Last night, Congress finally passed a bill reopening the government and raising the debt ceiling. There's just one catch: there's the chance for another government shutdown and a chance for us to hit the debt ceiling again in January. Congratulations Congress! You are in the clear for 6 weeks! Then we will return to the bickering and quite possibly another government shutdown. The two parties need to have a talk.
Just watch the video in this article. Republicans basically guaranteed a shutdown, giving the ability to call a vote on a shutdown, and only a shutdown, to the House Majority Leader, Republican Eric Cantor. Well done Republicans for that underhanded move. http://www.upworthy.com/congress-did-something-so-spectacularly-creepy-that-its-too-unbelievable-to-make-up?g=2We constantly hear about the growing extreme partisanship in Congress. It is most likely the reason why Congress can't get anything done. We constantly push for Congress to act and pass more legislation and to not be as gridlocked. Yet, the visions of our future from different Americans can be very different. Interestingly, the amount of "swing" districts for the House (districts where the electorate commonly switch between electing a democrat and electing a republican) have decreased drastically in the past few decades. This is generally attributed to gerrymandering, which has definitely played a large role. Gerrymandering is an unofficial term given to the redrawing of Congressional districts each time a census comes out. Each time a census comes out, state legislatures are allowed to redraw the map of congressional districts. So, whichever party in power in the state legislature will create a map that maximizes districts for them and minimizes district for the opposing party. It is the reason many districts resemble squiggles drawn by children (if you don't believe me, look up some gerrymandered districts). This leads to many districts have an abundance of members from one party or the other. So, members of Congress elected from these districts generally stick to their party's ideology. There is very little reason to compromise because politicians who compromise will be voted out and replaced with a more liberal candidate in a district controlled by Democrats and a more conservative candidate in a district controlled by Republicans. As candidates stray further towards the extremes of their parties, compromise and effective governing become more and more difficult.
Yet, gerrymandering is actually only part of the problem. Gerrymandering is actually just capitalizing on a growing trend in America: people are now choosing, more than in the past, to live among people with similar political views. So, as Republicans and Democrats coalesce into groups and regions, gerrymandering can become more effective and more powerful. This trend, coupled with gerrymandering, is what has helped lead to the incredible partisanship between Democrats and Republicans. If gerrymandering was outlawed, it would help to alleviate some of the partisanship in Congress and lead to a more moderate Congress and congressmen and women who were more willing to compromise. Perhaps districts could be redrawn by a 3rd party? Or just a computer every 10 years? Computers are generally impartial to political views. A program could easily redraw congressional districts. Eliminating gerrymandering would go a long way to restoring our Congress' credibility and effectiveness. Well, in the last three months that I have neglected my duties here, a lot has happened. The NSA scandal seems to have settled down, for better or for worse. Now, we are living with a partial government shutdown and the looming threat of the first American default in history. The consequences will most likely be catastrophic (though no one knows for sure because it hasn't happened yet) and yet, some Republicans don't feel the need to raise the debt ceiling. They seem to shrug off a default as if it will merely be a small hiccup. Sometimes, you need to fall off a bicycle to learn how to properly keep your balance. But jumping off one (because if the debt ceiling isn't raised that will be entirely due to our politicians and not because we were not physically able to raise it) going downhill at 60 miles per hour is generally a bad idea. Perhaps it is because something like this has never happened. Well, if it does, we can pretty much bid a kind farewell to at least some of our credibility throughout the world. No, if we default we will not lose our superpower status. However, when even China is telling us to get our act together, we know we have a problem (here is just one of the many articles that reported on this, courtesy of TIME: http://world.time.com/2013/10/09/china-to-united-states-dont-default-for-our-sake/) Or do we? For some reason, a large portion of America seems to be in denial. I know people who don't even care about the government shutdown. There are people suffering from the shutdown and a default on our debt will surely kill off whatever feeble recovery we have mustered so far. With this one decision, Congress may set us back 5 years economically. Bargaining over the government shutdown is somewhat okay, as long as it doesn't go on for an absurd amount of time. Bargaining over the debt ceiling is a whole new story. The debt ceiling should be raised every single time. The government may shutdown frequently (though I think we need to rethink what is "essential". Maybe closing all of the gyms for congressmen and women will spur them to action.) which is okay if it is kept to a few days. All in all, America has a lot to lose and nothing to gain from the debate over the debt ceiling. A grand bargain as many idealists hope for? Not a chance. Maybe a 1 in a trillion chance, but not much more. The partisan rivalries between Democrats and Republicans are at, or at least near, an all-time high. Why?
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