30 Apr 2018 Why Is Governing So Hard?

Why Is Governing So Hard?

You would be hard pressed to find people who will say good things about Congress. The President is different.  No matter who it has been, he has a core group that supports him.  Senators and Congressman have little support in the public eye.  There are individuals who get positive press, but taken as a whole the group is pretty much universally considered bad.

Why is this?  Because you have people representing all parts of the country with conflicting priorities.  Contrary to what people may think, members of Congress do look out for their individual constituencies.  A lot of time this is not good for the overall country. 

Due to the rules in Congress, you almost have 535 “CEOs” (100 Senators and 435 Representatives) trying to run things.  Yes, there is a process for everything, however, it rarely works. The number one job of Congress is to fund the operations of the federal government.  It is very rare they are able to do that in the time required.  Is it a lack of leadership, absolutely.  Is it incompetence, in some cases yes.   The budget is so big no one understands all of its parts.  The competing priorities for money is huge.    

We don’t always elect the best and brightest to Congress.  We elect people who are willing to endure the intense scrutiny a politician faces.  Make no mistake, the scrutiny is constant.  If a distant relative has a legal issue, you will see in the press that “Congressman X has a nephew who did Y.” Is it fair, not really but is how it works. Also any indiscretion any politician did, even decades prior, will be brought up and potentially held against them for political gain.  I think there should be a statute of limitations on stuff.  If it happened over 20 years ago, it should not be relevant.  

It takes a special kind of person to be a part of Congress.  It might not be the kind we need but it is the kind we get. Until we decide as a country to pay Congress for the very large responsibility they have and have less intrusion into their personal lives, we will not get the best our country has.  

I bitch about Congress as much as anyone, however, I am reminded of a saying from Winston Churchill who said if you want an efficient government have a dictatorship.  I will accept the flaws of our democracy over that.