By Henry Briggs....Mainline Media News
I should be laughing at our dysfunctional government, but I’m not.
Minnesota is becoming a very funny example of what a dysfunctional government can look like. They shut down government over money disagreements and are now spending like drunken sailors on the shutdown itself (e.g., unemployment benefits for state workers, loss of revenue from everything from state parks to taxes to fines).
But that’s Mom and Pop stupid compared to the Boehner-Cantor-Pelosi-Obama-Reid-Dysfunction Junction.
The current government dysfunction seems to be rooted in ideology. And that is rooted in a failed education system.
Even as Rep. Boehner neared an agreement with Obama on a $4-trillion combination of spending cuts and closing tax loopholes, the ultra-right members of his party rebelled. You see, they had promised their constituents not to “raise” taxes, which is how they view ending the Bush Tax Cut and/or closing tax loopholes. Never mind that the Bush Tax Cut was actually supposed to end in 2010. Never mind that the loopholes only serve to make the tax system unfair.
They’re not about to compromise because that would be breaking a promise they never should have made.
The liberals in the Senate are sitting there waiting to kill any bill that threatens entitlement programs, such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Never mind these programs will go completely broke soon. Democrats feel everyone is “entitled” to these programs whether they can afford them or not.
They’re not about to compromise because that would be breaking a promise they never should have made.
Somehow we’ve become a nation of voters who think they “deserve” things. “You deserve it!” says the TV ad to the woman who wants eternal beauty. “You deserve it!” say parents as they give every single kid on the soccer team a trophy for just showing up. “You deserve it!” say the politicians who give GE, et al., tax loopholes. “You deserve it!” said Wall Street as it gave big bonuses to mortgage officers who said “You deserve it!” to people who bought mortgages they couldn’t afford.
The “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” of the Declaration of Independence has morphed into “life, liberty and happiness.”
When I see liberals puffing out their cheeks about what they’re “entitled to,” I wonder if they’re ever read the Constitution. When I see conservatives pout about government interference, I wonder if they’re ever read Adam Smith (who was resolute about the need for regulation) or Theodore Roosevelt who, in addition to safeguarding our natural beauty, protected the little guy from Big Business Bullies.
What has changed in the last decade or so is the number of ideologues in the government. Nowadays a person gets elected by making promises that preclude any sort of compromise, which is key to a functioning democracy. From Clinton to Benjamin Franklin to the Romans or the Greeks, compromise made democracy work. If today’s politicians were there instead of our founding fathers, we’d probably still be British.
So why elect politicians who won’t compromise? Because most voters (not to mention politicians) have never read Adam Smith or Roosevelt or Benjamin Franklin or even seen the “John Adams” series. They’ve never studied the Greeks. Latin is rarely taught anymore. History is boring; beer and brawls are fun. They want Marvel Comics heroes, not skilled politicians.
Uneducated voters are the root cause of our corrupt, ideologue government. As the old joke goes, they don’t even know what they don’t even know.
That’s why I’m not laughing. These buffoons in Washington have taken the fun out of dysfunction.
I should be laughing at our dysfunctional government, but I’m not.
Minnesota is becoming a very funny example of what a dysfunctional government can look like. They shut down government over money disagreements and are now spending like drunken sailors on the shutdown itself (e.g., unemployment benefits for state workers, loss of revenue from everything from state parks to taxes to fines).
But that’s Mom and Pop stupid compared to the Boehner-Cantor-Pelosi-Obama-Reid-Dysfunction Junction.
The current government dysfunction seems to be rooted in ideology. And that is rooted in a failed education system.
Even as Rep. Boehner neared an agreement with Obama on a $4-trillion combination of spending cuts and closing tax loopholes, the ultra-right members of his party rebelled. You see, they had promised their constituents not to “raise” taxes, which is how they view ending the Bush Tax Cut and/or closing tax loopholes. Never mind that the Bush Tax Cut was actually supposed to end in 2010. Never mind that the loopholes only serve to make the tax system unfair.
They’re not about to compromise because that would be breaking a promise they never should have made.
The liberals in the Senate are sitting there waiting to kill any bill that threatens entitlement programs, such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Never mind these programs will go completely broke soon. Democrats feel everyone is “entitled” to these programs whether they can afford them or not.
They’re not about to compromise because that would be breaking a promise they never should have made.
Somehow we’ve become a nation of voters who think they “deserve” things. “You deserve it!” says the TV ad to the woman who wants eternal beauty. “You deserve it!” say parents as they give every single kid on the soccer team a trophy for just showing up. “You deserve it!” say the politicians who give GE, et al., tax loopholes. “You deserve it!” said Wall Street as it gave big bonuses to mortgage officers who said “You deserve it!” to people who bought mortgages they couldn’t afford.
The “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” of the Declaration of Independence has morphed into “life, liberty and happiness.”
When I see liberals puffing out their cheeks about what they’re “entitled to,” I wonder if they’re ever read the Constitution. When I see conservatives pout about government interference, I wonder if they’re ever read Adam Smith (who was resolute about the need for regulation) or Theodore Roosevelt who, in addition to safeguarding our natural beauty, protected the little guy from Big Business Bullies.
What has changed in the last decade or so is the number of ideologues in the government. Nowadays a person gets elected by making promises that preclude any sort of compromise, which is key to a functioning democracy. From Clinton to Benjamin Franklin to the Romans or the Greeks, compromise made democracy work. If today’s politicians were there instead of our founding fathers, we’d probably still be British.
So why elect politicians who won’t compromise? Because most voters (not to mention politicians) have never read Adam Smith or Roosevelt or Benjamin Franklin or even seen the “John Adams” series. They’ve never studied the Greeks. Latin is rarely taught anymore. History is boring; beer and brawls are fun. They want Marvel Comics heroes, not skilled politicians.
Uneducated voters are the root cause of our corrupt, ideologue government. As the old joke goes, they don’t even know what they don’t even know.
That’s why I’m not laughing. These buffoons in Washington have taken the fun out of dysfunction.
