Politics July 2011

Of course the big political news this month is whether Congress can reach some sort of agreement on the debt ceiling and the budget. What we have here is...failure...to communicate. Republicans and Democrats alike are entrenched in their positions. Republicans don't want to raise taxes, Democrats don't want to cut entitlements. If we look back at the earlier entry from T. Harry Williams, we are reminded that politicians need to compromise and cut the best deal possible for the most people. Failure on the part of Congress means they are not doing what we elected them to do. Unfortunately, what is happening in Washington at this time falls into the category of J. H. Plumb's definition of politics: it is all about power. A more earthy way to put it: the Debt Crisis has devolved into a dick-measuring contest.

Another Political Truism

It was patronage that cemented the political system, held it together, and made it an almost impregnable citadel, impervious to defeat, indifferent to social change. And yet there are historians who dismiss eighteenth-century patronage as little more than private charity. This is absurd, and arises from considering the pecuniary awards of place only. Place was power; patronage was power; and power is what men in politics are after. After 1715, power could not be achieved through party and so the rage of party gave way to the pursuit of place.
-J. H. Plumb. The Origins of Political Stability: England, 1685-1725. (189)