(Note-sorry this is a long one, but I had a lot to get off my chest)
The legislative branch of our government, as established in
the U.S. Constitution, is bicameral; meaning it is composed of two bodies—the
House of Representatives and the Senate.
The duties and responsibilities are much alike, excepting that all Court
and Cabinet appointees must be approved by the Senate, and all tax revenue bills
must originate in the House. Of lesser
importance, the Senate must conduct the impeachment trials of anyone first
impeached by the House. Otherwise, all
aspects of their respective authorities seem to just overlap (making the
overlapping authority serve as one giant playground to push each other around
on—more about this later). It is, in the
words of many, "deliberately inefficient by design.” This was done to prevent the majority from
ruling with an iron fist (See the Eastern European fiascos of the 1990’s where
majorities persecuted, exiled and even attacked and slaughtered members of minority
religious groups).
By forcing the various branches to be accountable to the
others, no one branch can usurp enough power to become dominant. Simple enough, right? Things like executive vetoes, legislative
overriding of vetoes, agreement between the bicameral parts of the legislative
branch, judicial review and interpretation of laws passed by the legislative
branch and signed by the Executive branch, Judicial presiding over any
legislative impeachment trials; are all examples of checks and balances.
When you count them up, the legislative branch has ten
checks on the executive branch, seven on the judiciary, and four self-checks
within itself due to its bicameral nature (e.g., both houses must agree on any
legislation before it can be sent to the president). That was twenty-one of anyone is counting
along.
The executive branch has seven checks on the legislature,
two checks on the judiciary, and one check on the executive branch itself—the
Vice-President and members of the cabinet may vote that the President is unable
to perform his duties. That’s another
ten, making thirty-one so far.
Finally, the judicial branch has three checks on the
legislature and two on the executive.
Don’t get me started on the separation of powers between the state and
federal governments. Within the federal
government alone that makes thirty-six checks (No wonder their checkbooks never
balance!). To make a long story a little
shorter, it ain’t easy getting things done (on purpose).
A glance at the antics in Washington will surely tell you
that. Within itself, there is often
disagreement between the big kids (the Senate—they are, after all required to
be at least thirty years of age and have been a citizen for nine years. Further, they are elected to serve for
six-year terms. To serve in the House
you need only be twenty-five years of age and have been a citizen for just
seven years, and they are only elected for a two-year term. In middle school/high school terms, the House
members are seventh graders and the Senators are like seniors in high
school. The middle-schoolers even have to reapply at the end of eighth
grade to be readmitted as 7th graders. (I guess they could apply for admission to
high school after a few years by running for the Senate. Usually, they have to be re-elected a time or
two to gather the experience and support necessary to apply for high school
(with the “minor exception” of one-time Senator Obama, and Then
there is the “take-it-off-the-wall-and-stomp-on-the-rule exception that is
Donald Trump, who became college president without ever entering middle school,
high school or college (Maybe he attended the electoral college, he seems to
have been well thought of there). But
let’s get back to the seventh-graders and high school seniors—don’tthey both act like it!
Those grown-ups in the Senate are playing tit for tat over
judicial nominee Gorsuch and the previous administration’s last of term nominee
I-forgot-his-name. Because one clique
(they call themselves “republicans”) refused to admit what’s-his-name, the
other clique (they call themselves “democrats”) wants to take the ball and go
over to Phil and Buster’s with it.
With that the republican clique responds by changing the
rules of the game, just because they have the majority (and, therefore, the
legal right to do so) to let Gorsuch into the court without persuading eight or
nine members of the democrat clique to join the republican clique for a few
days. Think back to middle school and high school—did
kids ever change cliques, or did they outgrow them? I can’t think of anyone who changed cliques,
although I remember a few getting kicked out.
So, the big kids play on, and on, and on….
Now back to middle school—in the House, they are elected for a
two-year term, then they must run again.
Getting re-elected is critical for the House. Put another way, if they don’t get
re-admitted into junior high, they may never even get to high school. Somewhere along the way, these days, one
cannot be re-elected without campaign financing. These are like brownie points in school, only
way more important. If they can win the
hearts of contributors, readmission to junior high is assured. The problem lies in calling them
“Representatives.” If every thing they
do is aimed at collecting money, then something else is going on. I’ve expressed it in verse this way:
Their
behavior’s not meant to represent you and me,
But
campaign contributors who provide the money
Kowtowing
to contributors doesn’t really serve me
But
absent reforms the norm this will be.
Now campaign contributors each have their own agenda (and
each of the big ones probably owns a representative). At the middle school level, we have so many
representatives for sale that there are cliques within cliques. The Republicans have their own conservative, moderate
and tea party cliques. The Democrats
have a few conservatives from blue states, they have a Far Left clique and then
a variety of other cliques, each with a single issue driving them—keep that
money flowing and they can get re-admitted—I mean re-elected. It’s all about getting re-elected. I propose we rename them the House of
Re-Elect-Me-Kids. It fits a bit better
from where I sit.
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