Responsibility

It is hard to imagine a time when the Congress of the United States has been held in greater contempt than it is presently.  Of course, I can only judge by the period I'm familiar with and I'm sure it has always contained scalawags and cads, but as a group they seem to have reached a new low.

What is odd about this is that they are elected by us.  So in each congressional district, our fellow Americans decided that the person they elected was the best possible representative they could find to help shape the Government.  Yet these very same people, the electorate, hold the institution in contempt.

Part of the problem is that we often elect people on a single issue.  So we had an influx of Tea Party candidates who are determined to stop spending and reduce taxes.  This of course has implications, such as less money ofr both Defense and Social Services. but the popularity of less taxes and less spending was enough.  The fact that the agenda that goes with that has potentially dire consequences for even the people who voted for that representative is ignored.

The rhetoric has become such that even the media, at least some of the media, simply go along with the concept that the Democrats are the "spending" party and the Republicans are the "no tax" party.  Of course both parties advocte some spending, it just depends on who is benefitting.  Many Republicans signed the no tax pledge, but they are perfectly willing to raise some taxes by eliminating deductons and credits.  There is really no difference if taxes go up via the front door or the back door, they still go up.

It is impossible in the current political climate to really determine if we spend too much or tax too little.  In some cases the demographics have created a problem, not enough young worker to support the boomer population, and in some cases we have made odd policy decisions, reduce taxes and have two major conflicts right before the boomer generation becomes eligible for many social programs.

Clearly, in a rational society we would debate the resonsiblitity of the Federal Government to provide services and if the majority decides it should, we need to pay for it.

Why is that so hard?