5 ms·

The US political system is structured in such a way that it's very difficult to draft legislation and get it passed. You have to get a bill to pass a majority i

The US political system is structured in such a way that it's very difficult to draft legislation and get it passed. You have to get a bill to pass a majority in the house, then (generally) get 60% in the senate, then get past the president's veto, and then implementation of that legislation will fall to a governmental organisation ultimately run by a political appointee who is appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. That organisation then needs to fight out any judgements they make in federal court and are ultimately decided by judges who are appointed by current and previous presidents. Right, so, lots of stakeholders, very difficult to please. Add to that the fact that the house is elected every 2 years (so 50% of the time it's election year), so is the senate (although only 1/3rd of the seats, so it's impossible to swing the senate quickly), and the president every 4 years. And since the incumbent president's party always suffers in mid-term elections, and since the senate can't swing quickly, a single party has only had complete control of government for 14 years out of the last 50 years. So basically, the President generally gets 2 years after being elected during which they might have the actual power to draft, and pass legislation. Most of which gets spent on 1 single piece of legislation - for Obama is was Healthcare, for Trump is was repealing Healthcare (failed in the Senate) and Tax cuts.

ackbar03 6y ago
I didn't know the details of this before lol. That sounds like a nightmare it's a wonder anything gets done...
- baybal2 6y ago
  > "US political systems was purposefully engineered for a deadlock"
- swiley 6y ago
  That’s the idea. The states are supposed to be doing the majority of the legislation.
  - nemo44x 6y ago
    It’s probably too late but a good argument for drastically lowering federal taxes is that then states would be forced to raise local taxes as the federal government wouldn’t subsidize as much. I feel like in today’s climate that both sides would find common ground in this as you often here republicans wanting less federal authority and democrats complaining their states pay most of the taxes that get redistributed to generally republican states.
- nemo44x 6y ago
  It’s a feature really. It can be frustrating but the idea is that big changes can be made but not on a whim. There generally has to be compromise. I wouldn’t want to live under a system that can make drastic changes on a whim. The USA is a very multicultural place with many different people with different priorities. We need to find common ground before certain types of things change. This is good even if frustrating at times.
  - meddlepal 6y ago
    It was a feature until Congress gave in and allowed the scope and usage of executive orders to grow thus allowing the president to bypass congress in a lot of cases. Now congress basically acts as a defensive block to allow a president to enact laws err executive orders at will. Oops.
    - nemo44x 6y ago
      Yeah I think it’s time to begin limiting federal power. I feel like a coalition of Democrats and Republicans could come together on this. Everyone being so occupied with national law is driving us crazy. Time to give more power to states and use a weakened federal government for some general oversight, monetary policy, and foreign affairs. Decriminalized marijuana has been a good experiment in allowing states to make their own choice based on the cultural and financial needs that are unique to each state.
      - meddlepal 6y ago
        No disagreement from me, this is how our country was supposed to operate.
brendawalsh 6y ago
Senators used to not be elected by the general voters. Instead they were elected by state legislators. The 17th amendment changed this.
IG_Semmelweiss 6y ago
This gridlock is a godsend. Congress passed the PATRIOT ACT, multiple resolutions to invade foreign countries , almost passed SOPA until some people woke up, passed disaster debt ceiling increases routinely which will bankrupt this nation, passed increased regulation of healthcare markets with forces people to buy lamborgini coverage when a simple kia may do. And in return the only positive i can say is we get some tax deductions which do not apply to heavily taxed, large urbanized states like CA, NY, IL. No. Gridlock is good. Its the only thing putting a check on Congress from completely ruining this country. See counter case: Switzerland. Complete gridlock. Massive check on congress via direct democracy. People argue about the zaniest litttle things. Yet people are freer here than in most other countries in the world

ackbar03 6y ago

I didn't know the details of this before lol. That sounds like a nightmare it's a wonder anything gets done...

baybal2 6y ago
> "US political systems was purposefully engineered for a deadlock"
swiley 6y ago
That’s the idea. The states are supposed to be doing the majority of the legislation.
- nemo44x 6y ago
  It’s probably too late but a good argument for drastically lowering federal taxes is that then states would be forced to raise local taxes as the federal government wouldn’t subsidize as much. I feel like in today’s climate that both sides would find common ground in this as you often here republicans wanting less federal authority and democrats complaining their states pay most of the taxes that get redistributed to generally republican states.
nemo44x 6y ago
It’s a feature really. It can be frustrating but the idea is that big changes can be made but not on a whim. There generally has to be compromise. I wouldn’t want to live under a system that can make drastic changes on a whim. The USA is a very multicultural place with many different people with different priorities. We need to find common ground before certain types of things change. This is good even if frustrating at times.
- meddlepal 6y ago
  It was a feature until Congress gave in and allowed the scope and usage of executive orders to grow thus allowing the president to bypass congress in a lot of cases. Now congress basically acts as a defensive block to allow a president to enact laws err executive orders at will. Oops.
  - nemo44x 6y ago
    Yeah I think it’s time to begin limiting federal power. I feel like a coalition of Democrats and Republicans could come together on this. Everyone being so occupied with national law is driving us crazy. Time to give more power to states and use a weakened federal government for some general oversight, monetary policy, and foreign affairs. Decriminalized marijuana has been a good experiment in allowing states to make their own choice based on the cultural and financial needs that are unique to each state.
    - meddlepal 6y ago
      No disagreement from me, this is how our country was supposed to operate.

brendawalsh 6y ago

Senators used to not be elected by the general voters. Instead they were elected by state legislators. The 17th amendment changed this.

IG_Semmelweiss 6y ago

This gridlock is a godsend. Congress passed the PATRIOT ACT, multiple resolutions to invade foreign countries , almost passed SOPA until some people woke up, passed disaster debt ceiling increases routinely which will bankrupt this nation, passed increased regulation of healthcare markets with forces people to buy lamborgini coverage when a simple kia may do. And in return the only positive i can say is we get some tax deductions which do not apply to heavily taxed, large urbanized states like CA, NY, IL. No. Gridlock is good. Its the only thing putting a check on Congress from completely ruining this country. See counter case: Switzerland. Complete gridlock. Massive check on congress via direct democracy. People argue about the zaniest litttle things. Yet people are freer here than in most other countries in the world