Life In Sherman Oaks

Up until the 80′s, the political parties in the country were not nearly so partisan.

Not all members of a party voted with their party. In the past, congresspeople actually had their own minds.

Not so today. Party line votes are the standard. And it’s why it’s so difficult to get anything done in Congress. Because of the increased partisanship, the opposition minority party, can threaten to filibuster (requiring that the majority party find 60 votes) to pass a bill.

In the 110th Congress, a filibuster was threatened 112 times by the GOP.

Thus far in the 111th Congress, the GOP has threatened 109 times.

This is perhaps why we see an inordinate number of bills being introduced which seem, well, quite silly. For example:

H.R. 306 – Authorizing the use of the rotunda for a photo exhibition

H.R. 305 – Expressing the sense of Congress concerning contraceptives for women

H.R. 1560 – Designating National Computer Science Education Week

We’re in the midst of a recession… and this is what Congress does?

Now to be fair, there are two GOP’er left in Maine who tend to split and therefore allow the passage of legislation: such as the Wall Street Reform Act and the Health Cre Reform Bill.

But the truth is, the minority — led by the hubris of the GOP/tea party — is a tyrannical group refusing to allow votes on legislation.

The further question is — how did this happen? Why are the parties so partisan?

I’d offer a suggestion… the “Christian right.” If you want to see politicians become dogmatic — just insert religion into the process. I suspect that’s why our founding fathers were so adamant that religion be kept out of politics…

But — that is not the case. Until we get smarter, it won’t be. Religion has become such a major issue, that middle America actually thinks Sarah Palin is qualified to be President! Can you imagine Sarah in charge of foreign policy?

Think about it.