You Are the Reason Our Politics Do Not Work
[Both parties] are more interested in fighting each other than on solving problems.
Ordinary Americans care about making the political system work well.1
These two statements, according to a Pew Research survey that most Americans agree with. The first statement feels very negative, almost hopeless. The second is more positive there is a real sense of hope that there are real possibilities to make our politics work for us, the public. I happen to also agree with both of these statements.
When it comes to the parties being more interested infighting each other instead of solving problems, we just have to look at what has happened with immigration legislation.
Question: What do Obama and Trump have in common when it comes to immigration?
Answer: They both killed immigration legislation so they could have a campaign issue in the next presidential election.
Obama killed the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 by supporting four “poison pill” amendments that he knew would make it unpalatable to a large portion of the Senate. The last of those (an amendment to lower the annual visa quota for guest workers from 400,000 to 200,000) passed by one vote, putting an end to any chance of the bill getting enough Republican support.
On May 11, 2023 the House passed the Secure the Border Act of 2023 with 219-213. This bill was written by Republicans and passed solely on Republican votes. The bill was sent to the Senate for consideration and introduced by Senator Ted Cruz (R) and cosponsored by Senator Thom Tillis (R).After the Republicans twisted the Democrat's arms to bring it up for a vote, the bill received support from the Biden administration and seemed it was going to become law. Then, on February 4, 2024, House Speaker Mike Johnson came out against the same bill his caucus passed less than a year earlier. This was a direct result of the Trump campaign wanting immigration as a campaign issue in the upcoming election.
Obama (a Democrat) and Trump (a Republican) put their own political agendas ahead of what was best for the country. Neither one of them cared how making progress on immigration would help those they were hoping to lead. They just these improvements as a loss of a leverage issue during the next election cycle.
It seems obvious that the reason our political system does not work is because the politicians care about having campaign issues, not about solving problems. How can you say that the reason our political system doesn’t work is because of me (the public)? For one very simple reason, you keep voting for people without making them pledge to support election reforms in your state.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra.