There was quite a bit of discussion on the Sunday shows yesterday as to why there's so little compromise and even less constructive, bipartisan policymaking in Washington. Doris Kearns Goodwin blamed the role of money in politics, while Bob Woodward blamed President Obama's lack of schmoozing. Soon after, Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) blamed the media, while the Associated Press blamed the
scarcity of moderates.
There is a more plausible explanation. Maybe this is a good time to reflect again on the thesis presented earlier this year by Tom Mann and Norm Ornstein: "[W]e have no choice but to acknowledge that the core of the problem lies with the Republican Party."
The GOP has become an insurgent outlier in American politics. It is ideologically extreme; scornful of compromise; unmoved by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition.
When one party moves this far from the mainstream, it makes it nearly impossible for the political system to deal constructively with the country's challenges.
"Both sides do it" or "There is plenty of blame to go around" are the traditional refuges for an American news media intent on proving its lack of bias, while political scientists prefer generality and neutrality when discussing partisan polarization. Many self-styled bipartisan groups, in their search for common ground, propose solutions that move both sides to the center, a strategy that is simply untenable when one side is so far out of reach.
The point is not that money, interpersonal conflicts, and the media and public discourse are irrelevant, but rather, they're all peripheral concerns that overlook the root problem: constructive, bipartisan policymaking in Washington is impossible when there's a radicalized major party that doesn't believe in compromise -- and they have the power necessary to exert their will.
It's not as if GOP leaders have been bashful on this point.
John Boehner himself has declared in recent years, "This is not a time for compromise," and "I reject the word" compromise. Mitch McConnell has said several times that defeating President Obama, not helping Americans, his top "priority," and that he deliberately refused to consider bipartisan proposals, even ones that he liked and approved of, in order to advance his larger partisan cause.
For his part, Obama has frequently adopted GOP measures as his own, in the hopes of advancing bipartisanship, only to find Republicans opposing their own proposals.
Remind me: why, exactly, does the political establishment consider dysfunction and acrimony a mystery?
Leave a Comment:
Republicans don't care about the Truth.
They simply want to see Obama fall.
Don't care about his birthplace or his youth;
They hate the fact that he exists at all.
They think the poor are filthy, lazy blighters
Who don't deserve to live upon the dole,
And unions - teachers, cops and firefighters -
Have picking rich men's pockets as their goal.
Their propaganda machine, known as FOX,
Thrives on the fuel of lies and innuendo.
They'd love to open up Pandora's Box,
And watch the world collapse in cruel crescendo.
The Golden Rule they live by is for fools.
"Whoever has the Gold, he makes the Rules."
David is correct: "Whoever has the Gold, he makes the Rules." The Koch-Rove machine has much gold and they have used it over the years. They spend over 30 million just on lobbyists. Imagine what kind of attention each Republican in Congress gets! They use that gold on intimidation. Vote the way we want you to or we will run someone against you in the primary. They use that gold on bribery. Vote the way we want and we will spend millions to get you elected.
The ironic aspect of the Koch-Rove political spending is that they are spending our money: subsidies for the oil giants; state tax credits that reduce their taxes; Bush tax cuts which gives them millions; capital gains rates the puts millions in their pockets; etc. The billion dollars they spent in the last 4 years to defeat Obama did not defeat Obama, but it did enable them to elect 30 Republican governors and 24 Republican controlled legislatures.
Except he hasn't, in fact he's done plenty to make it better.
GLB...
Please, Do Not Feed The Troll...
Facts are not recognized, by the reality-deficient...
I am all for increasing the tax rate on the wealthy but that (from what I have seen/heard) will raise around $100 Billion more a year which is about one month's worth of the current rate of our deficits. There needs to be a lot more in terms of revenue from other sources AND cuts. No way around that. And to me that is where there will still be problems - probably from Democrats as well as some Republicans. If the only thing people are "fighting" for is upping the taxes on the rich, the plan won't even make much of a dent on the ongoing deficits and will not touch the debt we already have at all.
Of course my comment here will fall on "deaf" eyes.
Hoffman**
Narrow thinking. This increased revenue from taxing the wealthy their fair share will stimulate the economy by putting money in the pockets of those who will spend it thereby increasing demand which creates jobs...because more teachers, police, firemen and infrastructure rebuilding will also be paying in more taxes now as a result. It doesn't just stop with the $100 billion in tax revenue but progresses like a snowball rolling down hill in more gov. revenue from increased taxable income which increases more demand and on and on it goes.
