Why Does Congress get Nothing Done?

Congress after Congress, year after year, and nothing is done — except spend our money.

It seems to matter not if you are Republican or Democrat, legislation for which voters elected members of both Houses of Congress and President Trump seems to go nowhere: repeal and replace Obamacare, a border wall, tax reform, etc. Fortunately the promises then Candidate Trump made that as President he can implement without legislation have all pretty much been completed. Congress? They are doing NOTHING.

If you listen to House leadership, they blame the Senate. If you listen to Senate leadership, they blame “Democrat obstructionists.” Who is as fault for this never stopping merry-go-round that does nothing decade after decade but increase America’s debt to un-repayable levels by spending countless tax dollars mostly on things that THEY want? They legislate paybacks for interests of special interest groups that gave money to get them elected and re-elected and re-elected…..you know the drill.

Not long ago I told you that there is no longer a Democrat Party or a Republican Party. There are still two political parties in D.C., but not the G.O.P. or the Dems. The two parties in D.C. are those who support Donald Trump and his agenda for which he was elected, and the party of “Everybody Else,” the “Never Trumpers.” Want proof? Watch this and watch it in its entirety. It’s a little over 7 minutes long, but it will rock your world:

Sharyl Attkisson is the real deal. She is a real news reporter and to my knowledge ONLY reports — she doesn’t “editorialize” and then call it news.

Hearing this from a sitting Congressman who went to D.C. and actually tried to pierce the government bureaucracy to make changes from the inside — and failed — should be horrific to us all.

What Should and What Can be Done?

It is highly unlikely that the easy thing to do to change this bunk will be done — that would be Congressional action to change the structure of how they internally operate. And why should they? Members of Congress are the beneficiaries of their legislation, not Americans. Do you think these folks would care to make that 180 degree turn away from their cush jobs, lobbyist benefits that total millions of dollars each year, lifetime retirement and health benefits, and ALL their bills paid by special interests? That will NEVER happen. It will take amending the Constitution. Sounds easy, but there are some problems there.

How do we amend the Constitution? Article V of the Constitution provides two methods for amending the nation’s frame of government. The first method authorizes Congress, “whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary” (a two-thirds of those members present—assuming that a quorum exists at the time that the vote is cast—and not necessarily a two-thirds vote of the entire membership elected and serving in the two houses of Congress), to propose Constitutional amendments. The second method requires Congress, “on the application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several states” (presently 34), to “call a convention for proposing amendments.” Currently there are 17 of the 34 states needed for such a convention whose legislatures have voted for a convention for the purpose of making a balanced budget a Constitutional amendment.

Certainly you can spot in Article V the problem we have amending the Constitution: the common denominator in that process is Congress. In either of the two ways to amend the Constitution, Congress must be a part of it. And when Americans want to amend for the express purpose of taking money away from Congress or restrict the ability of Congress to arbitrarily tax and spend tax dollars at whatever pace and for whatever they choose to vote to do so, they will not easily be swayed. In fact I am not certain they can EVER be swayed.

What can be done? I don’t have an answer. I do know there are quite a few in the House and some in the Senate who have a good grasp on the monetary death spiral we find the U.S. in who want to stop the spending train. But at this point I am certain there are not enough to make that happen. I hate to put the problem on we the voters, but that is where is started — we elected them — and that is where it MUST stop. How?

Voters will have to initiate whatever actions are taken to prod federal legislators to convene such a convention. Their hesitation to do so will come primarily from what we discussed above, but also from the question of who will structure such a convention, who will be in charge of content and process which will together determine the future of representative democracy in America.

Summary

The bottom line is a simple one: American either take charge of our government — and that includes taxing and spending — or there will very soon be nothing to spend because there will be no income from individuals and companies to tax.

It’s that simple. It may sound like gloom and doom. But that is exactly what it is.