2012
9:15 pm
frog,
Nothing yet.
Welcome to the Occupation
August 28th, 2012
9:16 pm
Sinkwich:
Obama is one of the truly quintessential American leaders the country has had. In some ways the country does not deserve him.
But in a way, you’re right though about him being sad. Because he believes in the American meritocracy perhaps more fervently and is more a pure product of it than any president we’ve had and this precisely at a time when that meritocracy is too far gone and beyond repair, much like the country as a whole. The meritocracy was already in serious crisis by the time of the Vietnam debacle, but to look at the clientalism, avarice, pure rottenness of it today it makes Vietnam look like the glory days.
Towncrier
August 28th, 2012
9:16 pm
Bro…gotta go…I will respond later
Recon 0311 2533
August 28th, 2012
9:16 pm
Ann Romney is up at 10:00, very important speech and then Christy comes up for the keynote. I’m sure this will be well discussed tomorrow. Pleasant evening y’all, out.
The Fresh Prince of Bill Ayers
August 28th, 2012
9:16 pm
Welcome to the Occupation
August 28th, 2012
9:01 pm
There’s already a euro-socialist party in America. It’s called democrat.
And that, my friends, is a classic example of the stupidity that characterizes the ignoramus American people.
If you’re from Europe, I’m pretty sure at some point that Americans had to bail you out militarily because you’re a bunch of pu$$ies. If you’re from France, congratulations on chaff. A great invention when you’re running away like the usual pu$$ies you are.
They BOTH suck
August 28th, 2012
9:18 pm
getalife
While not agreeing with a good percentage of his politics, I have to give Eric Erickson is due.
He runs redstate.com, gig on CNN and talk show on WSB.
Personally I find him boring, regardless of his politics, but have to give the man his deserved credit.
John Boehner And His Thugs. They Have No Rhyme nor Reason.
August 28th, 2012
9:18 pm
@The Fresh Prince of Bill Ayers
August 28th, 2012
8:56 pm
You’d rather a bunch of pant drooping jobless african americans doing the inchworm on national t.v. as your beacon of brilliance?? You want to play the race card??
************************************************************************************
YOUR DOG WHISTLES ARE STINKING UP THE BLOG. sniff,,,,sniff
I KNOW SOME pant drooping jobless WHITE FOLKS. You do to.
I would have said the same for OLD BLACK PEOPLE who look
ridiculous.
“IF” I had my RATHERS I would have liked to have seen a GENIUE
celebration of all races, all ages, coming together to solve a problem
that affects all of us.
However, what I saw were people trying to show other people that they
are united and having fun. It just looked FAKE and PHONY.
BTW, some of the WOMEN were trying to DROP IT LIKE ITS HOT.
Soothsayer
August 28th, 2012
9:18 pm
Fresh Prince: don’t sugar-coat it, tell it like it is!
The Fresh Prince of Bill Ayers
August 28th, 2012
9:18 pm
moonbat betty
August 28th, 2012
9:05 pm
Welcome: You are a piece of batscat.
Del, I’m wondering if this is even the same Paul from years past.
I’m thinking we have an intruder Paul here.
Betty? Batscat? AWESOME!!
getalife
August 28th, 2012
9:19 pm
del,
Probably not.
barking frog
August 28th, 2012
9:20 pm
getalife
I’m 30 miles north of Tampa
and it was a beautiful day.
Soothsayer
August 28th, 2012
9:21 pm
THERE’S LITTLE RICKY! No sex while Little Ricky is speaking! This oughtta be good.
TaxPayer
August 28th, 2012
9:21 pm
Is that stage at the Republican convention really high enough to do trickle down justice?
JamVet
August 28th, 2012
9:21 pm
Union labor: Lean on your shovel for 35 an hour and it wont move.
Princess, why do you despise all of those men and women at Lockheed?
Are you one of those anti-government terrorist types or something?
The Fresh Prince of Bill Ayers
August 28th, 2012
9:22 pm
Soothsayer
August 28th, 2012
9:18 pm
Fresh Prince: don’t sugar-coat it, tell it like it is!
