Divided Government

I've done a little analysis on the prospects of restoring divided government in 2010. Net net - there is no shot. Best opportunity for the GOP is retaking the Senste in 2012 (assuming Obama does not embarrass himself - and based on his campaign performance, there is no reason to think he will).

Getting an opposition party with some good principles would be awesome.

McCain had several good principles and policies, especially on ag subsides and free trade (where Obama's record has been awful and I hope he changes) but also his health care plan, and had actually voted against some of Bush's worst excesses (such as the Medicare drug benefit and Gitmo policy), but I don't think it was ever going to be enough. For one thing, the war was too big with many libertarians; for another, libertarians just don't like McCain's personality and philosophical underpinnings (for some understandable reasons), regardless of where he ends up on policy. (And for his tendency to be generally pretty good, but then flip on some big high-profile item of the day,)

In any case, I just hope Obama abandons some of his scary rhetoric. His line in speeches where he called McCain unpatriotic for opposing "buy US" rules for the federal government was a real low point.

Inspired by Perot's frightening (to Democrats and Republicans alike) run in '92, deficits were slashed and "workfare" was eased in for welfare recipients by the Clinton administration.

? Actually, that was inspired by the Republicans taking over Congress in 1994, causing Clinton to move to the center. Welfare reform was passed by the Republican Congress and vetoed twice by President Clinton before it was finally signed the third time. Perot ran on opposing free trade-- did this somehow "inspire" NAFTA to be favored by both Republican Congressional leadership and the Clinton Administration?

Divided government can mean either that only things with a broad amount of support can pass, but, perhaps confusingly, can also mean that things that politicians think should pass but are very unpopular can pass when they couldn't in unified government. In the latter case, consider things like the bailout, or even more unpopular items. They can pass because the parties agree not to run against each other on the issue.

One good thing that might come out of this united government, is that the Republicans have been spanked so badly that they might actually consider taking Jeff Flake's advice and actually consider limited government, reduced spending, and economic liberty instead of the me-too strategy that has been so disastrous.

Getting an opposition party with some good principles would be awesome.

That would be change I could believe in.

Swimmy is so right! Vicious partisanship is a very accurate description of what passes for our present government. I have only closely followed the state of politics in our country for about 40 years, so it is possible that our anointed 2 party players 'rose above' at one time or another. I guess I just wasn't there when it happened.

What he writes next, however, is nonsense:

"They imagine that under divided government, the wise elders of both parties would sit around a table and 'rise above politics' with pragmatic solutions for everything."

Actually, I imagine that under divided government, there would be such vicious partisanship that nobody could come up with pragmatic solutions for anything. Sounds awesome.

I believe we have had 'united government' under both the Bush (briefly - 2 years) and the Clinton presidencies. Inspired by Perot's frightening (to Democrats and Republicans alike) run in '92, deficits were slashed and "workfare" was eased in for welfare recipients by the Clinton administration.
Both houses of congress have enjoyed (?) Democratic majorities for most of my lifetime with not much to show for it except lifetime politicians, ever-growing government and deficits, pork and more pork. The GOP followed suit in their short reign with an emphasis on deficits and pork.
President-elect Obama should use his bully pulpit to let the folks know what is really going on and cut pork! Here, with his united government, he has the opportunity for real change. Make it happen Mr. President-elect!