The Current Political Posture of Our National Government We have a politically divided national government.
The President is a Democrat and the Democrats are in control of the Senate.
In the House of Representatives Republicans are in control.
Some are members of the "Tea Party" faction, while the rest align themselves with more traditional Republican policies and ideology.
Unfortunately this usually results in partisan gridlock with little or nothing being accomplished for the Nation.
In this article our focus will be on the Legislative Branch - the U.
S.
Senate and House of Representatives.
We begin by sharing results of a Gallop Poll establishing the July 2013 approval ratings for the Congress:

Congress' approval rating is at a dismal 15%, just five points above the all-time low.
Some members of Congress are aware of the institution's poor standing with the American public and say they are trying to address it.
For instance, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in a speech earlier this week mentioned that partisan gridlock and not getting things done are driving Congress' low approval -- factors consistent with Gallup's recent findings on the top reasons Americans disapprove of Congress.

Why Isn't The Congress More Effective? The electorate expects both political parties to work cooperatively for the good of the nation by entering into bi-partisan agreements but this rarely happens in the present Congress.
There are a number of reasons why we arrived at this point but before going any further let me hastily add that both parties are at fault to some degree and any assessment of which of the two should accept most of the blame depends upon one's point of view and political affiliation.

• The Senate

It is tempting to think that since the Democrats "control" the Senate they don't have any difficulty conducting Senate business, but that isn't the case.
To illustrate my point, here are three ways in which a determined minority delays or prevents a President's appointees from taking office or keeps a bill they don't like from becoming law.
Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution, requires that the President's Cabinet Members, Supreme Court Justices, other members of the Federal Judiciary and some other Presidential appointments must have Senate Confirmation or approval before they can take office.
Committee hearings participated in by the committee members of both parties are held to decide a nominee's qualifications and these can sometimes be lengthy.
Floor debate follows with sixty votes needed in the Senate to bring about cloture - end debate - and vote to confirm or reject the nomination.
With sixty votes needed for cloture, it allows the minority party, in this case the Republicans to have much influence over the confirmation process and delay the approval of the President's appointments any time they want to.
Note this comment of George E.
Condon, Jr.
, White House Staff Writer, taken from his July 18 article entitled Why The Confirmation Process Is Completely Broken:

There can be no doubt that the process has slowed down.
As of July 14, the White House counted 192 nominations pending in the Senate.
Thirty-one of them are for judgeships, which is a totally separate problem.
(Two successive chief justices have warned of a crisis in the judiciary.
) But even more troubling is the relatively new phenomenon of an increasingly leaderless government bureaucracy.
Of the 161 executive-branch nominations pending in the Senate on July 14, 45 were for Cabinet departments, 34 for independent regulatory agencies, and 11 for other independent agencies.
The remaining 71 nominees in limbo were either ambassadors or members of boards or commissions.
Of these, 141 were still mired in committee-and some had been stuck for more than a year.

Delays of this kind are completely unacceptable and those responsible for this partisan gridlock are not serving in the public interest.
Filibustering: Senators who wish to prevent the passage of legislation, especially those in the minority, will often "filibuster" attempting to talk it to death on the floor of the Senate.

The cloture rule-Rule 22-is the only formal procedure that Senate rules provide for breaking a filibuster.
A filibuster is an attempt to block or delay Senate action on a bill or other matter.
Under cloture, the Senate may limit consideration of a pending matter to 30 additional hours of debate.

Use of the Senate Rules: A minority also makes its presence felt by raising a procedural "point of order" during Senate Debate.
This interrupts the flow of business and diverts the Senate's attention from the business at hand to settle some technical matter involving an alleged violation of the Senate Rules.

• The United States House of Representatives

Members of the House of Representatives must run for re-election every two years while Senators serve for six years.
To avoid opposition in Republican Party primary elections from their very conservative Tea Party wing, traditionally minded Republican members of the House running for re-election are under pressure to take extreme conservative positions more agreeable to that wing of their party than they would otherwise adopt.
Tea Party Republicans are rigid and inflexible on issues, showing little or no interest in negotiation and compromise.
Noting that the Boston Tea Party took place on December 16, 1773 its namesake, the members of the Republican Tea Party Wing should give up their rebellious ways and join the rest of us in the twenty-first century.
The difficulties of moving the nation's business forward under the existing circumstances since legislation requires the approval of both the House and Senate before it can become law, is next to impossible.
This especially applies to appropriation matters almost always opposed by Tea Party members ready to shut the government down, rather that reach an understanding with the Democrats and other members of the Republican Party in the House needed to conduct the Nation's business.
The Republican Tea Party members in the House seem to say "no" to practically everything.
This does not serve the public interest well.
Just saying "no" is not responsible legislative action on behalf of our people, it is irresponsible obstructionism that warrants election defeat.
Conclusion For the Senate and House of Representatives to conduct the Nation's business properly and fulfill their duty to the electorate, they need to set aside partisan politics and make reasonable compromises with one another for the good of the Nation.
As noted by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid partisan gridlock and not getting things done are driving Congress' low approval.
Unfortunately posturing for political advantage seems much more likely to continue with the present party membership breakdown, especially with the significant Republican Tea Party participation in the House of Representatives.
If the Republican Party is unable or unwilling to reign in their Tea Party members so the nation's legitimate business resumes in the House, then the electorate should return control of the House of Representatives to the Democratic Party in the next general election.
Our country has too many unresolved problems to allow this foolishness to continue any longer.
© 2013 Douglas M Midgley, J.
D.
All Rights Reserved Worldwide