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kentuck

(110,947 posts)
Fri Jun 27, 2014, 01:02 PM Jun 2014

Is our government in a dysfunctional "crisis"?

The people vote and they are ignored.

The Congress passes nothing. They ignore the problems that our country faces. The Senate is gridlocked with "super majority" requirements. The President attempts to pass his agenda with executive orders. The division worsens. The Supreme Court rules against the President. The Speaker threatens to take the President to court. Etc..etc...etc..

How can we argue that our government is not in crisis? It is not "normal".

What is the solution?

The only way out of this quagmire, in my opinion, is to inform the voters, as best we can, about the situation we are in, and let them make the decision to put one Party or the other in control and give them the legitimacy to change the status quo. That may be a very dangerous proposition but that is all that we have in a democracy.

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Awknid

(381 posts)
1. I doubt informing the voters would work.
Fri Jun 27, 2014, 01:13 PM
Jun 2014

They don't believe anyone different from themselves. Fox News would have to agree with you and that will never happen!

 

randome

(34,845 posts)
2. The longer this continues, the greater the odds of demagogues causing a shitstorm.
Fri Jun 27, 2014, 01:18 PM
Jun 2014

The best hope any of us have is to get the Republicans out of office, lock, stock and barrel.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in."
Leonard Cohen, Anthem (1992)
[/center][/font][hr]

upaloopa

(11,417 posts)
3. Congress and elected officials are not the government
Fri Jun 27, 2014, 01:22 PM
Jun 2014

Everyday thousands of government workers perform services for us.
Just like the county government I work for, our board os supervisors do not make up the county government. Hundred of us are at work providing services to county residents.

 

Spider Jerusalem

(21,786 posts)
4. Yes, it is, and it goes deeper than that
Fri Jun 27, 2014, 01:27 PM
Jun 2014

the nature of representation, voter distribution, and gerrymandering mean that Democrats got more than a million more votes in the last Congressional elections and the Republicans still control the House; the Senate is deeply undemocratic and overly powerful, and states representing less than one-sixth of the population command enough Senators to constitute an effective majority and block the will of the majority of voters; the split between one party controlling the House and the other controlling the executive leads to recurrent crises of democratic legitimacy, where Republicans in Congress see impeachment of the executive as a legitimate political tool...the US system of government is just horribly broken in myriad ways.

 

Eleanors38

(18,318 posts)
5. Yes.
Fri Jun 27, 2014, 01:40 PM
Jun 2014

Possible solution: Hard, sustained takeover of Democratic Party by new leadership who's philosophy is centered on:
1) Guaranteed health care for all;
2) Guaranteed housing for all;
3) Guaranteed adequate nutrition for all;
4) Guaranteed employment for all able-bodied;
5) Overhauled tax system so wealthy pay more;
6) Massive public works program;
7) Accelerated development of solar energy;
8) Fiscally responsible governance.

Do this within the Party, or form a new party.

 

Tierra_y_Libertad

(50,414 posts)
6. Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.
Fri Jun 27, 2014, 02:05 PM
Jun 2014

Thomas Paine

kentuck

(110,947 posts)
7. Do you think we may be reaching the "intolerable" one?
Fri Jun 27, 2014, 02:23 PM
Jun 2014

It is a "necessary evil" because of the alternative.

 

Tierra_y_Libertad

(50,414 posts)
8. Considering the spying, corruption, corporate dominance, endless wars, Yes.
Fri Jun 27, 2014, 02:50 PM
Jun 2014

It is certainly not "A government of the people, by the people, and for the people."

I see it in terms of a structural problem. We no longer elect representatives. We elect people who answer to those who give them the money to get elected and one of the first things they do when elected is try to redistrict their districts to ensure getting reelected. But, the biggest problem is the money. Good people, who could govern justly, are passed over for those that can raise a lot of money, usually from corporations or special interests.

Getting the money out of politics is virtually impossible for the simple reason that those who could pass the laws necessary are on the payroll. Politicians may not be the brightest bulbs but they do know that cutting their own throats financially is not a good idea....for them.

Further. I see the entrenched two party system as inherently corrupt because it allows politicians to play both sides of the field and tell us they can do nothing because of "practical politics" (trans: Raise enough money to ensure reelection). Thus initiatives for substantial change to the system is thwarted because of "practical party politics". More parties provide for more bargaining and initiatives. If coalition governments are formed parties have to agree to programs of several parties in order to form a government.

I don't see a solution to this until the people get fed up enough to give enough votes to non-establishment parties to gain a voice by being elected to national office and their votes are needed by the major parties to appeal to them for support.

It could happen but, considering the power of the establishment, it's unlikely.

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