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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 9-Jun-07
Immigration Bill collapses in Congress

Web Log - June, 2007

Immigration Bill collapses in Congress

Trent Lott asks, "Can this Congress do ANYTHING?"

As I've been saying for some time now, the country is becoming increasingly ungovernable because more and more Boomers are in leadership positions, and Boomers are only able to argue, not govern.

This was shown on Thursday evening, when the comprehensive "grand bargain" immigration bill was defeated in the Senate.

The NY Times, of course, which becomes less and less credible every day as a source of news, blames the whole thing on Bush's lack of power.

I suppose it's true that Bush lacks power, being a lame duck President and all, but that has nothing to do with why the bill failed in Congress, any more than the weather does.

The heart of the matter was stated by Senator Trent Lott (R-Miss), who said this on Thursday:

"If we can't do this, we ought to vote to dissolve the Congress and go home and wait for the next election. Can we do anything any more?"

I'm sure he was referring to more than just the immigration bill.

When I tell people that Boomers are unable to govern, they smile as if I'm making a joke. But the fact is that the only major things that Congress has done in the last five years are: Authorize the Iraq war; renew the Patriot act; and, just recently, vote more funds for the Iraq war.

As I wrote last month, the Democrats are just as incompetent as the Republicans.

As I've said many times, the survivors of World War II did great things -- they created the United Nations, World Bank, Green Revolution, World Health Organization, International Monetary Fund, and so forth. They created these organizations and managed them for decades with one purpose in mind: That their children and grandchildren would never have to go through anything so horrible as World War II.

Can you imagine Congress today doing anything remotely like those accomplishments?

I was actually beginning to think that the immigration bill had a shot at passing. It was supported by President Bush and Senator Ted Kennedy (D-Mass), and there seemed to a determination in both parties to get the job done.

It reminded me of what happened in the 1980s, when Democrats and Republicans got together and passed a major tax reform law, and then a major Social Security system law, and then rules to control the budget deficit.

The way they did it then was as follows: Since these bills were so contentious, they appointed a small committee of senior Republicans and Democrats to come up with a bill. Once they reached a compromise bill, the bill came to the floor under the following rule: The entire Senate could vote the bill up or down, but individual Senators couldn't make amendments. That was a process that guaranteed that a bill would be passed.

However, there was no such process this time, and the pundits say that the amendments are what killed the bill. The people on the far left and on the far right proposed amendments that sliced away at the support for the bill. In the end, the Senate didn't have to 60 votes to end debate, and so the bill went down.

And so, the existing situation will continue: Mexicans will continue working the U.S. with an illegal status, which is what nobody wanted.

And the difference between the 1980s and now is that in the 1980s the GI Generation and Silent Generation, the survivors of WW II, were in the leadership of Congress. They knew how to govern -- they learned how during and after WW II when the United Nations and all those other agencies were set up.

They understood that you have to make compromises, that you have to give in a little to get something.

But the Boomers were born after WW II, and never learned how to do anything but argue. They don't know how to compromise. They don't know how to apologize. They have no idea how to admit it when they're wrong. And, of course, they don't have any idea how to govern, even though they think they know everything. (And if you're out there gloating because you're a Gen-Xer -- the Xers are worse than the Boomers.)

So once again, Congress was totally incompetent.

As Trent Lott said, "If we can't do this, we ought to vote to dissolve the Congress and go home and wait for the next election." Sounds about right to me, except we'll need these guys around in a few months when the time comes to vote more funds for the Iraq war. (9-Jun-07) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 9-Jun-07 Immigration Bill collapses in Congress

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 9-Jun-07
Immigration Bill collapses in Congress