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Re: Failure of super-committee

By: Cactus Flower in ALEA | Recommend this post (0)
Sun, 20 Nov 11 10:26 PM | 60 view(s)
Boardmark this board | The Trust Matrix 		Msg. 06302 of 54959
(This msg. is a reply to 06301 by clo)
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Hi clo,

I agree with your point, but it's a different one.

The thing that the failure of the super-committee demonstrates is structural deficiency. Regardless of whether the decisions are correct or not, the US is incapable of even making them. This is a serious issue which is lost amidst the policy argument.

I've been in a long-running debate with a poster called Hari - who used to post fairly frequently - that the US constitution has a flaw in it. It seems designed to make change hard to achieve. This means that the status quo is extremely embedded in the US. Innovation is difficult. So the US is structurally conservative by design.

My view is that it is important to be able to change a society at whatever speed is necessary to suit circumstances, and that sometimes societies need to evolve more quickly than the US constitution allows. My contention is that a society will do better in the long run if it is able to make small decisions on a continuous basis. Collectively, these decisions result in a society which is tuned into its environment. This model also invites mistakes. But the mistakes may also be rectified more easily.

Congress failed. Now the super-committee is failing. A decision-making machinery in which there is no mechanism for someone to make a difficult decision is bound to fail when circumstances are tricky. A senate in which the minority can prevent a decision using a filibuster has proved a disaster when used frequently. A senate and a house in different hands again prevents decision-making.

You discover these kinds of issues in times of crisis. The trick is to use the knowledge to make structural changes. But it doesn't happen. I suppose this is because people are brought up to believe that the structure was created in some state of perfection.


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The above is a reply to the following message:
Re: Failure of super-committee
By: clo in ALEA
Sun, 20 Nov 11 8:18 PM 		Msg. 06301 of 54959

Good morning Cactus Flower,

Ah, but we've tried cutting taxes for 11 years, and look what that got us...
Loads of debt & MILLIONS of jobs lost.

Part of the problem, the 2010 election. Sure voters wanted change, they wanted jobs & to cut wasteful spending.
However, the tea party newbies went to Washington & spent most of their time trying to impose their religious beliefs on women. Obstructing any ideas by the democrats, bullying the old elephants, wearing obstruction as a badge of honor...

Many signed Grover Norquist's no taxes contract...
I think that should be a dsiqualifier, they are there to represent the people Not Norquist.

They did NOT hear what voters wanted, they pushed their own agenda.
That's the reason they hold 9% approval, the lowest on record.

IMO, that super committee is a farce, another scape-goat.
We vote for the Congress, let THEM do their work, ALL of them!

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