Our Dysfunctional Federal Government

” the rancor and suspicion between the parties has gotten worse instead of better.”
President Obama (January 2016)
 
While President Obama lamented on the increasing polarization during his Administration, he needs only to look in the mirror. His demonizing those who disagree with him, unwillingness to compromise other than on his terms …

Compromise is Not a Four-Letter Word

A Failing Political System

“No democratic government can last long without conciliation and compromise.”
Benjamin Franklin
Partisan politics have been part of the American landscape since the bitter 1798 presidential campaign between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.  However, the endless divisiveness and unwillingness of our Beltway representatives to work across party and ideological lines has so …

Citizen Legislators or Career Politicians ?

“The tyranny of political assemblies”
Alexis de Tocqueville
Calls for term limitation date back to a pre-Constitutional period when our Union operated under the Articles of Confederation.  Delegates serving in the Continental Congress between 1776 and 1788 were limited to a maximum of three years in any six year period. 
The framers, …

Congress . . . Citizen Legislators or Political Careerists?

The framers of our Constitution envisioned the American Congress being comprised of a cadre of citizen legislators, men (and later women) who would temporarily interrupt their business and personal careers for a few years to contribute to and participate in the governing of their nation, subsequently returning to their communities …

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