Cutting the military gbudget and getting rid of medicare and medicaid fraud and abuse plus making government spending more efficient by getting rid of waste is all the "cutting" that will be necessary. Raise the 'cap' on SS and it will be solvent forever. Bargain for perscription drug prices will fix Medicare. Get rid of the union busting rule for the postal service and it is fixed. No "deaf" eyes here...we see the solutions which repubs have been blocking.
bjobotts,
I believe the increased revenue from this is supposed to go against money already spent, which will not stimulate the economy. The whole point of the fiscal cliff (of other type of compromise) is to decrease the deficit, not to use any increase in revenue to spend on new projects/programs or to hire new teachers or first responders. The narrow thinking is what got us into this - spending $$ before we got the revenue in.
Not afraid at all of tax increases and stop beating up the dead horse of persons on welfare. Welfare costs very little and provides for people who need assistance. Not everyone is perfect like you and never needs anything from anyone else!
Imagine if they taxed capital gains income the same way they tax regular income...
Bingo.
Haha... no, I wasn't laughing at your lame attempt at humor, I'm laughing at the fact that you don't know that some of the most successful capitalists ever, including Warren Buffet and Bill Gates, people who are INTIMATELY familiar with the capital gains tax, are liberals and know that it needs to go up.
Didn't they stop paying you trolls after the election?
He gave it BECAUSE HE'S CHARITABLE! A concept you evidently can't comprehend, since you immediately call it a dodge. I guess donations to the Catholic Church, or perhaps the Latter Day Saints, are ALSO dodges? In which case, I'm sure you'll have the same attitude about Mitt Romney...
Frankly, I'm middle class and I don't need higher capital gains taxes. I'm trying to save for retirement, and can't do it all on a 401K. Just sayin'.
However, I do think it's time to raise the retirement age. Given that the system was designed to kick in right after we die, I think we can ask people to work longer. But - what does that save us? I haven't seen stats on this. If a 20 year old today has to work until 70, or even 80 - does that help us today?
Why the GOP is in turmoil:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92cwKCU8Z5c
Unfortunately, the GOP are sore losers.
I thought they were pretty sore campaigners, too.
"...constructive, bipartisan policymaking in Washington is impossible when there's a radicalized major party that doesn't believe in compromise -- and they have the power necessary to exert their will."
And this is why they should be removed from office - they are all suffering from the same insanity! The GOTP no longer represent "THE PEOPLE" they represent the highest bidder and they use outlying crazy evangelicals to support policies that disenfranchise their own economic interests, but since they're focused on "Jeesus" they don't realize that their pockets are being picked!!
Fire the GOTP, fire them!
People who do not believe in government are not likely to govern when elected?
Jerold is just another right wing Fox Lies troll. Has nothing but insults and talking points. Wouldn't know truth if hit kicked him in the ass.
Don't feed the trolls. It makes them think they're worth something.
This is going to sound like a bit of a stretch but I blame religion or maybe I should say the psychology of religion. "Faith" by definition does not allow for consideration of alternatives or compromise. To much of the GOP base their political ideology is as much a religion and a matter of "Faith" as anything else they choose to believe in and they will follow it's edicts and principles in the same way.
You could try and make the same case for the Left but I honestly think we are far more willingly sceptical and self-critical for it to stick very well.
Most religions too, are apocalyptic. Since all orthodox religions consider women to be inferior which then makes those religions laughable. People (aka voters)/governments then view the world as a "gad is going to kill us all anyway" place/reality,, so, towhit; let's stand around and wait for it.
Bad things are going to happen, but let's blame Thomas Paine. He convinced the founding fathers that government should be secular,, but then to what purpose?,, survival would, at a minimum, be smart. Government should be planing for very real potential apocalyptic disasters. What do we do when we live a nuclear winter lifestyle and we have sulphuric acid raining down on us from some volcano, asteroid hit, or nuclear event? I'd bet clean ground water would be goot. A little planning,,, but oh well...
Let us pause for a moment when we are told by the liars that they are going to quit lying.
Paint the whole repuke party with the DeaJarlias brush.
Wow, I want to send these gentlemen a pie and $100.00! Fiscal cliff my ass (as well)! Shut up and pay your god damned taxes! That is American exceptionalism, not this running around complaining like some whiney little bitchez!
The GOP better take a long, hard look at the Southern Strategy initiated by Nixon and permitting them to win numerous election victories -- until now.
The majority of this country do not agree with the crude caricature of 'southern values' that the GOP now represents. They better find some other shtick soon, or ....
Why are we surprised? Mann and Orenstein's book is many months old, and their thesis is older still -- and it remains unchallenged.
As long as the ~50% think compromise is sinful, that even listening to other opinions is betrayal of the Cause (whichever one they are supporting at the moment), why do we continue to be dismayed at the result?
It's time to quit moaning about how bad "they" are and how noble "we" are and to start to make what changes we can. Part of that must be to recognize that only the young are numerous and open enough to do the job we olds have left to them.
• "Remind me: why, exactly, does the political establishment consider dysfunction and acrimony a mystery?"
