Broken, venal, dysfunctional: The GOP clown show, Hillary’s challenge, and our frozen democracy

[Katashi_itto]

Mitch can't fix the Senate. Boehner can't control his caucus. GOP's a disaster; Democrats have no soul. Now what?

“We ought to start with the view that maybe there are some things we can agree on to make progress in this country… the Senate needs to be fixed… We’re going back to work and actually pass legislation… “
–Sen. Mitch McConnell, Nov. 5, 2014

On the day after the biggest win of his life, Mitch McConnell was feeling the love. Once he called hounding President Obama out of office his primary duty as a public servant. But rhapsodizing about common ground and fixing Congress, he sounded almost Obamaesque. Looking back at those words — and at a Congress that remains as venal and broken as it ever was — one can’t help but wonder: Did he mean it?

He probably did. Every politician has heard his inner Lincoln beseech him to bind up the nation’s wounds. Even if McConnell were deaf to the plea, the same self-interest that led him to a life of obstruction now requires him to prove he can do what he fought to keep Obama from doing: Make the damn place work. He figured the bar would be easy to step over, having lowered it himself.

Was he ever wrong. McConnell promised to open the floor to more amendments and force senators to come to work — and that he did. But as for finding common ground or actually passing any bills, the pattern seems set in stone. Despite winning historic majorities in both houses, Republicans haven’t changed Congress or themselves. They aren’t about to.

A quick recap:

Their only victory came before they were sworn in, when Obama leaned on Democrats to back a budget that increased defense spending, weakened efforts to slow global warming, allowed stock speculators to saddle taxpayers with their losses, and punched another hole in campaign finance laws. Republicans buried it all in a lame-duck budget because each of those moves are so unpopular. Obama said he gave in to avert a shutdown.

http://www.salon.com/2015/03/08/broken_venal_dysfunctional_the_gop_clown_show_hillarys_challenge_and_our_dangerously_frozen_democracy/

[djean111]

1. I understand that Obama and the GOP will enthusiastically be backing Fast Track, so there's that.

For me, that comes under Frozen Democracy.