Is WDC Stuck in a Spin Cycle?

Between the Resist Trump movement by the Democrats in the House, the incompetence of the Republicans in the Senate, the blatant disregard for the rule of law in the Judiciary, the malfeasance from Obama holdovers in the civil service, and the unpredictable mayhem of the Trump White House, it is difficult to see how this WDC dysfunction moves in any direction but downward.  Is there anything at all that can be done to improve the effectiveness, efficiency, transparency, and ethical standards of our government and how it operates?  While there is certainly no silver bullet that will solve this dilemma overnight, there are some common sense steps and actions that might move the needle in the right direction.

Term Limits.  I know, I know…who in their right mind could possibly believe that our noble Senators and Representatives would actually vote themselves out of a job?  I cannot argue with that logic.  But simply because it does not seem likely or easily attainable does not make it unworthy of pursuit.  There can be little doubt that a large portion of the problems surrounding our Congress is the fact that powerful Congressional people have been corrupted by their length of service and they simply refuse to give it up.  Additionally, the longer they live and work in the WDC environment, the more out of touch they become with the people and the communities they are sent there to serve.  Every Senator harbors a secret ambition to become President and once that ambition is shriveled by reality, the notion remains that they would be a better President than the one in the White House.  The House was intended by the founders to be an ever-evolving body of citizens who took a bit of time from their routine lives to serve this nation.  Nowadays, every Representative appears to live with the impression that they were selected as the savior of divine government rather than the leading vote-getter from a handful of counties in their home state.  And the Presidents…they get elected to a four-year term and get no more than moved in the White House before they are running for re-election.  Every decision they seem to make is tinged with the impact it might have on the upcoming elections.  And of course, they all live under the illusion that they can remake this nation into that perfect ideal they hold in their infallible little heads. 

Give the President one, six-year term to accomplish their goals.  That is sufficient and it will eliminate having a campaigner-in-chief rather than a true Chief Executive.  Any Senator that serves more than three, six-year terms has forgotten what is like to be a regular citizen; they consider themselves royalty.  They are either actively running for a higher office or maneuvering around to benefit from someone else getting it.  EIGHTEEN years is sufficient.  And the House, where we have citizen representatives from our own home towns or areas…how long do they navigate about in WDC before they forget from whence they came and why they came?  These folks have to maintain a closer alliance with the homefolks because they represent such a smaller area with fewer people and serve far shorter terms in office.  If they are of sufficient caliber to be re-elected for six, two-year terms, I say let them have it.  But after twelve years in office, they should move on to another vocation. 

Biennial Budgeting.  This continuing fiscal circus of Keystone Kop impersonation that is being annually performed by our sitting Presidents and Congress has reached epic fail status.  The combination of sweetheart trades, omnibus packaging, continuing resolutions, and last minute annual appropriations panic composition has rendered the annual federal budgeting process a joke.  For whatever reason, Congress has proven itself clearly incapable of properly passing a federal budget prior to the year the spending plan is scheduled to be implemented.  This has led to ballooning deficits that neither party wants to acknowledge or discuss; a monstrous albatross that is being hung about the necks of our children.  It has led to extraneous and bizarre expenditures being shoveled into last minute legislation that nobody knows anything about…except those doing the shoveling.  It has led to federal agencies never being able to use good business practices to plan their staffing, their training, and their very missions in any type of responsible fashion.  It has gotten so bad that no one involved in the process feels any shame or accountability whatsoever for failing to perform the primary function for which they were elected.  A biennial budget will not solve all of the partisan wrangling that dogs the federal budget process; but if Congress and the President could ever manage to get just one biennial budget completed on time, prior to the implementation period, just think about what might be accomplished in the following two years.  Congress could actually hold real hearings and debates about priorities for federal spending.  Federal agencies could assimilate two-year plans of action about the best ways to implement legislation and law.  It is bound to clear up the water to some degree and it just…makes…good…sense.  Now most folks can only budget as far ahead as their reliable income will allow.   That is no problem for the government, however; if they need more money, they just print more money. 

