A Future of Gridlock

President Obama has done a lot in his first two years in office, for good or ill, in changing American society: he passed health care reform, tightened the regulation of financial institutions, and attempted to stimulate the economy through government spending. None of this was done easily, even though he had a clear majority in both houses of Congress, and his majorities were  in favor of the changes he wanted. The reason for the difficulty was not his own party: it was the minority party, with its ability to block in the Senate legislation it did not like, that made passing Democratic programs difficult. Although the above legislation did finally get passed, it was not without interminable delays and obstruction, requiring compromises and complications in each case that made even initial supporters of the legislation dislike it in the end. Although Republicans did not succeed in totally blocking the legislation, they did succeed in making good bills into bad bills.

Now we have new elections soon to take place, and most of the predictions are that the Republicans will gain seats, and may even be able to take over control of the House. For most governments around the world, if one party is able to take over from another party control of the House, that would mean that it will be able to enact its programs for the country. If in fact the Republicans are able to take control of the House, they should be able to enact their programs-whatever they are-and move the country in the direction they want. This should be what it means to have majority rule.

Unfortunately, in our system, this is not what is going to happen. The reality is that no matter how enthusiastic and energized the Republicans are, no matter how many seats they gain, the result will be more, and more intense, gridlock. Nothing will get done for the next two years. Of course some people, the rich, who can take care of themselves, who are able to use the government for their own ends, are glad to have the government doing nothing-other than what they want the government to do. For the rest of us, we want the government to serve the people- or at least the majority of the people as represented by the majority party, either Republicans or Democrats or the Tea Party, whichever has the majority. But this is not how our government works.

Is this any way to run a government? Are there no alternatives? Are we doomed to a slavish adherence to a sacred Constitution as interpreted by the high priests of Constitutional law? I believe there is an alternative, one that does not need to engage in disputes about the Constitution. This blog and the book I have written are an attempt to present an alternative to the present status quo. I have written a book because the changes I propose require first a change in how we think about our history.