WHO BROKE WASHINGTON? According to these authors, the
Republicans did—by organizing themselves into an ideological party
that rejects compromise and moderation and refuses to work with
Democrats to address the nation's mounting problems of debt and
entitlement spending. The authors indict Republicans for waging an
all-out political war against President Obama, refusing to confirm
his nominees for executive branch posts, blocking his legislative
proposals with Senate filibusters, and generally opposing any piece
of legislation that he supports, or that, if passed, might redound
to his benefit.
The authors are two Washington insiders masquerading as "scholars" and, judging by their book, partisan Democrats pretending to be "independents" or "centrists." Both Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein have worked in D. C. for more than three decades, and, for the past quarter century, have maintained positions as senior fellows and congressional experts at the Brookings Institution (Mann) and the American Enterprise Institute (Ornstein). Like many in Washington who call themselves centrists or independents, Mann and Ornstein faithfully follow the Democratic Party line, favoring higher taxes and more regulation, along with the standard liberal package of campaign finance reforms. As Washington insiders, they naturally favor the party that arrogates more power to the national capital. It is hardly a wonder that they express little sympathy for an opposition party that has grown steadily more unified around conservative ideas since the 1980s.
This is a bad book in every way that a book can be bad. It is misleading, simplistic in its interpretation, and ignorant of widely known facts that contradict its partisan thesis. Most important, it is just plain wrong. Political debate is not "broken"; it is working much as the founders designed it to work. It is "broken" only from the standpoint of liberals who want to ram their agenda through Congress but cannot do so. If there is gridlock in Washington-well, then, that might be a good thing.
Read more: http://spectator.org/archives/2012/07/02/bad-bad-republicans
The authors are two Washington insiders masquerading as "scholars" and, judging by their book, partisan Democrats pretending to be "independents" or "centrists." Both Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein have worked in D. C. for more than three decades, and, for the past quarter century, have maintained positions as senior fellows and congressional experts at the Brookings Institution (Mann) and the American Enterprise Institute (Ornstein). Like many in Washington who call themselves centrists or independents, Mann and Ornstein faithfully follow the Democratic Party line, favoring higher taxes and more regulation, along with the standard liberal package of campaign finance reforms. As Washington insiders, they naturally favor the party that arrogates more power to the national capital. It is hardly a wonder that they express little sympathy for an opposition party that has grown steadily more unified around conservative ideas since the 1980s.
This is a bad book in every way that a book can be bad. It is misleading, simplistic in its interpretation, and ignorant of widely known facts that contradict its partisan thesis. Most important, it is just plain wrong. Political debate is not "broken"; it is working much as the founders designed it to work. It is "broken" only from the standpoint of liberals who want to ram their agenda through Congress but cannot do so. If there is gridlock in Washington-well, then, that might be a good thing.
Read more: http://spectator.org/archives/2012/07/02/bad-bad-republicans
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