Well, I don't think I've read anything at all in the media to date that accurately reflects the frustration I feel about the dysfunction in DC. Thoughts on the linked article?

 

Driving Moderates out of Congress

 

This part resonated with me in an especially big way:

 

But ideological stubbornness may be just one ingredient in the recipe for congressional paralysis. Throw in congressional redistricting, which has made it more difficult for moderates to run and win. Judicial nominations are stalled. Legislation that sails through the House is often dead on arrival in the Senate. Even issues that appear to have bipartisan support -- such as capping student loan interest rates -- get stuck in the goo of Congress.

Next, add primary rule changes that only allow registered party members to vote and a polarized electorate whose grassroots efforts have put tremendous pressure on lawmakers to stay true to a more narrow interpretation of party values. Then sweeten it with the rise of more partisan-leaning media that allows voters to only consume news skewed to their own political views.

The result: danger for moderates on both sides of the aisle.

I've decided and it's probably dumb that I'm not voting for any incumbents no matter what their beliefs are until the country gets turned around

Well, I don't think I've read anything at all in the media to date that accurately reflects the frustration I feel about the dysfunction in DC. Thoughts on the linked article?

 

Driving Moderates out of Congress

 

This part resonated with me in an especially big way:

 

I agree...it just seems we are more polarized than we have been in a long time - actually the mid-70's. To me much of it seems to be engineered as well for the benefits of parties but at the expense of quality government. It aggravated me when I registered to vote in Kentucky that I had to declare a party. It seems like I shouldn't have to.

I agree...it just seems we are more polarized than we have been in a long time - actually the mid-70's. To me much of it seems to be engineered as well for the benefits of parties but at the expense of quality government. It aggravated me when I registered to vote in Kentucky that I had to declare a party. It seems like I shouldn't have to.

 

You don't have to declare a party, but it's almost impossible to have the chance to vote in primaries if you don't register either D or R. I'm registered Independent. I can't remember the last (if ever there was one) primary I was able to vote in.

You don't have to declare a party, but it's almost impossible to have the chance to vote in primaries if you don't register either D or R. I'm registered Independent. I can't remember the last (if ever there was one) primary I was able to vote in.

 

My registration was sent back to me in the mail because I didn't designate a party... ??? This is when I moved from Lexington to Frankfort five years ago.

You don't have to declare a party, but it's almost impossible to have the chance to vote in primaries if you don't register either D or R. I'm registered Independent. I can't remember the last (if ever there was one) primary I was able to vote in.

 

I just looked up voter registration, and you are correct. There should have been a box to check "other" for party designation, then one is to write in the 3rd party or independent. I recall the card I filled out was missing this box which I thought strange. Then when I got the card back for not filling in a box...I thought it stranger.

Congress is a mess. We need a change of heart in how legislating is done. Leaders – and the voters who elect them – need to recognize that “compromise” isn’t a four-letter word. The purpose of legislating isn’t to grandstand – it is to work out differences and find commonality that is in the best interest of our country. Over 40 percent of the voters in the nation identify themselves as “moderates.” However, less than 10 percent of the current members of Congress would self-identify the same way. Congress was designed to represent a cross section of America. This is no longer the case. Congress is officially broken due to extreme partisanship on both sides. There is rarely any mention that this exodus already happened in the House in 2010 – albeit mostly involuntary – and the resulting gridlock should serve as a warning. Scores of Blue Dogs and moderate Republicans either resigned or lost their elections when the Tea Party took power. Who's to blame? The voters or non-voters?

The situation is made worse by the “seniority system.” The most senior members with the safest (most partisan) districts stay the longest, gain the most clout, and become chairmen and leaders. The result is that the partisan skew is magnified. Take our state for instance, Mitch never gets ditched. He just wants Obama gone nothing else no compromise. I'm sick of it.

Congress is a mess. We need a change of heart in how legislating is done. Leaders – and the voters who elect them – need to recognize that “compromise” isn’t a four-letter word. The purpose of legislating isn’t to grandstand – it is to work out differences and find commonality that is in the best interest of our country. Over 40 percent of the voters in the nation identify themselves as “moderates.” However, less than 10 percent of the current members of Congress would self-identify the same way. Congress was designed to represent a cross section of America. This is no longer the case. Congress is officially broken due to extreme partisanship on both sides. There is rarely any mention that this exodus already happened in the House in 2010 – albeit mostly involuntary – and the resulting gridlock should serve as a warning. Scores of Blue Dogs and moderate Republicans either resigned or lost their elections when the Tea Party took power. Who's to blame? The voters or non-voters?

The situation is made worse by the “seniority system.” The most senior members with the safest (most partisan) districts stay the longest, gain the most clout, and become chairmen and leaders. The result is that the partisan skew is magnified. Take our state for instance, Mitch never gets ditched. He just wants Obama gone nothing else no compromise. I'm sick of it.

 

Holy cow! My thoughts articulated!

