[March 14, 2014] People want leadership and they are not getting what they want. At least they are not getting it from our senior leadership in Washington DC, either from the White House or from Congress. The citizenry is losing faith in our political elites of both parties. That’s the message from a number of political publications on Capitol Hill.
Much of this is the result of legislative “gridlock” since there are fewer members in Congress willing to compromise in order to obtain a deal that would benefit the American people. The President recognizes this and said he is willing to circumvent Congress or work with Congress to get things done, depending on who you talk to on the spin of his comments. Parts of Congress see themselves as being less relevant to the legislative process and are fighting back.
The latest reaction by one side in Congress was to propose legislative bills in the House of Representatives to force the President to explain why he “selectively enforces the law.” Most commonsense people call this a “poke in the chest” for the President. A colloquialism that means members of Congress are expressing their dissatisfaction, in this case, in a very visual fashion. This is unhelpful and will only anger more people in Congress and the White House.
The Washington Examiner news’ headline was “Obama threatens vetoes of bills requiring him to follow the law.”1 While there is obvious bias in the headline and article, this is a way that one party says they are frustrated over the President making advances on his agenda. Whether we agree or not with the President, the U.S. Constitution makes for alternative provisions for the House of Representatives to deal with this kind of problem (withholding funds) that need not be resolved with additional legislation that, quite frankly, will not pass. And if passed, will surely be vetoed and generate more problems.
What we have here is a classic case of failure to communicate and failure to provide senior-level leadership at its most fundamental level. Anyone who is reasonable is marginalized. Anyone making the effort to compromise or to find a reasonable solution will be ignored or punished or both. A boogeyman will be found to punish sooner or later and it’s just a matter of time before we find out who or what that will be.
The upcoming Fall elections will only make matters worse. Expect to see a growing amount of “dysfunction” in Congress as the election looms in November. The people of the United States, like everywhere, crave good leadership and something good to stand behind. So far, this leadership has not materialized.
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[1] See the Washington Examiner article at: http://washingtonexaminer.com/obama-threatens-vetoes-of-bills-requiring-him-to-follow-the-law/article/2545545