It's really too bad that a Republican or Democrat elected in New York (for example) to represent those state’s issues has to become part of their party’s voting block as soon as he or she arrives in DC. Each state's representaive has a whole different set of priorities and concerns based on that states constituents. However, once you arrive in Washington, you can’t think for yourself, vote on your own, or work with the other party to solve an issue facing the country because you have basically joined a tribe, and tribes don’t like other tribes.
The reason we have a
fiscal cliff is because Washington has become tribal. To members of Congress, your tribe is
more important than your country and keep your position in the tribe is second. It used to be true that people regarded a stalemate in
Washington as a good thing, but this time the fiscal cliff was supposed to
force action and good ole fashion compromise. Sadly this didn't happen. Is there anything the
American people can do to breakup these two tribes? The contempt for Congress
is readily seen in the low approval ratings, but most people seem to think
their own representative is doing a good job. Even though we probably should have voted them all
out this past November, we didn’t.
As the host of Survivor
often says - “The tribe has spoken.”
Sadly, the only way to
force action on Congress is for the markets to drop in order for members of
Congress and the Senate to begin to feel a sense of urgency to get a deal done.
This is not a good way to end the
year.