We've lost our way as a country. Ideals no longer have real value. Politics has become a game -- a sport -- which is to be "won" at all costs. And it's to be won, not to advance any cause for the common good, but to get our guy in there and to their guy out...so we can say we won. And when we win, the lobbyists come to pay us homage...and just to pay us.

 

Nothing matters so much anymore as claiming power, influence and wealth. The idealists have all been silenced; they've been crushed beneath the wheels of the mighty political machines, which feed on money and false promises, while accomplishing nothing -- because accomplishing something might deter a fraction of our base. It could cost us the next election!

 

No one who calls themself a politician in is in real public service anymore. Of course, nobody calls themself "a polititian," because that kind of honesty is political lunacy. It could cost us the election...and then where would we be? The barbaric devils who are our sworn enemy on the other side of the aisle, or the other side of the picket fence, would be victorious over us, and they would win our place at the trough of influence and graft. We cannot let that happen! We must paint a picture of our opponent as we need them to be perceived, and peddle that image to the uninformed and apathetic masses.

 

No, I don't have any answers. I'm not sure there are any. But somehow, this country has to recapture its idealism -- the spirit of 9/12. Remember that moment, after the attacks? Remember how we were all one for just a few days. There were no parties, no opponents...no politics. We were all sharing our pain as proud Americans. I wish we could have bottled the patriotism and community of that moment. And I wish it didn't take such a horrible tragedy to bring it about.

 

Aristotle said, "A common danger unites even the bitterest enemies." Maybe a common enemy is what it takes. Then again, we do have some common enemies, if we'd just realize it: poverty, unemployment, terrorism, trade inbalances, education lag, natural resources and many more. When will statesmanship and leadership take the place of politics and greed? Maybe never...because that could cost us the election.

 

 

 

 

For Sale: One soapbox. Only been used once.

Edited May 19, 201214 yr by Birdsfan

Snowe grew so fed up with the current climate in Washington that she decided not to run for a fourth term. Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Nebraska; Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Connecticut; Sen. Jim Webb, D-Virginia; Sen. Kent Conrad, D-North Dakota; and Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-New Mexico, are centrist-leaning lawmakers who are also retiring.

 

Ben Nelson - made a backroom deal for his state and sold his vote for Obamacare He also voted for the failed stimulus.

Jim Webb - also voted for Obamacare and the failed stimulus. He is now calling out Obama but his bed was made in 2009. See here.

Kent Conrad - made a backroom deal for his state of ND. The problem - Obama reneged on the deal. So he voted for Obamacare and got the shaft by Obama. He also voted for the failed stimulus.

Jeff Bingaman - voted for Obamacare and the stimulus.

 

 

So these 'moderates' voted like every other Democrat on the two most most divisive bills in recent history. They had a chance to stop these two train wrecks - and did not and voted the party line in both cases.

 

Moderates? Maybe sometimes, but everyone remembers to 'big 2'.

 

Locally Ben will be in a fight. But he did get his gerrymandered district to help him. He did not vote for Obamacare but voted for the coal bill. Pelosi counted noses and gave Mr. Ben a pass on Obamacare. He was lucky on that.

Term limits. Please.

Term limits. Please.

 

:thumb:

Ben Nelson - made a backroom deal for his state and sold his vote for Obamacare He also voted for the failed stimulus.

Jim Webb - also voted for Obamacare and the failed stimulus. He is now calling out Obama but his bed was made in 2009. See here.

Kent Conrad - made a backroom deal for his state of ND. The problem - Obama reneged on the deal. So he voted for Obamacare and got the shaft by Obama. He also voted for the failed stimulus.

Jeff Bingaman - voted for Obamacare and the stimulus.

 

 

So these 'moderates' voted like every other Democrat on the two most most divisive bills in recent history. They had a chance to stop these two train wrecks - and did not and voted the party line in both cases.

 

Moderates? Maybe sometimes, but everyone remembers to 'big 2'.

 

Locally Ben will be in a fight. But he did get his gerrymandered district to help him. He did not vote for Obamacare but voted for the coal bill. Pelosi counted noses and gave Mr. Ben a pass on Obamacare. He was lucky on that.

 

It's not a one-way street of hypocrisy.

I remember Joe Scarborough saying on the night of the 2008 election (may have been 2004, but I'm thinking it was 2008) that gerrymandered districts that heavily favored one party or another made it much easier for the representatives of those districts to take extreme positions. He was lamenting the shrinking lot of moderates and the desire to work together with those on both sides of the aisle.

I've always held the view that politics has been a timelessly dirty game. Hamilton and Jefferson despised one another and employed every dirty trick in the book to undermine the other one. So, I thing our country has a long standing tradition of that. But, I have to think the rise of the internet and technology allows us to hear only what we want to hear and incentivizes our "leaders" to make obstructing their opponents just as much of a valid goal as implementing their own ideas. We all loathe Congress, but I think they are a symptom of our political discourse these days