We all have heard the jokes – you know the ones, they go something like, “how many construction workers does it take to dig a hole?  Five.  One to dig and the other four to sit around and do nothing”.  There are alternatives where “nothing” is replaced by “supervise” and so forth.  And sometimes you witness it.  True or not, the perception (and perception is reality in the minds of the public) is there.

Well, the spin on Congress that the media has promulgated is one of gridlock.  Nothing is getting done because one side (largely pointed at the republicans) or the other are blocking efforts by the other party.  The democrats like to seize upon this and label the GOP as “obstructionist” because they won’t abandon their position of not raising taxes.

But is this reality or just the perception?

As I started writing this post, I was doing some research and came across this great post over at the National Review.  It’s worth reading (and I’ll pull some overlapping info and themes going forward).  I think that Nick Gillespie and Veronique de Rugy (watch her video here on it) hit the nail on the head.

Well, if you rewind to the Clinton administration where Congress (104th to the 106th) was led by the GOP, a number of major initiatives were passed as gridlock gave way to negotiations: welfare reform (with the work requirement), balanced budgets, capital gains tax cuts, and defense cuts.

As de Rugy points out: even in the recent Congresses, we’ve seen some bipartisianship: the farm bill and the protections for the sugar industry. 

Their conclusion is that Congress hasn’t been gridlocked over the last few years but rather, those in Congress and the President have abdicated their responsibility for doing the basic jobs of governing.  We’ve pointed out their failures before.  The House Republicans have crafted and passed a budget that has been sent over to the Senate and was never brought to the floor by the Senate Democrats and majority leader, Harry Reid.  de Rugy points out also that the same Republicans are working to undo the sequestration cuts that they pushed for in order to raise the debt ceiling.

It seems like hardly two weeks go by before one of my posts mention this, but I’ll put it in again: it’s been OVER THREE YEARS since Congress has passed a budget.  This largely lies at the feet of the Senate Democrats and the President.  You might ask why the President – his last two budgets have been jokes.  Neither got a vote, even from his own party, and didn’t take the financial issues that we’re facing seriously.

Regardless of how you are voting this fall – keep this in mind – we need to elect representatives who take this seriously and stop jumping into campaign nonsense (Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi seem more focused on this than passing any legislation).

GorT

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