Less Patronage; More Career; Beef Up Hatch Act.  Increasingly, we are seeing a President assume their office in an environment soaked with partisan venom.  The party that is out of power seems intent on conducting guerilla warfare against the party that is in power; all for the purpose or intent to paralyze the majority party’s policy initiatives with no consideration for good and effective government.  Although I don’t believe I have ever seen this phenomenon rise to the current level we see in the Resist Trump movement; it has indeed gone on for decades and was very much in play during Obama’s two terms.  How can we tamp this down and spend more time governing with less time…organizing? 

It is estimated that each new President appoints about 3,000 people based on political considerations; commonly referred to as patronage appointments.  The upside to this type of hire is that a President gets to select people of like mind and inclination; people who think like he does and will hopefully be loyal to his ideals.  The downside is that even though we know these folks will be true believers, we can only hope they will be competent to fulfill their duties and responsibilities.  That is not always the case.  Many times, people are rewarded more for their monetary contributions to the candidate than they are for their intelligence, capabilities, and accomplishments.  A competent true believer can significantly improve the implementation of a new President’s agenda and serve the government well.  An incompetent political hack serves no useful purpose, destroys the morale and stability that may already be in place, and simply serves as a placeholder until the next President comes around.  A poorly appointed patronage employee is resented by the majority of career civil service employees who serve alongside and subordinate to them; creating a toxic atmosphere for effectiveness and efficiency. 

In addition to the quality problems associated with patronage appointments; there is also the delays created by the need for Congressional approvals.  Many of the patronage appointment positions are essential and critical to the good performance of our government; but they get bogged down in the Congressional review process due to partisan chicanery.  It is not unusual these days for many important political appointment positions to remain vacant well into the mid-term or later of a newly-elected President.  A thorough review needs to be conducted and many of these patronage appointments need to be converted to career civil service positions.  Let the federal hiring system serve its purpose to select the best people for the jobs and then let these people develop a career of accomplishment serving our government.  Just imagine the increased efficiency that would be gained from continuity alone as we transfer power from administration to administration with far less turnover in federal agency managers. Think about how much more time would be available to a new President to accomplish their vision for our nation if they can more quickly put their team in place to implement that vision. These actions would not require amendments to the Constitution; only a bi-partisan group of leaders (please…don’t injure yourself laughing) from Congress who are more interested in government that works than they are in rewarding their contributors.

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And if we are going to convert a significant number of these patronage appointments to career spots, then we must simultaneously (in the same piece of legislation) review and strengthen the Hatch Act.  Generally speaking, the Hatch Act is the set of rules applying to federal employees that is intended to keep politics out of the fashion in which they perform their duties.  It is designed to prevent political conflicts of interests and eliminate favoritism infections in the administration of government policies.  The Hatch Act has been somewhat diluted and marginalized over the last several administrations and the prosecution of its violations have been largely cherry picked by random accusers with political vendettas.  Based on what we have learned in recent revelations about the FISA program, the DOJ’s questionable behavior, and the blatant politicization of government agencies by the Obama administration; it is abundantly clear that the Hatch Act needs to be reviewed and strengthened to prevent the future political poisoning that has been occurring in the halls of our government.

If these three initiatives were to become reality, a President would come into office with full confidence that they could get their team in place in short order and begin the process of fulfilling his or her campaign promises.  They would not be looking ahead to insuring their own re-election and they should more intently focus on actual policy.  Over their term in office, they should be in a position to greatly influence three biennial budgets, which should dramatically enable them to put their policy ideals into actual practice.  They would have serving beneath them in the many and varied layers of government more professionals and fewer politicians than any President before them; and they could rely on the promise that those federal employees were interested in performing their appointed duties to the best of their abilities and not scoring political points for selfish reasons.  It might not be sufficient to entirely eliminate the current spin cycle; but it would absolutely slow it down and put it on a new path towards rediscovering some sense of gravity in this crazy, vertigoesque environment we are now experiencing.