There is a great op-ed piece in the NYTimes by Thomas L. Friedman talking about the amount of time we actually have a functioning, effective government in this country. Since the time of Franklin D. Roosevelt when he was able to get into office and turn our country around within his first 100 days, every president since has been held up to that standard or at least there have been reports on how a given president did in his first 100 days. Well, since that time, our political system has slowed to a crawl echoing now our lagging economy. Friedman suggests, and I wholeheartedly agree with him, that any current president really only works for the first 100 days of his term. This is when the biggest changes get made, the most deals worked on between both parties, and any longer term projects set up to be undertaken (such as health care reform). After that first 100 days however, things slow to a crawl. It seems that all of a sudden, ratings start to make a difference, judging the president and showing him how the country perceives his efforts and the changes being made. Soon after, the midterm elections pop up and the president has to brace himself for its effects. After the midterms, its clean up time, and then its prep time for the next presidential race. Lets even give the president a little leeway here and say that he works for more than 100 days out of his term. If he does, the amount of time never stretches past 2 years because as soon as he is halfway through his presidency (unless its his second term), he has to start thinking about re-election and consequently start putting his campaign together despite what the country may need from him in terms of leadership and decision making.
If we move past the president, we end up looking at a stagnant GOP and Senate. The brunt of what they do is argue over trivial issues and never actually agree on any big changes that need to be made in order to kick start this country again. For the most part, our elected officials are interested in doing just enough to make it seem like they are working, yet not enough to actually make a difference or piss off any of their constituents. So what are we electing them for, Democrats, Republicans; they are all for the most part worthless. What we need in this country, and I echo Friedman here, is a third party to get into office and shake things up. There was an effort with the Tea Party, but that morphed into a conservative Republican wing and did not actually stand for the necessary changes that need to be made in this country. For more on those changes, what they are, and how they should be implemented, check out the piece by Friedman. To be perfectly honest, we need more than just a third party in our government. What we need is a cap on the terms of elected officials in the GOP and Senate. Currently, elected members can run as often as they want and remain in office as long as they get re-elected. To me, this is a boon to our system. By allowing them to remain in office as long as they want, we are essentially creating members whose sole objective, outside of tinkering with policies, is to make sure that they get re-elected. Some elected officials have been in D.C. for decades. Now let me ask you, how are they supposed to remain in touch with their constituents' concerns if they are in their 70's or 80's. Granted, some can do so, changing with the times, but I feel that for the most part, many officials who have been in D.C. for over 2 decades just don't have it anymore. By instituting caps on the amount of terms they are able to serve in either the House or Senate, we would be ensuring that there is constantly fresh blood working for us.
Additionally, we need elected officials who are willing to compromise to meet the needs of our country. Too few now are willing to take the steps necessary to pass reform bills that would assist our economy and re-structure how things are done. Most of our officials are solely concerned with their job and getting re-elected. While they should still maintain loyalty to their constituents, they must be willing to step beyond, maybe upset a few, and change things for the better of this country. One thing is for sure, if we do not change how things are done in Washington, our government and country will stagnate, more so than it already is. Where has all our innovation gone, where have all our jobs gone? What is being done in the government to make sure that our country does not fade away but gets re-invigorated for the future? If changes aren't made now, sweeping ones at that, I fear the United States will fade away. But in order to make those changes, we need to inspire people in this country to get involved and vote to make the changes. If we can't get people involved in politics and government and voting to make the changes necessary, then our government will continue on its snail paced route to oblivion and it will drag the rest of us with it. Let us all get a little more involved, if not for us, for the future of our children and the future of this country.
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