The Sunday Sermon-The Benefits of Split Government

In just over two weeks the voting public will head to their local neighborhood polling places and collectively cast votes that will reverberate around the world. America is the most powerful nation in the world, economically, militarily, politically, and culturally. While we are not the dominant force we once were and don’t figure to regain that status in my opinion, we remain a powerful force in the world, and what we do has an impact well beyond our own borders, which is the definition of what makes a nation historically significant. So suffice to say that the upcoming election has great importance for us, for our neighbors, for our fellow countrymen, and for our brothers and sisters throughout the globe. I’m reminded of the line from “All the President’s Men” when Jason Robards, playing Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee tells Woodward and Bernstein that there’s not much riding on their decisions, except for the constitution, the presidency, and the future of our democracy, or something to that effect. Then he gives them the rejoinder not to f it up. Same goes for us on November 4.

It is not my purpose to make the case for one candidate here, that is a decision that I imagine most people have already made up their mind on, for a myriad of reasons. Anyone who reads this blog on a semi-regular basis knows that I am an Obama supporter, and have been since the spring, after being first a Richardson, then Clinton, then Edwards supporter. I could have even been a McCain supporter if the McCain I admired from 2000 had run in this campaign, but that obviously hasn’t been the case. Nonetheless, this sermon is not a platform to espouse my views on who should be our next president and why, that column has been written awhile ago and I haven’t seen or heard anything to change my stance on that. Rather, I am going to make an argument for why we as a people are better off when our government is split between the two major parties.

First off, I will state that we would be even better off if we had more than two major parties, if we had a system where the likes of Ralph Nadar, Ron Paul, and Dennis Kucinich to name a few could actually get air time and have their views seriously considered. But as our former Defense Secretary famously, and accurately I might add, put it regarding the Iraq War, you go to war with the army that you’ve got. So it is, you go to the polls with the system that you’ve got.

With that in mind, my contention is that our government has been at it’s most effective, it’s most creative, and it’s least destructive in terms of solving problems when it has been split between Democrats and Republicans, specifically when one party has controlled the Executive Branch while the other has controlled the Legislative Branch.

If you look at the modern era, which I define as starting in 1981 with the inauguration of Ronald Reagan and the beginning of Movement Conservatism, which is the era of the Republican party being defined not by the fiscal and military restraint that defined it for most of the 20th century, but rather by social and cultural issues. It is also the era that saw the Democratic party allow itself to be defined largely by the right as out of touch, elitist, and effete liberals who would rather give out government checks to welfare queens driving Cadillacs, support abortion on demand, let gays and lesbians marry, let Mexicans in without conditions, and lose wars. This is also, not coincidentally, the era that gave rise to ultra partisanship, the notion of the liberal mainstream media, conservative talk radio, a runaway national debt, and the greatest inequality in wealth since the Gilded Age of the 1920’s that preceded the Great Depression of the 1930’s.

There have been a few bright spots in this modern era however, and they correspond with periods when the reigns of power were shared. From 1995 to 2001, which was a period that saw the Republicans take control of both houses of Congress, while a Democrat served as president, were generally a productive time for our much maligned federal government. Especially in the period from ‘95 to ‘99 before Clinton got bogged down defending his cheatin’ heart from Republicans hell bent on making him pay for his numerous personal transgressions, we had a period of relative peace and security for starters. Remember when we weren’t at war? It seems like a long time ago, but there was such a time. This was also a period that saw our economy grow at a steady and sustainable rate, when federal deficits were controlled to the point where we actually started running surpluses and making some headway against the national debt. Not to be forgotten, this was also a time when both parties combined to enact comprehensive welfare reform, a longtime domestic policy priority that actually came to fruition when both parties came together for the common good.

While not as productive, the period of time from 1987 to 1993 was also a comparatively benign period, a period which saw Republican presidents, the end of Reagan’s second term and the first George Bush’s term in office, along with Democratic controlled Congresses. By contrast, two periods that were marked by failed policies, both domestically during the period of 1993-1995, the first two years of the Clinton administration, and from 2001-2007, the disastrous and potentially ruinous period of the second George Bush reign, have seen one party control the levers of power. In addition to failed policies, these periods, especially the most recent one, have been marked by runaway spending as the party out of power either doesn’t have the power to check the majority, or would rather let them screw things up to the point that the electorate will reward them with a return to power the next time around.

It was famously said that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. One need look only at our recent history to see the truth of this statement in action. So what does it all mean for us as we approach the 2008 election? Can a Republican controlled Congress really do a better job working with President Obama on the important issues of health care, energy/environmental policy, fiscal/tax policy, and foreign policy? It is unlikely that we will find out the answer to this question until 2011, when the 112th Congress will be sworn in. My own feeling is that this upcoming 111th Congress will, if the polls are accurate, be strongly controlled by the Democrats, and if recent history is a guide, they will likely fail to adequately tackle our most important issues. It is also likely that they will fail to extricate us from the boondoggles in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that along with a rising tally of American war casualties, our national debt will continue to increase at breakneck speed. In two years, the voters will wise up and throw the bums out, and hopefully that will give Obama the Republican Congress that will allow us to start to get ourselves out of the massive hole we’re in, similar to the situation with Clinton in 1995. Time will tell, but that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Until next Sunday, when the sermon will focus on the five tenets that I believe a good government should adhere to, enjoy the political debate, and remember to take time to enjoy the moments that make life worth living, regardless of who is in power.