The publics opinion of politicians of both parties seems to have reached a new low. But no matter how much the voters detest Congress — or how justifiably — that does not mean that there will be radical changes at the next election. For one thing, Congress is not on the ballot. Only individual members of Congress are. Most voters like their own Senator or Representative, often because of special favors that these incumbents have done for their own constituency — at the taxpayers expense. Add to this the so-called campaign reform laws that restrict the raising of money that challengers need, in order to counter the millions of dollars worth of free advertising that incumbents get through ordinary media coverage, enhanced by the incumbents sponsoring of ever more legislation, expanding the role of government. The very longevity of incumbents in Congress makes it expedient for them to treat each other as facts of life — people with whom you have to go along to get along. One of their common interests as incumbents is reelection. This can lead to all sorts of bipartisan log-rolling legislation to hand out the taxpayers money in ways that benefit incumbents of both parties.
Posted on: Wed, 30 Oct 2013 20:33:43 +0000
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