Legislating

An article in today's Washington Post says that it might be better for Obama to have a Republican Congress than a Democratic one. The logic is that if the Republicans are a minority, they have the power to impede programs, but they cannot enact legislation without the support of the other side. This, they are extremely reluctant to do. They'd say 'Of course we're willing to work with the other side', but to Democrat ears, that translates out to 'Do the things Republicans would have done'. In other words, do it their way. (I suspect that this is how the Republicans see offers of bipartisanship from the Democrats, too - that when Democrats say they're being bipartisan, it feels to Republicans as if they're saying 'Do the things that Democrats....' And so forth. ) But, the article goes, if Obama's Congress is Republican, then they lose the ability to say 'it wasn't our fault, we weren't in power'. They're responsible for governing, at the same level as the President is. They become a full partner, again. They'll move legislation instead of blocking it. They'll co-operate.

I think this is hogwash.

If the Republicans gain control of Congress (which, I recognize, they will, eventually), they won't feel any sort of collegiate sensibility magically come upon them. So long as they're driven by a rigid, partisan attitude, they'll propose and try to push legislation that isn't what a Democratic President wants to see. If it's unacceptable, he'll veto it. At that point, they'll say 'Well, we did our part, but he blocked us, so now its his fault. We tried'. Or they'll muster the votes to override a veto, at which point it becomes their victory, his loss.

The answer isn't in who has what numbers (though that's part of it). No matter what the political mix, you can find a reason for it to be effective, and you can find a reason for it to generate a stalemate. The only way to have the system work is either for one party to absolutely control the whole thing -- and we saw how well that worked with Clinton and with Bush2 -- or to have two parties that regard compromise as a valued approach to legislation. That hasn't been the case since Gingrich. I think that Obama's trying to bring it back, but he's not being very successful. And a lot of his adherents are saying 'To hell with the Republicans. We'll do it without them.' Only now, they can't. That leads to the feeling of 'Well, what if the Republicans controlled more of the Congress? Maybe then they'll want to cooperate'.

I strongly doubt it. But, who knows. Maybe the horse will learn to sing.