Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Government Failing the People Symptom of Broken System

“. . . I venture to say that, taken as a whole, the House is sound at heart; nowhere else will you find such a ready appreciation of merit and character, in few gatherings of equal size is there so little jealousy and envy. . . The men who have led the House, whose names have become a splendid tradition to their successors, have gained prominence not through luck or by mere accident. They had ability, at least in some degree; but more than that they have had character.”
—Speaker Joseph G. Cannon of Illinois, (1903–1911)

Mr. Cannon must be rolling over in his grave. I find that the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives has become a hindrance to the functioning of government, and a liability to the American people.

As the presiding officer of the House of Representatives, the Speaker holds a variety of powers over the House and is the highest-ranking legislative official in the US government. The Constitution does not spell out the political role of the Speaker. Tradition has molded the position into what it is today.  The Speaker in the United States, by tradition, is the head of the majority party in the House of Representatives, outranking the Majority Leader. However, despite having the right to vote, the Speaker usually does not participate in debate and rarely votes.

The Speaker is responsible for ensuring that the House passes legislation supported by the majority party. In pursuing this goal, the Speaker may use his or her power to determine when each bill reaches the floor. They also chair the majority party's steering committee in the House. The Speaker is tasked with pushing through the agenda of the majority party, often at the expense of the minority opposition. As the highest-ranking member of the opposition party (and in effect a de facto Leader of the Opposition), the Speaker is normally the chief public opponent of the President's agenda. In this scenario, the Speaker is known for undercutting the President's agenda by blocking measures by the minority party or rejecting bills by the Senate.

The Speaker's powers and duties extend beyond presiding in the chamber. In particular, the Speaker has great influence over the committee process. The Speaker selects nine of the thirteen members of the powerful Committee on Rules, subject to the approval of the entire majority party. The leadership of the minority party chooses the remaining four members. Furthermore, the Speaker appoints all members of select committees and conference committees. Moreover, when a bill is introduced, the Speaker determines which committee will consider it.

Because joint sessions and joint meetings of Congress are held in the House chamber, the Speaker presides over all such joint sessions and meetings. The Speaker is also responsible for overseeing the officers of the House: the Clerk, the Sergeant-at-Arms, the Chief Administrative Officer, and the Chaplain. The Speaker can dismiss any of these officers. The Speaker appoints the House Historian and the General Counsel and, jointly with the Majority and Minority Leaders, appoints the House Inspector General.

This list of duties and the method employed to carry them out is a recipe for governments grinding to a halt. It is also a betrayal of trust to the American people. Even though a Republican or a Democrat should try to advance their cause, they still have to represent the whole of the electorate. A partisan Speaker of the House is incapable of that. The rabble gets the Speakers' ear, then the Speaker stubbornly tows a line even if it threatens the stability of the entire system.

Given such awesome powers as held by the Speaker of the House, I think we should have learned a lesson from the last few years. That lesson being, a partisan Speaker of the House is a bad idea. We should embrace the notion that our Speaker of the House of Representatives should be strictly non-partisan. The person chosen should renounce all allegiances to any party and instead focus on the people's business in the House. That should be their overriding concern, the smooth functioning of the House of Representatives. Our nation needs to implement a Westminster Style Speaker of the House.

"Non-partisanship: The Speaker, by convention, severs all ties with his or her political party, as it is considered essential that the Speaker be seen as an impartial presiding officer"

If our nation had a Speaker of the House that was non-partisan, we wouldn't have to suffer threats of government shutdown born of political party infighting. The People of the United States deserve better than that. The people expect better performance from their elected officials. The people are disturbed by the wasting of billions of taxpayer dollars on setting up programs, only to disband the program later because of political rivalry. The people are the ones most affected by government malfunction. The people are the ones the elected must answer to. The people see a major flaw in our political system and desire to remedy that flaw. It would take nothing less than a Constitutional Amendment to get the job done. Still, it must be done.

This The Speaker of the House of Commons disavowed allegiance to any political party when he took up the gavel. https://www.parliament.uk/business/commons/the-speaker/speaker-and-the-chamber/

Check out these clips of the House of Commons Speaker:




Now check out some of our own Speakers antics:


After viewing that last one, it should be apparent how the role of the Speaker has gotten out of hand. Given that "The Constitution does not spell out the political role of the Speaker.", it has become time to enact rules to govern the political role of the Speaker. The way things are now, people have made tribal/customary rules, and make them with an eye to gaining an advantage of course. Like children playing a game and making rules as they go. Every time the child invents a rule trying to gain an upper hand. Let us People of the United States have a Speaker of the House that supports the function of government on behalf of the American People who have entrusted that power. A Speaker whose role is a non-partisan role, devoted to getting the business of the people done expeditiously.

Friday, March 6, 2015

A Little About my Trip From Muncie to Portland 2015

I'm a real happy camper now that I've moved to Portland. Things are more kicked back and not so darn authoritarian. I can even get chickens here no problem from an over intrusive town counsel.

I started out early that morning piling everything into my car. I left some old furniture that I didn't want to haul across the continent. Maybe someone else will get some use from it. One of the items was an old 36" tube type, TV. It was way to heavy to lug across the nation. The thing had a really good picture, but alas it was obsolete.



After that I claimed into the car, and off I went. One and a half miles later I found myself sitting on the side of the road with an over heated engine. The temp gauge was pegged out. That morning was an especially cold one with temperatures reaching -5 degrees. I was hoping I hadn't cracked my block right at the start of my trip.

I had a theory working as to what was happening. I think that even though I had antifreeze in the engine, a slush had formed. Then all them ice crystals blocked up important cooling ports. As I sat, I started the engine and let it run until it began to over heat, at which point I turned off the engine. After doing that a few times I took note that the temp gauge was going down, instead of back up. I had not filled up so I went ahead and drove to the pumps to refuel.

After that first little fright, everything went perfect. I really wanted to stop in Colorado for a mid trip treat. I passed it up anyway though. The weather there was bad. After Cheyenne, there was snow and ice all the way across Wyoming. The roads were passable. Only once did it go down to one lane, and 35 mph. Once Utah got within sight, things started clearing up.



I also got a feel for going 80 mph for long distances. That was the speed limit for some time. I think the 80 mph was a big factor in it only taking two and a half days to  get there. Also I wanted to get the trip over with. I was darn tired of freezing my butt off. Week after week of sub-freezing weather was about enough for this Florida boy. To bad Florida is so red. They talk about putting medicinal marijuana on the ballot, but it hasn't passed yet. Give it time and it will.

Now that I'm in my new digs, I'm very happy. I'm ready to start a new chapter in my life. Spring's around the corner, so it is time to get it into gear and do some exploring. I've read that Oregon has gold, gemstones, fossils and other items of interest to an old rock hound like me. It will be fun to visit the marijuana stores when it becomes legal here on July 1st. I think I'll go ahead and get a medicinal marijuana card. I hear you can grow more plants at a time.


Let the good times roll. Pun intended. In a little over 3 months we will be able to breath free again in Oregon. As for me, I'm going to roll one and kick back. Here is a movie I made of the trip. I need to get a bigger memory card.