Politicians, Voters, and Sticking to Principle
Voters often tell their elected officials that they want them to "just get things done."  Voters want these politicians to solve the problems facing the country and fix the problems in government.  Also, voters want their elected officials to be principled.  Politicians should not compromise their beliefs.  Tension lies in these two desires.  We want our politicians to work together without compromising, to stand on principle while passing legislation.  In the US, legislation does not get passed without compromise.  This is by design.  Our Founders intentionally designed a system where action (especially in the legislative branch) requires a large con

Top 5: Reasons Obama Should Not Wage War with Fox News
1.  It diminishes Obama's efforts to rise above partisanship. As a candidate, Obama spoke often

Change vs Bipartisanship and the Stimulus Bill
In a previous post, I pointed out that change and bipartisanship were two themes of the Obama campaign, yet they rarely go together. One party rule, or what political scientists sometimes refer to as "party government," presents the best opportunity to bring big, broad changes to government. So which of these campaign themes will dominate the Obama presidency?In the current debate over the stimulus bill, President Obama's competing goals of change and bipartisanship have come into conflict. He can support a bipartisan effort, with more modest change, or, he can support large-scale

Change vs Bipartisanship on SNL
Saturday Night Live also picked up on the theme of change versus bipartisanship in the stimulus bill for its opening skit last night. In the skit, Speaker Pelosi is depicted as being disappointed in the Senate and Obama for eliminating some of the Democratic Party priorities in the bill. According to Maureen Dowd in the New York Times, this is essentially correct. At the House Democratic Caucus retreat, Pelosi told Obama, "“I don’t mind you driving the bus over me, but I don’t appreciate your bac

Politicians, Voters, and Sticking to Principle
Voters often tell their elected officials that they want them to "just get things done."  Voters want these politicians to solve the problems facing the country and fix the problems in government.  Also, voters want their elected officials to be principled.  Politicians should not compromise their beliefs.  Tension lies in these two desires.  We want our politicians to work together without compromising, to stand on principle while passing legislation.  In the US, legislation does not get passed without compromise.  This is by design.  Our Founders intentionally designed a system where action (especially in the legislative branch) requires a large con