Get things done?

As we approach the November midterm elections, the radio waves and my USPS mailbox have been overwhelmed by numerous politicians promising to go to Sacramento or D.C. to “get things done.”  I have become more and more convinced that many of the problems we are facing are not the result of an inability to “get things done.”  Most of the crucial dilemmas of our day are a result of too much getting done.

What we get when they "get things done"
To solve some economic issues related to his choice to close the gold window, Nixon set price and wage controls which converted the medical insurance industry, into an unsustainable comprehensive health-care service industry.

To help impoverished citizens achieve the American dream of going into massive debt to “own a home” (though it’s the lender that truly owns it), lenders were encouraged by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to freely lend money with little to no risk analysis, re-inflating an economic bubble destined to be popped.

To increase consumer confidence, the FDIC insures bank depositors up to $250K so that the banks can continue their practices of fractional reserve lending and offering completely unrealistic products to their clients.  They do this fully knowing that their irresponsibility will inevitably be bailed out by newly materialized liquidity from the Federal Reserve, while consumers do nothing to stop it because the government guarantees their $250K (even if the Fed needs to print it). 

To increase national security, the Executive Branch of the government reserves the privilege to engage in overseas military endeavors at will with no approval from congress, separating the decision of war waging even further from the average voting citizen.

Maybe what we have needed over the past years is to have politicians get less done. 

It seems to me like the framers of the U.S. constitution had this in mind since the beginning.

The art of NOT getting things done
Up until 1929, the number of congressional representatives were consistently raised maintaining an average of about 55,000 citizens per representative.  The reapportionment act of 1929 froze the congressional member number at 435 representatives.  Thus our current ratio is about 600,000 citizens per representative.  Each representative now has over ten times more citizens to report to, making it easier to overlook the desire of many citizens, and much simpler to “get things done” in congress. 

Before the Twelfth Amendment, the Vice President was the runner up in the Presidential race.  Imagine if John McCain was the Vice President of Barak Obama!  Or if Al Gore was Vice President of George W. Bush!

The Executive Order, which was supposed to be reserved for emergency situations, exponentially increased in frequency of use in the early 1900’s.  Now, the EO has been used to circumvent the role of the legislature in military ventures and policy creation. 

Senators are now voted in by popular vote, but were originally appointed by state legislatures, empowering states on the federal level instead of having a disconnected federal ruling class “representing” individual states.

Large congress.  Competing President and Vice-President.  Strong state’s rights.  Very limited use of the executive order.

This was a great recipe to NOT “get things done.”

Granted, the Constitution in its original form was also filled with racism, classism, and sexism.

But I think they may have been onto something in the “getting things done” department.