CONGRESSIONAL GRID-LOCK IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE UNTIL 2016

…This is an excellent illustration of “Congressional Grid-Lock”

Neither political party is showing any signs of backing down.

As grid-lock in the US Congress continues, especially now in the Senate, the nation is still waiting for these individuals to pull their heads out of a very dark place and do some of the people’s business.  As a case in point, the human trafficking bill is being held up only because the Republicans will not remove the anti-abortion clause for breaking the current filibuster.

There are a few reasonable Senators, Maine’s Republican Susan Collins and North Dakota’s Democrat Heidi Heitkamp that are trying to come up with an acceptable compromise.  But I totally agree with a comment from this same Senator Collins.  The senator stated on the senate floor, “If we cannot approve a bill to deal with human trafficking, then what will we ever be able to deal with?” .

This issue of political grid-lock started the day after Barack Obama assumed his position as president in 2009.  That was the day the then Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell had stated that the #1 goal of the Republican Party was to make Barack Obama a one-term president.  (And we all now know how well that idea worked out.)

 

It was also the day that the large group of Republican leaders went to dinner in Washington and agreed that regardless of how good a bill might be for the American public, the Republicans in Congress would oppose anything that was supported by the new president or the Democrats. 

 

The result of both of those situations was that the then Senate Minority leader McConnell blocked the Democrats with Republican filibusters over 400 times.  That’s many more filibusters than all previous senate filibusters, combined.

So, for the Democrats to do “turn-about is fair play” with their own filibusters, this does not seem to be an out of place attitude, but it does just support more grid-lock.

As usual, it’s the American public that is the ultimate loser, regardless of who causes the grid-lock.

The other situation is, that yes, it was the Republicans that stuck the anti-abortion clause into a totally un-related bill.

However, if the Democrats and their staff’s had done their job, they would have found that clause before it made it to the floor for a vote.  Isn’t that why these senators have their staffs in the first place?

It now appears that with this particular bill, both sides are digging in their heels and standing their ground.  Ergo, even more grid-lock, but now it’s coming from both sides of the aisle.

The Republicans are holding firm at leaving the anti-abortion clause in the trafficking bill because they are mad that they were forced by the president to have a clean Homeland Security Funding Bill with a removed defunding Obamacare clause.  They are also holding-hostage the vote on the nomination of the first, highly qualified, African American woman, Loretta Lynch, for US Attorney General, .

On the Democratic side, the Senior Senator from California, Dianne Feinstein has stated, “Over the years, we have lost virtually every battle that has been on this floor, and we are tired of it.  So we are taking a stand, and we are going to hold that stand.”

So, there you are.  Heels dug in, but in this case, at the potential expense of human trafficking victims?

One Washington Post opinion writer wrote about the stand-off of the Democrats, “As to the symbolism vs. substance of the opposition, the actual harm of the abortion-spending restriction is dwarfed by the greater good this [trafficking] bill would do. Not all trafficking victims would be covered by the rape exception, but most would.”

And the American public?  As usual, screwed again. 

Some political observers are saying that all the recent screw-ups by the Republicans is because they have not had the responsibility of governing for so long, it will take some time for them to get their bearings.  My personal opinion is that until the conservative start offering real, workable ideas for the public where both parties can work on a reasonable compromise, nothing is going to change.  Up to now, for the GOP, it’s been, “Our way, or the highway!”   That usually only works once, and they’ve already had their ‘once’.

Whatever happened to the idea of, “compromise”?  It used to be that no one got 100% of anything, but both sides got some of the things they wanted, and the world continued to spin.  But not today.

The past weeks and months have been nothing but total congressional dysfunction.  Has the right-wing gone so far to the right that there is no longer any room for compromise?  Apparently so.

At some point, and it always takes longer than it should, the American voter will hopefully see the light.  They will then, “Throw the Bums Out!!” and vote in some reasonable individuals that will actually sit down and work out an agreement or two.

I just hope I live long enough to see that time again.

Copyright G.Ater  2015