The Solution to Obstructionism.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has apparently had enough of Democratic contrariness and he is going to streamline the Senate confirmation process.  In my lifetime, there has never been obstruction like we are seeing in today’s Congress.  The partisan sparring between our two national parties has always involved a certain amount of Congressional gamesmanship; but the hatred and venom that has been directed towards the Trump Administration is reaching a point where some permanent changes are about to be wrought.  If someone on the Democratic side of the aisle does not soon step forward and exhibit some common sense in legislative matters, the Republicans are going to take some dramatic actions that will have ripple effects far into the future…to the detriment of both parties and our nation. 

The strategy of the Democrats is obvious.  They are using their deep state, carryover federal employees in various government agencies to do everything possible towards delaying Trump Administration policy initiatives.  This effort, combined with their obstruction in Congress, is calculated to minimize the possible changes by Republicans.  It is clearly the hope of the Democrats that having created this dysfunction in government until the mid-term elections or the next general election, they can then shift the power back to their liberal philosophy and continue with their Obama business as usual.  Another disappointing aspect of this Democratic tactic is the farcical circus surrounding the Trump Campaign/Russian Collusion investigation and all of the cottage industries that have sprung from it.  Not only has this sham helped to delay any significant policy progress from the Trump Administration; it has also served the dual purpose of deflecting appropriate and necessary attention to the DOJ and partisan abuses of power by the Obama Administration. 

I find myself terribly frustrated by the Republican’s apparent impotent responses to these obstructionist tactics and wonder aloud how with a Congressional majority and a sitting President, the Republicans cannot use the levers of power to at least mitigate these delaying tactics.  It is certainly a critical consideration that even though the Republicans are the majority party in the Senate, they fall short of the magic cloture-solving number of sixty votes and are continuously hamstrung by that threshold.  I am inclined to give McConnell a pass for this reason, while secretly hoping that he would at least show a bit more animation in his protests about Democratic chicanery.  Much more troubling to me is the failure of the Trump Administration to use their administrative tools to reshape federal departments and agencies into a force that will more readily implement a new and improved model for government operations.  I think that we have all, myself included, underestimated the power and influence of the deep state obstacle in trying to transform the federal administrative workforce.  Additionally, it is significant to note that Trump comes into the White House as an outsider and an outcast of his own party; bereft of the type of institutional support that most newly elected presidents enjoy.  

My belief is that Republicans are squishy; but at least they have the right policies.  Their continual habit of bringing a knife to a partisan gunfight is maddening; but they do, in the main, represent a more efficient and effective model for running this country.  The question that is hanging out there is how the Trump Administration can specifically, and the Republican Party in general, overcome this obstruction effort and get some real changes actually implemented before the current shelf life of a Republican majority expires?

The first order of business is to take care of business.  In spite of all the hurdles that may be placed before them, Trump and Congressional Republicans must accomplish legislative goals.  They have to demonstrate the ability to get things done in order to effectively contrast their policies with those of the Democrats.  If the policy discussions are confined to partisan wrangling and rhetoric, the debate devolves into misinformation and misdirection.  As we have seen from the tax reform legislation; it is necessary for new laws and policies to actually work their way into our everyday lives in order for the public to fully grasp their significance.  The Republican Congressional Leadership and the Trump Administration must reassess their approach to governing, use every tool in the box to move along their initiatives, and come to a sobering realization that their time in power is transient and may be coming to an end sooner than anyone thinks. 

Secondly; the American voters must take the time to study exactly what each national party stands for and make the effort to support the party of their choice.  These days do not allow us the luxury as citizens to have our ideal candidate before us on the ballot.  Unfortunately, we are oftentimes faced with the lesser of two evils.  But that uncomfortable choice pales in comparison to the larger facts of what the impact might be if one party’s vision of America is superior to the other.  Carefully consider what principles created the birth of this nation.  Think about the values you hold in your personal life and those of your family.  Think about the relationships between you and your government, at every level, and exactly how much involvement you are willing to give bureaucrats in your day-to-day living.  Think about what actions or services are intrinsically governmental in nature and what actions or services are best left to the private sectors of our society.  Think about whether the inherent and proper rights and dignity of the minority should permit them to impose laws of behavior and loss of liberties on the majority.  Think about the type of life your children will experience as they grow and mature; inheriting the environment that we, the American voters, are creating for them.   Honestly consider the state of this nation at the end of Obama’s two terms and what the election of Hillary Clinton would have done to perpetuate and further evolve that globalist vision of America.  The reality is that the Democratic Party has deserted the pragmatism of President Clinton, advanced far beyond the universal healthcare concepts of HillaryCare, and shifted well to the left of Obama’s liberal utopian ideals.  Just as our President is deeply flawed, so is the Republican Party.  Their policies are not bulletproof; they are susceptible to corruption and distraction; and they can be just as self-serving as any Democrat that ever lived.  But the hard truth is that the current state of Republican policy is far superior to that of the Democrats and it is critically important to preserve that policy through the maintenance of Republican majorities in the House and Senate.

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In a perfect world, a new and unique candidate will arise from the many 2020 presidential wannabes.  It will be a candidate that is motivated by a quest for a smaller and more efficient government.  It will be a leader that can both inspire the public and effectively manage the sprawling bureaucracy that is our government.  It will be a candidate that will speak in terms that are strong and principled, yet civil and respectful.   It will be an individual who has somehow discovered a method to bridge the partisan gap between our two national parties and restore some semblance of statesmanship in the WDC environment.  But, alas…we do not live in a perfect world.  Short of a highly unlikely indictment, impeachment, resignation or retirement, it is almost certain that Donald Trump will be the Republican candidate for President in 2020.  It is nearly as certain that given the way the liberal left has taken ownership of the Democratic Party, the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee will be about two small steps short of a socialist.  In our quest for perfection and our frustration with imperfection, we as voters must not lose sight of the fact that we can only vote for those candidates that are on the ballot.  Our government is more than one Senator or one Representative.   Our government is more than one President.  Our government is a reflection of the collective choices we make in selecting the people to run that government. 

