We have a problem. Why can't Washington get anything done? The question has been asked for years, especially since our government has been derided as dysfunctional. While partisan politics and a refusal to compromise have contributed to the problem, the apparent inability of the government and the public to focus on an event or issue for more than a couple weeks is seriously hindering the ability of Congress to govern.
Take for example this list from a Washington Post article:
"
Two weeks ago, the show was about the IRS and Lois Lerner’s missing e-mails. A week before that, Washington was deep in a seemingly existential debate about the terrorists who had overrun much of Iraq and Syria. Two weeks before that, the play was about the Bowe Bergdahl prisoner swap with the Taliban. Two weeks earlier, it was about the veterans' health care scandal. A week before that, the play was about the kidnapped schoolgirls in Nigeria. A week earlier, there had been a brief reprise of the Benghazi show because a previously unknown document had surfaced. Before that was the one-act play about Ukraine.
"
The nonstop media cycle has not helped, as people crave new stories and "old news" loses viewers, even if addressing and coming up with a solution for this "old news" is important. In order to effectively govern, Congress needs to address a problem and come up with a solution to it, before addressing other problems. Last year, Obama called Income Inequality, "The defining challenge of our time." Well, until Thomas Piketty released his book, Capital in the Twenty First Century, the debate over income inequality had disappeared, and has already faded into the shadows yet again today. Does that mean the problem is gone? No. Income inequality is only getting worse, but Congress is jumping from topic to topic without actually doing anything. Did we do much for the Nigerian schoolgirls? How about Ukraine? The threat of ISIS? Nope. Just a few sanctions, maybe a few helicopters, and some strongly worded denunciations before moving on to the next hot topic. In order to truly put our nation on the right path, we need to actually start addressing and solving problems. Words mean nothing. We need action.
Sources:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/04/obama-income-inequality_n_4384843.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dana-milbank-americas-attention-deficit-disorder-politics/2014/07/11/ae12bd4e-0903-11e4-bbf1-cc51275e7f8f_story.html
Take for example this list from a Washington Post article:
"
Two weeks ago, the show was about the IRS and Lois Lerner’s missing e-mails. A week before that, Washington was deep in a seemingly existential debate about the terrorists who had overrun much of Iraq and Syria. Two weeks before that, the play was about the Bowe Bergdahl prisoner swap with the Taliban. Two weeks earlier, it was about the veterans' health care scandal. A week before that, the play was about the kidnapped schoolgirls in Nigeria. A week earlier, there had been a brief reprise of the Benghazi show because a previously unknown document had surfaced. Before that was the one-act play about Ukraine.
"
The nonstop media cycle has not helped, as people crave new stories and "old news" loses viewers, even if addressing and coming up with a solution for this "old news" is important. In order to effectively govern, Congress needs to address a problem and come up with a solution to it, before addressing other problems. Last year, Obama called Income Inequality, "The defining challenge of our time." Well, until Thomas Piketty released his book, Capital in the Twenty First Century, the debate over income inequality had disappeared, and has already faded into the shadows yet again today. Does that mean the problem is gone? No. Income inequality is only getting worse, but Congress is jumping from topic to topic without actually doing anything. Did we do much for the Nigerian schoolgirls? How about Ukraine? The threat of ISIS? Nope. Just a few sanctions, maybe a few helicopters, and some strongly worded denunciations before moving on to the next hot topic. In order to truly put our nation on the right path, we need to actually start addressing and solving problems. Words mean nothing. We need action.
Sources:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/04/obama-income-inequality_n_4384843.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dana-milbank-americas-attention-deficit-disorder-politics/2014/07/11/ae12bd4e-0903-11e4-bbf1-cc51275e7f8f_story.html