There is considerable concern about the ability of American government to solve basic problems. Sometimes reference is made to “gridlock” or “partisanship.” Two long-time analysts of American politics, Thomas Mann {Brookings Institute} and Norman Ornstein {AmericanEnterprise Institute} studied this, and produced a book,”It’s Even Worse Than It Looks.” They criticized media for seeking “safe ground by giving equal time to opposing sides and arguments and crafting news stories that convey the impression that the two sides are equally implicated.” They emphatically state this is not the case. They blame the Republican Party. Summary of their argument follows.
“In every chapter of this book, we have documented the ways in which the Republican Party has become the insurgent outlier in American politics and as such contributes disproportionally to its dysfunction….The contemporary [2012] GOP, to the horror of many of its longtime stalwarts and leaders like former senators John Danforth of Missouri and Alan Simpson of Wyoming, has veered toward tolerance of extreme ideological beliefs and policies and embrace of cynical and destructive means to advance political ends over problem solving. These tendencies have led to disdain for negotiation and compromise unless forced into them…”
“…the Republican Party of old – the party of moderates like Ray LaHood, David Durenberger, and John Danforth, and of conservatives like Alan Simpson, Mickey Edwards, and Bob Bennett – is no longer present in our political debates or governing dynamic….Republicans in office have driven both the widening of the ideological gap between the parties and the strategic hyperpartisanship on such crucial issues as financial stabilization, economic recovery, deficits and debt, health-care reform, and climate change….their leaders have embraced fanciful policies on taxes and spending and kowtowed to the most strident voices within their party.” In the past, both parties would seek out nonpartisan technical, economic, and scientific advice. “Republicans in the new era have dismissed nonpartisan analysis and conclusions about the nature of problems and impact of policies when they don’t fit their own ideology or policy prescription.
Even “respected inside commentators including National Review’s Ramesh Ponnuru and American Enterprise Institute’s Steven F. Hayward, have challenged the destructive, take-no-prisoners approach of the movement within the Republican Party.” Ponnuru: “…the real mistakes of the Bush years keep being made. Republicans had nothing to say about wage stagnation then and are saying nothing about it now. The real cost of Republicans fixation on ideological purity is that it distracts them from their real problems and the nation’s” Hayward: “..notes that the ‘no tax increase’ mania…and its corollary… ‘starve the beast,’ has been proven empirically not to work.”
So – two of the main Republican pillars, by their own words – proven not to work. And then – consider this: David Broder’s 3/29/07 column about Reagan’s budget advisor, David Stockman. It discusses the famous Stockman interview with Bill Greider, which appeared the “Atlantic” magazine article, “The Education of David Stockman: Stockman “told Greider that the Reagan budget was built on false premises, that it employed a ‘magic asterisk’ to conceal the size of its inevitable deficits, and that the tax cuts he had championed were really designed to benefit the wealthy.”
So, fellow Americans, add it up. Two of the nation’s most respected and thoughtful analysts [they’re not alone] have documented – DOCUMENTED – the evidence for their case that Republicans are deliberately destroying the ability of American government to function. Insiders from the right wing establishment are telling you that the very ideas Republicans are pushing as ‘solutions’ are ‘proven empirically’ not to work.
I urge every thoughtful American to read this book: “It’s Even Worse Than It Looks.” They tell you when things really got worse, 1995 and later. They provide exact dates of congressional votes. They give you quotes. They tell you how the culture of the U.S. House was deliberately changed to a climate of hostility. They tell you that former major Republicans such as Eisenhower, Nixon, Dirksen, Ford are “unimaginable” for the current Republican Party. They – and others – have also said Reagan, Bush I and II might not be acceptable now. Some things presented are just stunning in the cynicism involved. For those puzzled and concerned about America in the last ten years, many of the answers lie in this book.
With Justice For All 