And dysfunctional too!
Mr. Seidman, you are an idiot, Sir, and not even a useful one at that!
Let's give up on the Constitution
By Louis Michael Seidman - New York Times
AS the nation teeters at the edge of fiscal chaos, observers are
reaching the conclusion that the American system of government is
broken. But almost no one blames the culprit: our insistence on
obedience to the Constitution, with all its archaic, idiosyncratic and
downright evil provisions.
Consider, for example, the assertion by the Senate minority leader last
week that the House could not take up a plan by Senate Democrats to
extend tax cuts on households making $250,000 or less because the
Constitution requires that revenue measures originate in the lower
chamber. Why should anyone care? Why should a lame-duck House, 27
members of which were defeated for re-election, have a stranglehold on
our economy? Why does a grotesquely malapportioned Senate get to decide
the nation’s fate?
Our obsession with the Constitution has saddled us with a dysfunctional
political system, kept us from debating the merits of divisive issues
and inflamed our public discourse. Instead of arguing about what is to
be done, we argue about what James Madison might have wanted done 225
years ago.
