On Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 5:51 PM, Kevin M. <[email protected]> wrote:
> What I mean is that nobody in charge of this government is actually > accountable for the failures of this government. There is no reward > for doing well and no punishment for doing bad, so the default > position is for politicians to make themselves look busy whilst doing > nothing. > The President of the United States does not have the power to suspend the salaries of members of Congress, or force them to resign. Nor does he have the power to pass legislation. The House of Representatives is an independent, co-equal branch of the US Government, and the American people in their wisdom voted for divided government in that last election. The President, the Democrats in both houses, and the Republicans in the Senate, have all shown a willingness to compromise. The Republicans in the House have shown that they have no interest in compromise. That is their right, under the constitution. I think it is misleading and dangerous to dismiss this crisis as a bunch of weak politicians doing nothing. There is nothing dirty about being a politician - indeed, at the root of the disastrous inflexibility in the House is this view among populist Republicans that being a "politician" is dishonorable, and the honorable path is to stick to their principles in unbending fashion, though the heavens (or markets) fall. The crisis is the result of some key politicians in the Republican Party not being able to find the strength and courage to stand up to their own ideological extremists. There is no doubt that there will be a very severe consequence if these Republicans in the House continue to do their job so poorly - unfortunately the entire country will have to suffer it. -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
