February 17, 2010
Biden Blames Our System of Government For Failures of Liberal Ideology
Our government is the oldest continuously functioning in the world. Since the United States has been founded, France has gone through five Republics, Russia evolved from monarchy to communist state to its current iteration, and and every other nation on earth has watched it's form of government die, transform,or be reborn.
But according to Joe Biden, our form of government is broken:
In an interview with CBS "Early Show" co-anchor Harry Smith, Biden was blunt about the nation's political system. "Washington, right now, is broken."Having served in the Senate for more than 30 years, Biden has seen a fair share of gridlock in Congress, but the current version is the worst ever, he said.
"I don't ever recall a time in my career where to get anything done, you needed a supermajority, 60 out of 100 senators. You can block anything with 60 (votes).
"I've never seen it this dysfunctional," he said.
Biden is merely echoing a new talking point that liberal Democrats have issued in an attempt to explain away their failure to ram through unpopular legislation. According to the meme, it is the fault of our system of government that our socialist President and progressive Senate and House leaders have been unable to push through an economy-crippling cap-and-trade bill, a disasterous health care rationing bill, and a second costly, pork-laden attempt at stimulus.
Democrats, trapped in a community-based reality, simply refuse to acknowledge the fact that the same failed radical leftist policies that they have attempted to ram through multiple times in the past fifty years. They are part of a bankrupt ideology that has never worked, no matter how many times it has been tried.
But instead of admitting their own failures, Democrats arrogantly insisted these failures are the fault of the American people, or a problem of communication. They cannot admit that they belong to an intellectually stagnant movement devoid of new ideas.
It is no wonder that they stand on the threshold of squandering their attempt to lead yet again.
To quote a well-known politician and community organizer; "We're on the precipice" of total failure.
That which we were warned is "an emergency"..."can't wait"..."must be done now or it will never get done"...a year ago, languishes in the trash can on Capitol Hill. Democrats simply replaced it with more of the same, just with a different title. Stimulus failed miserably, so the next stimulus legislation gets the new name - "Jobs Bill", as though the fools think we don't recognize BS when we smell it.
About the only hope we have is maintaining a "HELL NO to everything" attitude and pray that three years goes by without having a George Soros coronation as King.
Posted by: Dell at February 17, 2010 01:07 PMThe US government has been functioning longer than the British one?
That should surprise them.
I think you left out the word "Republic" there.
Posted by: SSG Jeff (USAR) at February 17, 2010 01:32 PMJeff, Britain was run by a monarch when our government was founded. Now, the monarch is only a figurehead. Safe to say their government has transformed, too.
I love the Dems complaining about needing 60 votes to pass anything, since they're the ones who gave us the non-filibuster filibuster, i.e. invoking cloture on any and all Republican initiatives and appointees.
Posted by: Tim at February 17, 2010 02:41 PMI don't align myself with either of the two (the only two that matter) political parties in this country and I certainly don't support all of the agenda of the current administration.
Having said that, our system of government IS broken. It's just a matter of time before that truth is evident to all thinking people. The costs and the time associated with running a political campaign in the modern era has opened up our system to the corrupting influences of campaign contributions.
A politician simply cannot win an election, or even get on the ticket, without vast sums of money. As Senator Bayh has recently stated since his announcement that he won't seek another term in the Senate, both houses of Congress are in a constant campaign mode. There's no time for the people's business. It's all about raising money for the next election.
Furthermore, we are more divided as a nation than we have been since The American Civil War.
What's the solution? I don't know. I predict that within another decade or two we'll all know that the system itself needs to undergo radical transformation. In fact, it's doing so as we discuss this topic now. The America that so called conservatives long for and pine for is long gone. And, that America ain't coming back.
That isn't to say that what lies ahead is necessarily a bad thing, it's just different than the America of the past. We adapt or we fail. Simple as that.
Posted by: Dude at February 17, 2010 03:38 PMThe damn old Constitution won't let them do it like they want to. Just wait until we get a group of judges in there who actually enforce the thing!
Half the power grab from the last 150 years will be stripped frm the Feds. God Speed that great day. It will be that or guns.
We will have our country back.
It seemed to me that the government was working fine 2 years ago, and while it does need some changes (campaign finance reform, tax code, and earmark reductions). The current system needs two parties to work together, that eases things in both House and Senate. The party lines vote disturb me.
Posted by: Picric at February 17, 2010 04:14 PMOur Government has been broken since Pelosi took over in 2006. You look at the dive chart and you can see it plain as day. The "Government" was doing what it was supposed to do in regards to America's citizens from Reagan, even most of Clinton's years up through the first 4 years of GWB. Yeah I know Iraq, the patriot act, Gitmo... but Inflation/economy/jobs/public safety/tax's and several other items were being addressed. The drug plan, was passed to help seniors it was a DEMOCRAT pushed issue and Bush gave in, Bush gave in to Immigration reform... Bush tried to work with the Dems, Obama is anything BUT bi-partisan and he is reaping what he has sewed.
