I t doesn’t matter where they come from. Be they Coastal or Heartlander, once they arrive in Washington, D.C., and are sworn into Congress, they all convert (or revert) to large-scale Coastal group-think. And that doesn’t translate into unity. Far from it... They morph into the dysfunctional mess that is Congress today.
By Ernest Dogsbody To get to this point, however,
in Democratic districts try to out-flank each other to the left to endear themselves to progressive voters, while those in Republican districts do the same to the right to energize the (pick one): religious groups, gun owners, disenfranchised factory workers, etc. What winds up coming to Washington is a Congress of extremist true believers resembling Dr. Seuss’ Prairie of Prax where the North-Going Zax and South Going Zax stand toe to toe and face to face and never – but NEVER – take a step to one side. This is the cause of the partisan rancor and breakdown of the “regular order” in Congress. And so, the congressional cycle progresses with our elected representatives collectively throwing their toys out of their prams in well-orchestrated self-righteous temper tantrums. Until one day in the second session of the cycle, there is a collective realization that they’re all up for re-election soon, and they have no accomplishments on which to campaign. The search begins for some feel- good legislation on which everyone can agree and on which members from either party can put their own political spin back home.
Congress is seemingly without the ability to agree on anything. So why does the legislative and regulatory assault on average citizens and businesses continue to escalate? You would think that ideological paralysis would allow Heartlanders to merrily go about their business in peace. Unfortunately, that’s not the reality we live in. With apologies to “Schoolhouse Rock,” let’s take an extemporaneous look at how a bill REALLY becomes a law today. The source of our current debacle is gerrymandering. Congressional districts continue to be carved up to suit the needs of the prevailing party in each state, making some congressional district maps look more like a political Rorschach test than anything a normal person would consider reasonable. These districts are designed to create “safe” seats for both parties while ensuring that the party in power maximizes the number of districts it controls. This practice has all but eliminated any swing districts that would produce moderate members of Congress. Now, the actual elections occur in the primaries. Pandering to their bases, candidates campaign to the extremes. Those
the lawwas written with intentional vagueness so as not to offend any special interests. Now the dirty details need to be figured
out by the regulators.
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American Consequences 83
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