Tuesday, August 02, 2011

The Great Compromise (or why we have all these idiots in Congress)

I have watched with great dismay the ugly battle in congress over he debt ceiling increase. I realize that issues are complicated, and solutions are elusive. The real losers in this debate is of course the American citizens who have lost almost $3 billion in interest and in taxes in the debt ceiling battle in the past three weeks, not to mention loss in stock value and other things such as prestige and mental health. Compromise has become a dirty word, as one side decided it was more important to remain faithful to a pledge kept in a vault and not give any ground than to remain faithful to their constituents and the voters' concerns.

It was the Great Compromise that allowed the USA to have so many representatives in the first place. Perhaps there never should have been a compromise in 1787 that allowed for a bicameral congress. Maybe there are not enough statesmen(women) available to have 535 people in the congress, so there is an opening for idiots. There has been a plethora of "leaders' who have tunnel vision, one issue, without regard for the broad issues that affect all Americans, and the real solutions to the problems.

Perhaps our founders had it wrong. One house in congress, only two representatives per state (the Senate) or maybe one house with the number of representatives based only on population may have been simpler. Of course, there had to be the three fifths compromise which allowed for the slave states to pad their population totals by counting slaves but not as equal to non-slaves. Then there was the compromise of 1850 which allowed California to enter the union as a free state, as long as fugitive slaves could be returned to their owners.

Compromise does have its difficult side, and brings about the general welfare at times;  but it has its rough edges that really hurt at other times. I guess the bottom line is  who gets screwed in the final analysis, the rich or the poor, or all of us.