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Tea and Sympathy

John Amendall

    A significant erosion of public trust in the federal government has occurred in the last couple of years. This was reflected in a September 2013 Gallup Poll. The same anticipated greater dissonance if federal debates continued to generate heated and irreconcilable differences.
    Ensuing debates in October ran to form producing a government shutdown. The largest gridlock since 1996 during the Clinton Administration. Accordingly an October 2013 Gallup Poll indicated that the public considered problems with the process more important than a variety of hot topics (unemployment, tax reform. debt ceiling, Obamacare, Syria ...)
    As expected the party in the White House expressed a higher degree of frustration (36%) moving their agenda compared to the minority (23%). If the republicans were in the White House, the positions would’ve been reversed. The upshot of these disagreements has convinced the nation (democrats, republicans, independents) that its federal representatives have produced a dysfunctional condition struggling to attend to the business they were elected for. Future disagreements may even produce additional shut downs.
    The Gallup Polls are named after George Horace Gallup who initiated this practice in 1935. Because this poll is the longest continuous measure of public opinion it has considerable currency. These polls have been cited and applied to political issues ever since their origin.
    It is highly probable that if one’s opinion reflects the sense of a Gallup Poll, one would hasten to cite it to support their view. Conversely if one’s view does not reflect the poll, one might ignore the result or dismiss it as unscientific and unresponsive to their opinion. The September 2013 and October 2013 polls were based on 1028 and 1510 adult telephone interviews, respectively.
    The number (N) of experiments or measurements in a scientific study are near and dear to a scientist’s heart. A large N is always coveted. One should be wary of selling their soul or conviction to a Gallup Poll. Polls do not provide an infallible index. For example, in the 2012 election based on a Gallup Poll, 75% of the people favored Romney’s presentation over Obama’s in their first debate. Republicans were elated anticipating further success and his eventual elevation to the presidency. Multiple sources of information including polls like the Gallup should be marshaled for more accurate predictions
    At what age do we learn the importance of compromise in our lives? While allowing drawing a line in the sand for a few absolutes, human interaction would be effectively throttled without reciprocity.
    President Obama’s concept of compromise is waiting for the opposing party to accommodate his agenda without any accommodations. Senator Harry Reid is his chief spokesman hewing to the party line. Congressman John Boehner, the republican Speaker of the House plays the same role for his party. He has been handicapped by the over-hyped Tea Party. The latter has been the biggest obstacle for republican negotiations.
    If Senator Reid and Congressman Boehner exercised independence from President Obama and the Tea Party, respectively, they might be better able to responsibly conduct government business they were elected for.
    However, any one who’s acquired Potomac fever quickly marches to the beat of the next election. Rather than considering crossing the aisle for necessary bipartisan cooperation on various issues politicians dance in attendance to party mandates. A republican candidate failing to please the Tea Party will have difficulty being elected or incurring another term. The same can be said for democratic candidates supporting welfare reform.
    If senators served one 6 year term, as initially cited in the 17th amendment of the constitution, and congressional representatives a single 6 year term, they would be free to vote their conscience and understanding of each issue without looking over their shoulder fearful of violating party mandates. Introducing term limits as a means to correct federal dysfunction may be naîve and is beyond the scope of this polemic. Nevertheless, more and more Americans favor term limits as a means to reduce partisan politics as usual.

    A former president said: The future is not for parties playing politics, but for measures conceived in the largest spirit, pushed by parties whose leaders are statesmen, not demagogues, who love not their offices, but their duty and their opportunity for service ... . (clue: He was a former academician.). The behavior of both parties is a far cry from the above call for integrity and service in government.



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