America's Sleeping Tortoise

Courtesy of The Economist

In this week's edition of The Economist, the US capitol building was depicted as an old, sleeping tortoise with American citizens waiting while it lay motionless. It represented the extreme unproductiveness of Congress recently, that they have been pretty much doing nothing
but arguing.  The Economist article,
"Powering Down", attributes this mainly to the unprecedented (except for following the Civil War) difference between the views of the Republican and Democratic parties. And also the fact that, "over the past 20 years, the share of Americans who express consistently liberal or consistently conservative opinions has doubled, according to a study by the Pew Research Centre" (26). This combination basically means that it is harder than ever for the government to compromise (which is unfortunately essential to a functioning democracy). And subsequently, "trust in Congress has tumbled to seven percent".

However, after this recent election there is hope: Republicans have gained majority control in both the senate and the house. With greater numbers, Republicans should have an easier time passing their bills. Ideally, this should promise greater progress. But similarly to how Republicans worked against Democratic bills in the past, some rules may allow the stalemate between parties to continue, this time with the Democrats impeding things.

Republicans claiming the majority in both chambers might not be so significant due to flaws in the distribution of power within Congress. One flaw that may impede progression is a result of a "filibuster rule" in the Senate, which requires any bill to gain a 60-vote majority. This enables a group of 41 senators to "halt almost any piece of legislation". This may not seem that bad, however, the true flaw is that those senators may represent as little as eleven percent of Americans because of the equal representation that even the smallest states receive. 

Because of this, one of America's greatest treasures, its fairness, may be holding it back. When the government tries to focus on meeting everyone's views, no one's views can truly be met. Therefore, a better representation of the state of Congress may be two pick-up trucks tied together by a length of chain, constantly spinning their wheels and burning fuel in attempt to pull the other to their side. The Republican side may have appeared to gain the edge however the absurdity of this gas-guzzling tug of war may continue.