On 22 Jun 1997, Steven L Baur wrote:
You've completely missed my point. This would be an on-going problem. Congress can only function with some idea of compromise in it.
Then Congress should be eliminated. There is no excuse for the CDA rider and my (now ex-)representative who voted for that bill was voted into office on a campaign of ending politics-as-usual sorts of things like that.
Look at it this way: If you want some bill passed (some spending bill or such) it has to get out of the Senate. the senate can easily pull a filibuster with a minority of the Senate, and shutdown the government entirely. If you really eliminate a sense of compromise on issues, you're hamstringing the government. It's really one of the fundamental things that is required to make a constitutional republic such as we have work. Remember, the founding fathers went way way way out of their way to make sure that this was not simply a majority rules country. Rather, the best description I've heard of it is a "majority rules with minority rights" (filibuster, etc..)
Right now I have two senators: Dianne "No problem giving government contract money illegally to my husband" Swinestein and Barbara "No money in my checking account? I guess I'll just have to write another one" Boxer and congressional representative Walter "I cannot think of any government program which should be eliminated" Capps. The American government is broken.
You have a better method? Let's hear it. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ryan Anderson - <Pug Majere> "Who knows, even the horse might sing" Wayne State University - CULMA "May you live in interesting times.." randerso@ece.eng.wayne.edu Ohio = VYI of the USA PGP Fingerprint - 7E 8E C6 54 96 AC D9 57 E4 F8 AE 9C 10 7E 78 C9 -----------------------------------------------------------------------