Congressional Gridlock
posted by Gerard Magliocca
My draft paper for the upcoming Notre Dame symposium on gridlock is here. This is more tentative than what I normally post to SSRN, in part because I’m not convinced that I have a great answer about what (if anything) should be done about gridlock.
September 14, 2012 at 9:56 pm
Posted in: Politics
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Responses (3)
mls - September 16, 2012 at 7:31 am
Since the turn of the century, Congress has enacted the Bush tax cuts, the Patriot Act, the Homeland Security bill, No Child Left Behind, Sarbanes Oxley, the Medicare Prescription Drug Program, the 2004 Intel Reform (this may not belong on the list, but I spent a lot of time on it, so indulge me), McCain Feingold, the minimum wage increase, TARP, the 2009 Stimulus (plus several smaller ones), Dodd Frank and Obama Care. And authorized two wars.
If this is gridlock, what would free flowing traffic look like?
Shag from Brookline - September 17, 2012 at 6:46 am
The grid does not lock down immediately. Since Dodd Frank and Obama Cares (healthy, as opposed to sic) were enacted, what major legislation has been enacted? The GOP’s goal from day one of Obama’s inauguration has been to tamp down and drown the grid, a metaphorical gridlock. Perhaps an earlier gridlock might have saved us from the Bush tax cuts, the Patriot Act, No Child Left Behind, and the Medicare Prescription Drug Program, as well as authorizing and pursuing the invasion of Iraq because of non-discovorable and perhaps non-existing WMDs and other lies.
mls’ closing question might be turned around to make the point that perhaps free flowing traffic results in gridlock eventually.
Joe - September 17, 2012 at 11:17 am
Gridlock doesn’t mean nothing passes, particularly tax cuts, small tweaks and responses to major attacks on our soil or major economic downturns. It’s a matter of degree.
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