Tom Mast – Founder of Solve American Gridlock
It is only to be expected that competition will exist among people who are intelligent and ambitious. But, when relationships deteriorate to the point that they can be characterized by animosity and discord, damage is being done to the organization – Congress. Few would disagree that differences in recent years have led to unusually bitter and dysfunctional feelings among members. This is occurring both between and within the two political parties. Why? What are the root causes?
Members are disillusioned that they don’t have the power and influence expected in their roles. Why is this? The striving for power between the two parties has led to a shifting of influence from members to party leaders, reduction in committee responsibilities, downgrading of regular order including floor discourse and open voting, and respect for individual opinions. Why did this happen? The emphasis on a party’s winning legislative votes and elections has led to an unfortunate centralization of power in congress. Also, there is a feeling that the party in power can do anything it wants, leading to its taking inflexible positions well to the left or right of center.
Polarization and ill feelings are fueled by other conditions. Members are overloaded with the huge volume and variety of matters being handled by the federal government; there is no way a member can be even semi-competent in a tiny fraction of these topics. Why? The number of federal issues grows naturally with population and as new topics are added – like the Internet, aviation, nuclear energy, and China trade. In addition, it also grows as the federal government takes on tasks formerly the responsibility of state and local governments per the constitution. Rather than “whose problem is this?” we now hear “how and when is the federal government going to do something about this?”
Members of congress are overloaded, but not allowed to exercise the powers they rightly believed they would have in congress, creating apathy among many of them. Their hands are tied. The focus often is on checkmating the other party rather than solving our country’s problems. The two-party system we have in America is a root cause, bringing about animosity and discord. See www.solveamericangridlock.com to learn how multi-member districts and ranked choice voting can bring the needed improvements to our congress.
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