The System's Not 'Broken'

Vice President Joe Biden declared in an interview with CBS’ “Early Show” this week, “Washington, right now, is broken.”

Biden was referring specifically to the state of Congress, claiming, “I don’t recall a time in my career where to get anything done, you needed a supermajority, 60 out of 100 senators.

“I’ve never seen it this dysfunctional,” he lamented, not bothering to mention he himself spent more than three decades in the Senate, a span of time in which, without question, had its share of “dysfunctional” periods.

The vice president’s whining was eerily similar to that of an ideological soul mate, U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh, Democrat of Indiana, who – in announcing his decision not to seek reelection this year – also diagnosed Congress as “broken.”

“There’s just too much brain-dead partisanship, tactical maneuvering for short-term political advantage rather than focusing on the greater good,” Bayh complained.

Well. A year ago, when Democrats took control of both Houses of Congress and the presidency, the sky was the limit. There was nothing that stood in the way of “progressive” ideals that, for far too long, had simmered on the back burner.

It was time to move America into the 21st century. The people had spoken. The mandate was clear.

Or was it?

Now, just 12 months later, two Democrats – one a sitting vice president – have pronounced our system “broken” and “dysfunctional,” even though their party – while less powerful that it was – still soundly controls two of three branches of government.

What happened? Why would Biden pronounce dead a system he and his boss, Barak Obama, thought worked perfectly not long ago? Why would a sitting U.S. senator with a large lead in the polls decide to opt out of running for reelection? Why do they now believe, suddenly, that the system is broken?

Could it be that what’s really occurring is wholesale rejection of the Obama agenda these and other like-minded Democrats once believed was a slam-dunk? The takeover of health care; a jobs-killing cap-and-trade “environmental” bill based on shoddy and, quite probably, incorrect “scientific” data; legislation that punishes job-creating corporations at a time when unemployment is at near-term record highs; government control over banks and car companies; a foreign policy perceived as weak and apologetic – on all of these issues, Americans have begun to push back, and push back hard.


First, they have done so by electing Republicans to offices and seats long held by these same Democrats. Second, they have begun to organize like never before and voice dissent that has manifested itself in angry town hall meetings over health care last fall, and tea party protests all over the country.

In essence, the American people are rejecting the Big Government agenda long envisioned by the Obama “progressives,” and re-embracing the American principles of hard work, freedom, liberty, fair play and – did I mention freedom?

For that these Americans are being pilloried by the elitist mainstream media and many in the Obama administration as angry crackpots who don’t have a clue and who couldn’t find one with several obvious hints.

Fact is, these Americans know precisely what is going on – they see it daily out of this administration and its ample allies on Capitol Hill – and they don’t like it.

Obama’s poll numbers, as well as those for Congress in general, reflect the mood: downward trends for both, and in terms of Congressional approval, you might even get more support for Joe Stalin or Pol Pot than for that august body these days.

So it rings a bit hollow to hear the likes of Biden and Bayh complain about our “broken” legislative branch. It sounds an awful lot like it is working perfectly: the people are demanding representation on the issues at hand, and judging by the failure of so many left-wing, anti-constitutional measures put forth by the Obama-ites, they are being heard.

More likely these two are complaining about the inability to pass their agenda, which they still advocate for, even though solid majorities of Americans from both parties don’t agree with them.

That’s not a broken system. It’s sour grapes.

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