Posted on 01/28/2011 6:58:43 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Gridlock is better; at least that’s what history shows for the budget. In contrast to all the handwringing that a divided government is bad for getting things done, it has a far better record for balancing the federal budget than does one-party control in Washington. This, in turn, points to an inescapable fact: Washington’s budget problem is spending, and spending does not happen on its own.
Over the last 81 years, there have been just 13 federal budget surpluses. Of those 13, only three have come with single-party control of the White House and Congress. And one of those three, 1951, came with the Senate tied 48-48, a Democratic majority only by virtue of the vice president’s tie-breaking vote - a split that would surely be labeled “gridlock” today.
So the effective scorecard on balanced budgets over the last eight decades is gridlock, 11; consensus, 2. Each party has had one of those two - Republicans in 1930 and Democrats in 1949. Since 1949, gridlock has racked up nine balanced budgets to consensus’s zero.
The party control of the presidency, Senate, and House is equally evenly split. Democrats have a 7-6 advantage in control of the White House and Senate during these 13 balanced budgets, while Republicans hold a 7-6 advantage in control of the House.
Far from being an anomaly, the “gridlock is good” thesis makes perfect sense. The driver of Washington’s budget problem has been, is and will increasingly be spending.
Creating new spending requires enactment of new legislation - either creating a new program or increasing existing ones. Certainly, federal entitlement spending is akin to autopilot budgeting - which, once enacted, continues its pre-legislated course indefinitely. But even with entitlements, the big spending jumps have come from increasing a program’s benefits, its beneficiaries or both.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
The Constitution shows that laws are supposed to be difficult to enact - not simple.
Gridlock was planned by the Founders.
Gridlock is good.
We now know that no one is safe while Congress is in session. So, bring on the Gridlock. Hah!
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