How to Free Congress’s Mind

[groovedaddy]

WHEN it comes to changing the toxic partisan gridlock in Washington, the Beatles got it just about right: “You tell me it’s the institution/Well, you know/You’d better free your mind instead.”

Last week’s failure of the budget supercommittee, despite its super powers, is only the latest breakdown in an attempt at compromise in Washington. Politicians keep trying to fashion failsafe solutions to the capital’s uncompromising mind-set, without understanding that there is no external escape from an environment that rewards those who stand tenaciously on their principles and demonize their opponents. Members of Congress need to change their minds about compromise, or voters will need to change the members of Congress.

The supercommittee was given almost unprecedented protection from Congress’s normal rules: no filibuster or amendments would be allowed on its proposals, which would become law by a simple majority of both houses. Yet it failed to achieve what most Americans say that they want from Congress: compromises that improve on the status quo, even if it means giving up some causes the members care about.

The exercise proved that the capital is caught in a centrifuge that allows those with an uncompromising mind-set to chase the tantalizing partisan dream: My party will gain control, and push through its agenda, undiluted. This is a fantasy. It is highly unlikely that one party will gain complete control. It would have to secure the 60 votes to overcome the filibuster, and it would still face the task of making compromises within its own ranks.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/30/opinion/compromise-and-the-supercommittee.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha212