Before modification by fionwe1987 at 06/08/2021 05:02:45 AM
We hold members of Congress accountable on both sides for the inexcusable gridlock and kicking the can down the road to score political points? How about we make them do their jobs? </Quote>
And how do you plan to achieve this?
<Quote>Presidents have publicly called upon Congress to remain in session until they passed critical legislation rather than going on recess in the past. He can’t order them to do so but the public statement focuses attention on Congress as the roadblock and galvanizes public opinion. As it should because they are the roadblock.
<Quote>Biden chose not to do that.
And how many past Presidents have faced a public who's opinion is completely fractured? The part of the country that consistently votes Republican will not agree that the sky is blue if Biden says it. They won't fucking wear a mask, or take on a vaccine, so why exactly is a call for action on evictions supposed to rouse them when 600,000 deaths have not?
And Republicans have made it clear they don't care about broader public opinion. They're in a race to win over Trump's base. Which means saying no to almost anything Biden would propose.
None of this absolves Biden or the Dems. It's absurd he waited this long. But I fail to see why you think there's some regular political play to solve this situation.
<Quote>The problem is not the Constitution. The problem is the electorate doesn’t adequately punish those who disregard it.
And how are they supposed to when the Constitution permits, or has been interpreted to permit, parties to pick their their constituents?
When you can pass laws which make voting harder? When you can pass laws which say politicians can get whatever amount of private money they want to fuel their election campaigns, and even requirements that they disclose their donors are soon likely to fall?
There's a strong majority in this country in favor any number of common sense laws that Congress could pass <I>if</I> the Constitution was written to ensure the basic democratic principle of one person one vote.
But it doesn't. And you can bemoan the electorate all you want, but the electorates ability to hold politicians accountable is pretty weak, and being made weaker every passing year.
Heck, even when the electorate does punish politicians for failed administrations, we now have widespread dismissal of the results and belief that an election was stolen.
If you want to keep hoping for a miracle, continue, by all means.