Sorry, don’t come to my country and cr@p on it. If you don’t like it or respect it, grab a flight. We’re not perfect, but there must be some reason why a condescending foreigner is here. Apparently, his country is lacking in some regard….
TaxPayer
August 28th, 2012
9:23 pm
So, Ann Romney is going to tell you people what she wants you people to know at 10.
Soothsayer
August 28th, 2012
9:23 pm
Yeah! You got some nerve being dependent, just because we shipped your job to China! Get out there and pull yourselves up by your bootstraps like I did! Oh, wait . . . I was born into wealth!
They BOTH suck
August 28th, 2012
9:24 pm
Fresh
As Sooth said, tell it like it is
You must have a distinguished military or police career of some sort. Maybe both?
Soothsayer
August 28th, 2012
9:25 pm
Why, that’s all there is to it! Just git yourself a Wal-Mart job and end your dependency! How much simpler can it be!
They BOTH suck
August 28th, 2012
9:25 pm
Sooth
Little Ricky
Too damn funny and I am not even watching tv
Soothsayer
August 28th, 2012
9:26 pm
Well, that does it! Little Ricky done convinced me! I’m a’votin’ fur Rumney!
The Fresh Prince of Bill Ayers
August 28th, 2012
9:26 pm
SCamVet
August 28th, 2012
9:21 pm
Union labor: Lean on your shovel for 35 an hour and it wont move.
Princess, why do you despise all of those men and women at Lockheed?
Are you one of those anti-government terrorist types or something?
I loves me some Lockheed. It allows us to drop bombs all over the world. But Lockheed union workers are well educated and deserve their pay. A clean up boy on a union construction site making 35 an hour…enjoy it while it lasts.
JamVet
August 28th, 2012
9:27 pm
Ann’s is an important speech?????????
Incredible.
She’s as believable as that pretzel-spined hubby of hers.
But between her and the 2000 pound human wrecking ball with legs that follows, the polka music is gonna get cranked up like crazy!
getalife
August 28th, 2012
9:27 pm
Both,
Yes, I forgot the talk radio because radio is for rocking.
The moonbat knows how to rock:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfjTZLxekig
Welcome to the Occupation
August 28th, 2012
9:27 pm
Fresh Prince, I’ll spare you some speculation and tell you that I am American. Born and raised!
Why should being an American disqualify one from pointing out what a pathetic mess of a country the American people have allowed to be made of their country?
The Fresh Prince of Bill Ayers
August 28th, 2012
9:28 pm
They BOTH suck
August 28th, 2012
9:24 pm
Fresh
As Sooth said, tell it like it is
You must have a distinguished military or police career of some sort. Maybe both?
Drug cartel. Same job functions typically.
The Fresh Prince of Bill Ayers
August 28th, 2012
9:30 pm
Sc
amVet
August 28th, 2012
9:27 pm
Ann’s is an important speech?????????
Incredible.
She’s as believable as that pretzel-spined hubby of hers.
But between her and the 2000 pound human wrecking ball with legs that follows, the polka music is gonna get cranked up like crazy!
I’ll bet Michelle gave you your menu so you wouldn’t eat unhealthy? Probably more tasteless than MRE’s…but you’re happy to follow…
Paul
August 28th, 2012
9:30 pm
Recon
” so I can understand that we can be confused.”
That’s one line I’m just gonna let pass…
Reason I asked, I grew up in Vista One neighbor was a colonel, did all the enlisted and officer ranks. Another neighbor was a Gunny, tank platoon lead, 3 tours, came home with a Silver Star when they meant something. Came up behind him when he was running a rototiller. Thought I was going to die….
Would go out to Pendleton in 67-68 and get a couple guys from my parents’ hometown, feed’em and such. Picked up at the USO in Oceanside. Never forget those looks on the other guys hanging out as the hometown guys got in the car and the dog and little guys were all over them.
Anyhow, work’s proofed and doublechecked and sent out so it’s time to wind down.
Another pleasant evening to ya’ll -
They BOTH suck
August 28th, 2012
9:31 pm
getalife
I go to redstate a few times a month. He is certainly dialed in to the conservative faction of the Republican Party.
As for his talk show, he almost put me to sleep a few times while driving, so I refrain from that vocal sleeping pill.