It depends on which part of the "political establishment" you're talking about. For conservative players, it's a political argument. For the media, it's the need of a narrative. The mystery suits both these needs. For conservative players, the mystery is "fair" insofar as facts speaking unequally of the sides in a dispute are unfair. For the media, the narrative looks better if it is a compelling rivalry with no clear resolution, and they also get to say they are being "fair" to conservatives.
Those of us with some perspective far away from Washington and outside the conference rooms in the the two largest party organizations know what needs to be done. The GOP cannot admit that their conservative agenda is a failure and unpopular with a growing majority of Americans.
The Republican Party figures if they continue to push gerrymandering and voter suppression "solutions" it will keep them in the game long enough to block anything the Democrats try to pass...and Dems will capitulate. At some point the President will call their bluff and let Republicans take the blame for their obstruction.
There is a growing progressive majority who will take their wrath out on Republicans in 2014 if they refuse to compromise let taxes rise on the middle class and working poor...no matter how many obstacles the GOP tries to place in the way of angry voters.
Serendipity, as JohnMesserly has been leading a discussion on this topic on another thread.
Meanwhile, I remain struck by the naiveté of the Obama administration in understanding the basic principle of ALL negotiations, no matter how much one "believes in" compromise as a defining principle (or rather, especially if one claims to believe in compromise as a defining principle): YOU OVERSTATE YOUR POSITION SO YOU HAVE ROOM TO GIVE SOMETHING BACK.
Hell, we did government simulations in my high school social studies class, and I cottoned on to that principle plenty quick, since, as mock legislators, (even in the Constitutional Convention) we were graded on how many of our goals we achieved, and, well, I liked getting good grades and achieving my goals.
Thank you Mrs. Nord in Palmer, Alaska, I guess. One wonderful social studies teacher in every way possible. Just 13 miles away in Wasilla, I think they must have missed that lesson too, same as Obama did. I mean, in the most eloquent high school vernacular, "Duh."
I wonder if anyone in the Obama administration ever bought a used car? How do you suppose that would go?
"This is a nice car here, this blue one. I see the Blue Book for it is $5,299. How about I give you an even $6,000 for it, just to start off the negotiations?"
Yeah, that's silly. Actually, it seemed SO absurd to me when I watched them repeatedly do this, it appeared to me that they were secretly in the bag for the other side. You know, all that University of Chicago economics influence. Timothy Geitner whispering Goldman Sachs sweet nothings in their ears. Rahm Emanuel really not wanting health care reform after all.
It had to be SOME kind of secret reverse agenda carrying the day to lead any administration to do something so self-defeating to its own purported goals. Anyone with any experience with compromise knows, the name of the game is horse-trading, not holding hands and singing Kumbayah.
I am familiar with mock high school government legislative assemblies. I have also sat at the bargaining table as the chief negotiator for the faculty of a state university. The two experiences are entirely different. As a chief negotiator, I was bargaining with the representatives of the governor of the state. The negotiations had real consequences for the faculty and the people of the state. Sure, our initial bargaining positions overreached what we expected to gain from bargaining, but we knew what was possible. Our bargaining goal was to achieve the best, possible solution. In the years that I sat across the table from the bargaining team for the state, I believe that the faculty gained from the contracts we bargained, that we did indeed achieve the best, POSSIBLE solution.
I hear too many people who call themselves "progressives" who obviously did not pay attention to what the President achieved in 4 years. They say that they hope he doesn't "cave" or that he has more "steel in his spine" this time. These "progressives" are saying that!!! Amazing. Just last week, the President negotiated a truce between Israel and Hamas with, for the first time, no Israeli incursion into Gaza. And he enlisted the aid of the President of Egypt to oversee the truce. That is one of many achievements of this fantastically successful President, both at home and abroad. Let's together say it again: "GM is alive and Osama bin Laden is dead!"
The problem that these "progressives" have is that they have their own agenda and if their items are not given the highest priority, President Obama has failed. Some of those high priority items are: closing Guantanamo, legalizing marijauna, and ending the Afghanistan war early. "The fiscal cliff?" they opine, "what fiscal cliff? Let all the Bush tax cuts expire and show that 2% we mean business." These "progressives" do not understand what "best, possible solution" means. To them I say, "Trust Obama! He hasn't let America down in his first term and he isn't about to in his second term. Remember: the great teams win the second half of games and often win going away. I trust Obama. He has shown that he is an amazing competitor and he will win for America.
On the horse-trading point from #13 - in order to trade, you have to be on the same page. When you're looking to trade a horse for money, and the other guy is dead-set on taking the horse and the money with nothing left for you, it doesn't work. Compromise only works if both parties give some, and as we saw with the debt ceiling kerfluffle, the GOP don't believe that they have a responsibility to meet in the middle.