It is my belief that the best direction for this nation, as things currently stand, is to hope that Donald Trump can somehow grow into his role as President and gain the respect that comes from real accomplishment.  I believe that as imperfect and flawed as the Republican Party is; they best represent the ideals that our nation was founded upon and can better manage the government of that nation.  I shudder to think about where this country would be today if Hillary Clinton had defeated Donald Trump and all of the revelations that have occurred over the last year had simply been papered over.  We will get the government we deserve.

What We Have Become.

Two “documents” have recently been released; the memoirs of ex-FBI Director James Comey and the Report of the Investigative General of the Department of Justice.  Comey’s book has sucked all of the oxygen out of the room while very little attention has been paid to the IG Report.  One is a collection of sanctimonious opinions from a terminated federal employee who has, without question, improperly leaked DOJ information to the media in surreptitious fashion, at a minimum played fast and loose with the truth surrounding multiple FBI investigations, and sprinkled his novel with material better suited for the National Enquirer.  The IG Report is a result of a months-long investigation by a non-partisan career professional that has had complete and total access to all of the facts surrounding that of which he speaks.  It is a scathing indictment of how Obama’s Department of Justice operated and unfortunately, it is likely only a harbinger of many more scandals to come.  It says something about us as a country that all of the public attention is focused on Comey’s effort and not that of the IG.

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The Inspector General is Michael E. Horowitz, an Obama appointee.  You can read his report yourself and draw your own judgment @ https://www.lawfareblog.com/document-doj-inspector-general-report-andrew-mccabe.  There can be little doubt that the Obama Administration, through the Department of Justice and Attorney General Loretta Lynch, did all it could to deflect any investigation into Hillary Clinton wrongdoing in advance of the last presidential election.  Additionally, Andrew McCabe, the recently terminated FBI Deputy Director who previously worked hand-in-glove with his supervisor James Comey, is undeniably exposed as little more than a partisan hack who has long been abusing his power and position in the DOJ for political purposes.

Comey, a self-professed paragon of virtue, served as FBI Director beginning in September of 2013, being appointed by Obama, until he was fired from that position by President Trump in May of 2017.  At various times over the last few years of his tenure, he was alternately praised and condemned by both Democrats and Republicans …depending on whose ox he was goring at the time.  Although he spent most of his early legal career as a government employee, he spent the time period of August 2005 up to his Obama appointment as a corporate lawyer on the east coast.  His anti-Trump dialogue is openly embraced by the mainstream media and all those associated with the Resist Trump movement.  Trump supporters and loyalists claim that his literary effort is little more than a pathetic, partisan swipe at the man who fired him.  Again…you read the book and you decide.

At a moment in time when the three most powerful forces for freedom and liberty on this planet, America/United Kingdom/France, have just executed an attack on a rogue regime in Syria, at the high level risk of escalating an already volatile situation into a more heated environment; after years of fiscal paralysis, when America’s economy is finally beginning to gain some momentum, realizing the growth of decent jobs and seeing the business sector flourish; when Congress has pitifully continued to demonstrate its absolute incompetence by failing to pass a budget, continually squawking about Russian meddling, and generally spending most of its time on things that are peripheral to its  primary functions; when illegal immigration is tearing this country apart and there continues to be no meaningful discussion or debate about  how federal immigration policy should be revised; in the midst of all of this…most all of the media want to talk about a book that discusses Trump’s hair, his possible tanning bed habits, the size of  his hands, and an assessment of his moral content from a disgruntled ex-employee of his (yes…I said that correctly; the FBI Director is hired by the Chief Executive and serves at his pleasure).

While the careful and professional investigative report of the IG is largely ignored, the critically important abuses of power that it exposes are simply skipped over by the media for the more salacious flavors of Donald Trump’s past romps with centerfold playmates and porn queens.  That we, as a nation, are obsessing with one of these revelations over the other is a very telling moment.  Partisanship is a fever that has forever fueled our two-party political system in America.  It is critical that we have two strong and vital political philosophies to serve as a governor on the other.  But when partisanship reaches the stage at which it now resides, permeating every aspect of our culture, with no one in either party showing the ability, or the courage, to stand up and call out the fever for what it is…then we have reached a very sad place indeed.  We deserve the government we elect.  We have elected a poor choice as President whose many flaws are barely exceeded by his choice of wise policies and qualified appointees.  The Democratic Party has devolved into a pathetic, writhing blob of bitching, moaning, and classless criticisms.  The Republican Party, having achieved a brief moment of supreme political positioning, has forsaken the principles which he has espoused for decades in return for a spineless, unprincipled quest for some type of public image and the paths of least resistance.  Our recently-fired FBI Director is hawking his tell-all book on the street corner, we are bombing a middle-eastern government into oblivion, the Democrats want to impeach our Republican President for eating the wrong cereal at breakfast, the Republicans in Congress continue their athletically-challenged exhibition of tripping over themselves, the federal budget expenditures continue to balloon far beyond expected revenues with no thought towards the hole we are digging ourselves, and…the beat goes on.  This is what we have become.

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.