John Boehner And His Thugs. They Have No Rhyme nor Reason.
August 28th, 2012
9:31 pm
Rick Santorum SOUNDS like a phony giving his speech.
I am waiting for the sex and beastiality comments that he
was so obsessed with.
The man is a hypocritical FREAK.
With a wife like he has no wonder.
The Fresh Prince of Bill Ayers
August 28th, 2012
9:32 pm
Welcome to the Occupation
August 28th, 2012
9:27 pm
Fresh Prince, I’ll spare you some speculation and tell you that I am American. Born and raised!
Why should being an American disqualify one from pointing out what a pathetic mess of a country the American people have allowed to be made of their country?
Duly noted. Apologies. Your tone was foreign from a seemingly “Enlightened” government..
They BOTH suck
August 28th, 2012
9:32 pm
Prince
Thanks and figured as much
JamVet
August 28th, 2012
9:34 pm
So you personally know all about those UNION workers and their education levels at Lockheed, huh Stale Princess?
Son, as always, you DO NOT know anything about anything.
You just puke up silly con crap – parroted form Lush and the other talkihng head dolts, and try to convince yourself that you are making sense.
You ain’t.
You America haters loathe labor unions. You hate the people in them.
You hate that there are union members at all at Lockheed, Boeing, Raytheon, et al.
Though you parasites sure as hell enjoy all of the benefits they got for you.
Like taking labor day off with pay and benefits this Monday.
At least grow a pair and admit it.
Or don’t…
Paul
August 28th, 2012
9:34 pm
oh, and moonbat betty
You must be thinking in the days before Bosch gave me a ‘this is what you are today calendar’ and he and josef and Brosephus and I formed the EOI club and I repented of my neocon ways -
The Fresh Prince of Bill Ayers
August 28th, 2012
9:34 pm
John Boehner And His Thugs. They Have No Rhyme nor Reason.
August 28th, 2012
9:31 pm
Rick Santorum SOUNDS like a phony giving his speech.
Thanks for reminding me that douchebag is still alive….
there goes my bedtime snack
speaking of bedtime snacks…Newt wants to know if his wife is cute??
St Simons - he-ne-ha
August 28th, 2012
9:35 pm
that pompous fake Stepford ‘happy’ vibe is jus creepy, mon
Soothsayer
August 28th, 2012
9:39 pm
Jam: go easy on them. They have been mass-indoctrinated to accept fascism in all its glory.
Soothsayer
August 28th, 2012
9:42 pm
Republican message:
If ya’ll could just be rich like us, “What a wonderful World it would be!”
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
August 28th, 2012
9:42 pm
Well, I really tried to listen in on the Republican Convention. But Ye Gads, this thing is duller than watching a grindstone turning round and round. So I’m kinda ashamed to admit I switched the channel and started watching a pawn shop program. All I got to say is if this Ann Romney wants to liven this thing up, she’d better do a strip-tease up there on stage. I expect No. 1 Foxy Lady is already warming up for November 7.
Have a good night everybody.
They BOTH suck
August 28th, 2012
9:43 pm
Posted this earlier for getalife
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCeGCSvueM8&feature=g-vrec
getalife: post something in the morning so we know you are doing alright
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
August 28th, 2012
9:44 pm
Gerbils come from Poland?
Who knew?
They BOTH suck
August 28th, 2012
9:45 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pz26fcmq3S8&feature=related
JamVet
August 28th, 2012
9:45 pm
Brilliant retort on getting called out for saying stuid sh*t on a public forum, Princess.
Kielbasa? How old are you?
12?
LOL, Sooth. I just enjoy toying with our old Arnold Einsteen in this new dufus iteration of his…
The Fresh Prince of Bill Ayers
August 28th, 2012
9:45 pm
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
August 28th, 2012
9:44 pm
Gerbils come from Poland?
Who knew?
That was random…
They BOTH suck
August 28th, 2012
9:46 pm
Kam
I was typed the riot act for calling out that bs earlier
hahahahahahah
Kathy
August 28th, 2012
9:46 pm
If Congress is dysfunctional, it is because we allow them to be. It’s time the American people take responsibility for the problems in our country and quit laying the full blame on politicians. If you don’t like what’s going on, let the people in office know. If they don’t listen, vote them out. It’s not rocket science.