Jimes , look at the OP , then tell us again how lame progressives are , I guess you must not have read the OP
Cue Reality Show music and deep voiced announcer: You've watched them on C-SPAN, heard them on your local talk show station, read their comments in newspapers and blogs, watched them as they explain why they can not or will not compromise. Now watch as your local House Reps and Senators are dumped on a deserted island and the only way they can get off is to... Compromise! They will need to find food, water, build shelters and evade angry taxpayers armed with paint guns! Will they rely solely on their wits and their cunning to keep only their respective party alive? Or will they open lines of communication and learn how to
Compromise to stay alive? Watch your elected officials in action (as soon as they get back from vacation).
Cue Reality show music and deep voiced announcer: Watch Compromise to stay Alive! The stakes are high as the paint gun armed taxpayers tag Democrats and Republicans alike! A tagged D or R immediately loses all salary, perks, benefits and the right to run for Federal public office for 10 years. He or she may redeem themselves by reaching out to the other party within 24 hours to compromise on issues facing America today. Will they do it? Will they Compromise to Stay Alive?!
(Anybody else have a reality show idea involving all of Congress?)
Mine involves a fact checker and various implements of death and torture, where a Pants On Fire rating MEANS somebody's nether bits are getting charred.
Political Kombat '12
PK '12 - Obama vs. Trump
Yes, for those who wish to face the world as it is at this moment, the Republican party and its subsidiary, FOXNEWS, have painted themselves into a political corner by casting aspersions against their perceived political enemies, denigrating scientific experts knowledgeable in fields that are in desperate need of policy, and pronounced on far too many occasions their suspicions of Anti-Traditional American conspiracies all around!
No wonder for those who've been paying keen attention to the uncompromising ways of our loved ones on the Far Right, we've been awaiting for the rest of the unassuming American public to wake up and smell that foul smell coming from the Republican tent and its peanut gallery known as FOX NEWS Corp! -Kevo
I thought that was the outhouse!....
Are you sure you don't have that relationship backwards?
As long as republicans like Cantor,Boehner and Mcconnell are safe in their districts, there will be no compromise. They know their reelection is in the bag,so what is their incentive to do anything other than obstruct. So what if the approval ratings of congress are in the toilet, it's not the people of their district that disapprove.
It is all about the $$$$$ they get in contributions that keeps them as they are. The voters in their districts need some "feet on the ground" to give them some understanding of the issues that Cantor, Boehner, and McConnell are blocking and why. I mean who would vote for them, bought by big $$$$$.
The Republican wrecking crew did a job on our country when Bush was President for eight years. Now, incredibly, they are still at it while in the minority.
The song remains the same, except for the addition of Grover & McCain who are irrelevant as Romney. What is sad & troubling is that despite the American Public speaking loudly & clearly at the polls, the same supply side economic game of tag is being played instead of cutting the b.s. and doing what the people want. Lets all of us, Republican, Democrat & Independent hang tough and demand that we the 98% get our break and the 2% get the hike ! For once that would be the system working in the publics favor.
While what you're saying is true, I think the radicalization might not exist if not for the role of money in politics. When you have to raise thousands of dollars a day to stay viable, you end up playing to your base in hopes they'll open their wallets. This inevitably leads to throwing them "red meat" in the form of radical proposals and lines in the sand.
Why doesn't someone say that Social Security has nothing to do with the Deficit!
Social Security is in a separate fund
We over 65 need to say that loudly and clearly. Don't mess with Social Security and Medicare! Take those items out of the federal budget. GET IT!
Actually, that's not true. SS is still there, and solvent for years. SS money does not go in the general fund, as as such can't be spent up by Dubya's wars... Oh, you were trying to imply the money was spent by Obama? Sorry, you don't get your own facts, and the facts are that the massive debt and deficits are a result of unpaid-for wars and excessive tax cuts in wartime.
Might help you understand more: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ihUoRD4pYzI
no , it won't
I can solve your damn mystery: It was Mr. Boehner, in the House, with the Monkey Wrench!
I really do think it's Boehner, with a little McConnell on the side. The two of them spent the last 4 years making very little sense. We're in a deep recession, do enough stimulus to get out of the recession. Done and done. But no, that would help the president! I work for the president, but I couldn't be caught dead actually helping the president. And the claim from McConnell. I can't count the number of people who've said that the "one term" remark was the reason they voted for Obama, that the GOP needed to be punished for such nonsense. Congratulations.
Both men should be fired. What a giant waste of people's time. Hold the economy back for political reasons. And here we sit.
People we hold the power to get things done in Congress, it doesn't matter who has the money or Power. VOTE THEM OUT.
PS: Has anyone tried to budget a Government Issued Check which is once a month, you can't pay to rent an apartment, pay for utilities, buy food even with food stamps and send your kids to school.
Wake up People!!!!!!
GOP LET MY PEOPLE GO