Posted by: Robert at February 17, 2010 04:59 PMRobert, Are you suggesting that the extremely partisan divide that we're now experiencing is all Obama's fault? It sounds as if you're suggesting that the Republicans in Congress are trying to work with the president in a bi-partisan manner. IF that's what you're suggesting, I propose that it's time for a reality check on your part.
Posted by: Dude at February 17, 2010 05:52 PMDude - Get back to us on that "the republicans are to blame" BS when the democraps start allowing the repubs back in the committe rooms...
Posted by: emdfl at February 17, 2010 07:18 PMDude - I get a kick out you liberals. Your comments are proof of our failed education system. You think we are partisan in the here and now "worse since the civil war." WOW - you need to do some real research and look for front page stories from the 18th and early 19th century. Back then opponents were killed, houses and farms burnt to the ground, families executed and other such mayhem. Do the names Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr ring a bell?? Their pistol duel was strictly about politics. By the way Dude, the duel was in 1804 - just a few years BEFORE the Civil War!!! Wouldn't it be cool to see Joe Biden and Sarah Palin have a duel?? I bet pay per view would make a fortune.
Secondly - you seem to want to place all the blame on those "rascally republicans" - I guess you have selective memory of the disgusting partisanship and seditious comments for EIGHT years that George Bush and our military had to endure. I won't give you all the examples - you can explore them when you educate yourself on the 18th and 19th century partisanship.
Lastly, and I hope this doesn't offend you to much. My 50+ years of experience has led me to look at most liberals as either naive, ignorant or stupid. Two are fixable, one is permanent. Most libs have some of all three - I have "hope" that you can "change" and wake up to the real world and develope some common sense. I did - I once voted for George McGovern and twice for Jimmy Carter - I left my liberal FOG and started thinking FOR MYSELF and QUESTIONING everything that was being fed to my by a BIASED media - OH my GOD - there is that dirty word!!!!!
Posted by: mixitup at February 17, 2010 09:52 PM
Dude, How about giving me some data that shows Obama, Pelosi and Reid have done ANYTHING in a bi-partisan way in this year? All we heard was "We won, so take it"....Well, after the losses the demorats have experienced, all of the sudden Obama wants to play nice...
Another thing you may or may not have noticed. Obama says" We have saved or created millions of jobs, and averted a disaster that would have destroyed our economy"
With that reasoning, GWB averted a disaster by invading/rebuilding and bringing democracy to Iraq. He saved or protected millions of lives by not allowing AQ a place to hang out and a dictator to party with...You buy that? Didn't think so but that's exactly the type of reasoning YOUR guy expects us to buy....Funny how all that Bush bashing your crew did for over 5 years is coming back to bite you guys in the ass.
Posted by: Robert at February 17, 2010 10:04 PMDude said: "The America that so called conservatives long for and pine for is long gone. And, that America ain't coming back". "That isn't to say that what lies ahead is necessarily a bad thing, it's just different than the America of the past. We adapt or we fail. Simple as that".
Conservatives long for and pine for a strong national defense - living within our means - freedom - self reliance - taking care of those that are not capable. Dude, if that America is long gone, what lies ahead that you feel is not necessarily a bad thing?
Posted by: Rick at February 18, 2010 09:17 AMAnother good rerason to ditch the lot we have in DC right now. Back to what made us great: Capitalism and the Constitution. Promote the first. Uphold the second. That means repealing many of the power grabs made by the feds in the last 150 years.
Posted by: Odins Acolyte at February 18, 2010 01:51 PMRick said:
Conservatives long for and pine for a strong national defense - living within our means - freedom - self reliance - taking care of those that are not capable. Dude, if that America is long gone, what lies ahead that you feel is not necessarily a bad thing?
strong national defense: Check, we have that.
living within our means: Unlikely to happen regardless of which party is in power. I've not been able to find any evidence that would suggest otherwise to me.
freedom: Check, we have that, at least more so than most other places that I know of. What sort of "freedom" do you long for and pine for that you don't currently have?
self reliance: Please define in more detail. Like freedom, that's a pretty broad term.
taking care of those that are not capable: We're on the same page on this one, Rick! Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond their control, more and more Americans are finding themselves in this condition. I'm not talking about lazy people, either. I'm talking about hard working citizens for whom the American Dream hasn't panned out too well. You know, our fellow Americans.
What isn't necessarily a bad thing for the future of America? A couple of examples that come to mind:
A single payer health care system that provides universal health care to ALL Americans.
More aspects of socialism that benefits the average citizen rather than the current type of socialism that we now have, which benefits a few at the expense of the population in general.
Posted by: Dude at February 19, 2010 03:10 PM