Soothsayer
August 28th, 2012
9:47 pm
Redneck: I’m sorry I bad-mouthed you earlier today. Can you ever forgive me? How ’bout a little peace offering?
They BOTH suck
August 28th, 2012
9:47 pm
Jam and Sooth
An even younger and more immature Dave R if you will
Thulsa Doom
August 28th, 2012
9:47 pm
How to make a libs mad enough to blow steam out their ears.
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2012/08/28/utahs-mia-love-gets-enthusiastic-reception-in-tampa/
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
August 28th, 2012
9:50 pm
Redneck: I’m sorry I bad-mouthed you earlier today. Can you ever forgive me? How ’bout a little peace offering?
Well, thanks alot, Sooth. Just when I was about to fall asleep you drag up that picture that’s going to keep me awake all night again. Whoever ruint Michelle Bachman on politics sure messed up a good future for alot of men.
Welcome to the Occupation
August 28th, 2012
9:51 pm
Reading Matt Stoller’s piece on Neil Barofksy presents a somewhat more troubling account of whether Congress truly deserves all the contempt directed at it by the public:
That was how Barofsky built such credibility and influence, by leveraging the natural institutional desire on the part of Congressional actors to have oversight and better information over the programs they were voting for or against.
Think about this for a second. Congress’s approval rating is in the toilet, and the legislature is used as a scapegoat for any number of problems. The public likes the President, broadly speaking, but thinks of Congress as immensely corrupt and inept. Barofsky’s book essentially says that the public has this story backwards – it was Treasury, he argues, who was uninterested in preserving taxpayer dollars from fraud. And it was Congress, figures like Barney Frank, Darryl Issa, Richard Shelby, and others, who were the major forces behind what little accountability there was towards the banks. Even more shockingly, Barofsky notes that actors in the Bush administration, from Hank Paulson to Neel Kashkari, were more honest and reliable than those in the Obama administration. Barofsky, a self-described Democrat, found this surprising.
Read more at http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/08/in-bailout-neil-barofsky-reveals-the-key-lie-of-the-obama-administration.html#sPuziVgCJQZo0dA2.99
They BOTH suck
August 28th, 2012
9:53 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMyJAcHlCGc&feature=related
Soothsayer
August 28th, 2012
9:53 pm
“P.s. It’s a darn shame you forgot to take your frag grenade anal bead back from “nam…commie.”
Whoa-shyte! Now your gonna set off Jay’s “Insult Alarm” and wake him up from his restful sleep. I’d be pretty certain he’s not going to be in a good mood.
JamVet
August 28th, 2012
9:55 pm
Someone tell the 12 year old GOP faketriot that union busting is anti-American.
Talk about irrational and self-destructive, the cons have crushed their own wages. For forty straight years!
Princess, you ain’t filthy rich. You’re just filthy dumb.
BOTH, good call on the jams…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLZWwOGrl-g
getalife
August 28th, 2012
9:55 pm
Slow over at kyle’s princess?
They BOTH suck
August 28th, 2012
9:56 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwzXop5kLxE
Orange12
August 28th, 2012
9:57 pm
This is what happens when Obama runs on his own record.
http://paid.outbrain.com/network/redir?key=1b4f4a8db9400780871c0462f80cb32c&rdid=369734223&type=P2P_d/t2_ch&in-site=false&pc_id=9706496&req_id=16cb59df94fd740dd46b9c761dd8a20f&agent=blog_JS_rec&recMode=7&reqType=1&wid=107&imgType=0&adsCats=1708,-1,-1&refPub=296&prs=true&scp=false&fcapElementId=6631
Brosephus™
August 28th, 2012
9:58 pm
Towncrier
If you catch this, I’ll try to flesh my thoughts out, but it’s really something that would take much more space than I think Jay would allow.
It’s not really the ideology that attracts or detracts as much as it is a learned behavior to outside stimuli. To make it as brief as possible, it is no different than the learned behavior exhibited by Pavlov.
