Political Comments
For several weeks now I have not written anything about the current political situation and frankly, there has not been a lot of things that have changed. The part of the government that upsets me the most and disappoints me the most is Congress. President Trump laid out the program that he wanted to get through Congress even before the inauguration. House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell both pledged to work to get these things done. They promised that their goal would be to get Obamacare repealed and replaced by Easter. They promised that they would have the Tax Reforms passed by the August Recess. Neither of these have been done.
We have the strong majority in the House of Representatives to pass the bills, but we only have a 52- 48 majority in the Senate and we have two or three Republicans that dislike the President so much they will vote with the Democrats to see him fail. The Senate also has the rule which the Republican Majority can change that requires 60 votes to close debate and vote on a bill. It only requires 51 votes to pass a bill but it requires 60 votes to stop the debate. If the Democrats want to keep a bill from a vote, they just continue the debate ( Filibuster) until the Republicans table the bill and go on to another bill. Apparently a Rules Change vote does not require the 60 votes to close debates and the Republicans can change this rule when they choose to change it. Senate Majority Leader McConnell says this is a long standing rule that has been used by Republicans to stop Democrat Bills when Democrats had the majority and he will not allow the proposal to change the rule.
The Repeal Obamacare bill failed to pass by 51 to 49, and the one Republican vote that kept the bill from passing was cast by Republican Arizona Senator John McCain. His vote was not because he favored Obamacare but simply to obstruct President Trump. He does not want President Trump to be able to achieve his campaign promises. His personal dislike for the president is controlling his votes. Part of this may be jealousy. Senator McCain ran for president in 2012 and lost. He possibly considers that he is a better man than President Trump and should have been president. He is not concerned with doing the best for our country. He was elected to a six year term for his Senate seat in 2016 so he will not be out of office during President Trump’s first term. In 2018, the Republicans may be able to pick up several Senate seats which would eliminate the power that Senator McCain has at this time.
It might cross your mind that we would be better off with new leadership in the Congress. The power that the leaders possess makes it almost impossible to change them. The Speaker of the House and the Majority Leader in the Senate makes all of the committee appointments in Congress. Any member that attempts to start a movement to change one of the leaders had better be successful or they will not get a good committee appointment. They can lose their favored offices and be forced to move to smaller facilities. The leaders also have a big influence with the lobbyists so that members might get far less contributions to their re- election bids. Even the president cannot be a part of trying to change the leadership because he is depending on the leaders to get the legislation passed to support his agenda. If he supported a change and it failed, he would have a hard time getting anything that he wanted from that leader.
The Senate Majority Leader rules the Senate like a mob boss. Senator Paul, Senator Mike Lee and Senator Cruz are maverick Senators who walk their own paths and neither of the three have leadership positions. When the Alabama Senate position became available with the appointment of the Alabama Senator as Attorney General, Senator McConnell picked a candidate that would be a follower of his and has helped to fund his campaign in order to help keep his power base. Judge Roy Moore is running against the McConnell chosen candidate and is leading, according to the polls. He has pledged to join with Senators Paul, Lee and Cruz as a non- establishment Senator.
The problems that President Trump have with Congress is not just Democrats. It is the establishment which covers both Democrats and Republicans. They have a way of doing business. It is not necessarily the best way for the country but it is their way. If you hear the term drain the swamp, the swamp is the establishment. The establishment has shaped the Congress in a way that benefits its members and they do not wish to see it changed. The salary of a Congressman is $ 174,000 per year and to live in Washington takes a good portion of this. When you look at the members of Congress who have been in Washington for ten or more years many of them will have a net worth of five or more million dollars. Their total salary in ten years is $ 1,740,000. For them to become multi- millionaires, it looks suspiciously like there has to be some kind of corrupt activity going on. The only answer to this is to establish term limits that would not allow them to become so powerful.
Most members of Congress get elected with the intent to work hard to help the country. When they arrive, they find that they are in the swamp and the best way to survive is to join the crowd. They vote the way they are told to vote by the Speaker or the Majority Leader or they are on the outside of the activity. It is my opinion that if they do not join the establishment, any bills that they propose die in committee regardless of how well they are prepared or what they could accomplish.