Each significant advancement of minorities (including Women’s sufferage) rights have come by way of pushing the envelope and attacking the status quo to push for changes. That follows the line of Classical Liberalism. The opposing forces that were fighting those changes would fall along the line of Classical Conservatism, or the desire to keep things as close to the same as possible.
It is that outside stimuli that either attracts or repels minorities to or from the parties. When both parties had differing ideologies under one roof, the polarization was negligible. As the parties have polarized, the differences are stark and very obvious.
There are many different incidents that have contributed to the divergence as well. You have political movements, like the Lily White Movement and the “Southern Strategy”. There were organizations that contributed like the KKK and the White Citizen’s Councils. There were other things like the Riots of 1919 and the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement.
Taking them all in totality, the negative forces against minorities were all intent on keeping things the same whereas the people fighting to make things better were trying to advance the system by changing the status quo.
If we had achieved complete integration between all races in all areas of life including social, financial, educational, and other areas, I don’t think we’d be having this conversation at all. However, when you have an undercurrent that actively fights to keep things from changing, that will always draw up those old emotions from both sides.
Since the communities never really completely integrated, the learned behaviors from the past are easily passed to the newer generations. Hence, you get the same responses from people now when race is brought up as you would have gotten 30-40 years ago.
I’ll quit there before I get too long winded…
They BOTH suck
August 28th, 2012
9:58 pm
Jam
kick ass selection
thanks
Jay's Mother
August 28th, 2012
9:58 pm
Now listen to me you bunch of misfits. Little Jay is sound asleep and he doesn’t need to be awakened to deal with a bunch of overgrown children who can’t keep from insulting each other. Got it!
If I have to come on here again, I’m going to kick somebody’s ass! Got it!
Fred ™
August 28th, 2012
10:00 pm
Moonbat (if you are still here): I’m hurt. i played an ass kicking song with a wicked cool video I thought you would like and you never said anything
That Black Guy (if you are still here): Thanks for the answers. For some reason I thought you were a Republican. My bad. Not that being a Republican is bad but you know what I mean. I think maybe you as an independent are maybe a little right of center over all while I have recently found myself as an independent a little left of center over all (much to my surprise as I was always more right).
They BOTH suck
August 28th, 2012
10:00 pm
Bro
You have more patience than I. My hats off to you
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxNGzd1UqX4&feature=related
Fred ™
August 28th, 2012
10:01 pm
getalife? Are you repentant/ Should I give you a second chance?
They BOTH suck
August 28th, 2012
10:02 pm
Princess
Change locations or spoofers, you are pushing the limits
Jay
August 28th, 2012
10:02 pm
Fresh Prince joins DDR in the penalty box. I’m sure Debbie will enjoy the company.
‘night all.
They BOTH suck
August 28th, 2012
10:03 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXYjo5-UaTY&feature=related
getalife
August 28th, 2012
10:03 pm
“P.s. It’s a darn shame you forgot to take your frag grenade anal bead back from “nam…commie.”
Are you trying to get banned princess?
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
August 28th, 2012
10:03 pm
The investor’s business daily?
Too funny!
They BOTH suck
August 28th, 2012
10:04 pm
Bye Bye little princess / court jester
John Boehner And His Thugs. They Have No Rhyme nor Reason.
August 28th, 2012
10:04 pm
@Redneck Convert (R–and proud of it)
August 28th, 2012
9:42 pm
Well, I really tried to listen in on the Republican Convention. But Ye Gads, this thing is duller than watching a grindstone turning round and round. So I’m kinda ashamed to admit I switched the channel and started watching a pawn shop program. All I got to say is if this Ann Romney wants to liven this thing up, she’d better do a strip-tease up there on stage. I expect No. 1 Foxy Lady is already warming up for November 7.
**************************************************************************
I AGREE the convention is duller than watching a grindstone turning round and round.
All the speakers are gonna go to hell for all the lies they have told tonight.
CONS ARE BLATANT LIARS AND THE TRUTH AIN’T IN THEM.
Proverbs 19:9
A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will perish.
Fred ™
August 28th, 2012
10:04 pm
Goodnight Jay.
Just for you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qP4Ye15J0Y&feature=related