Of all the pre-election polls, punditry, analysis and forecasts, one stands
out. It is a new CNN poll conducted by Opinion Research Corporation that
found an overwhelming number of Americans (78 percent) believes "our system
of government is broken."
Democrats predictably blame Republicans for this as part of their strategy
for returning to majority status in Congress. Just as predictably,
Republicans blame Democrats for being "obstructionists" and not letting all
that good legislation hatched by the GOP get through.
It isn't actually our "system" of government that is broken. The
Constitution established an excellent system from which contemporary leaders
regularly seem to depart. The Founders gave us the parchment equivalent of a
GPS system that, if followed, gets us where we ought to go, but if ignored,
causes us to become lost. No, the system has worked quite well until
recently. Rather, it is the way Republicans, now, and Democrats when they
last had the majority, have made a mess of it. The system is crumbling under
the weight of too many expectations.
Members of both parties have asked government to do for them what they
should first be doing for themselves. And instead of telling people about
self-sufficiency, government has subsidized and encouraged self-indulgence.
Instead of telling religious people - conservative Christians especially -
that government can't do more for them than the God they claim to worship,
both parties (Republicans more than Democrats, but Democrats are trying to
catch up) have allowed, even encouraged, believers to think politicians can
help build the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.
Instead of government as a last resort, too many (Republicans included) turn
to government as a first resource. Government was not designed to carry the
burdens placed on it by the public, lawyers and lobbyists.
The Founders created a system of limited government. It is not functioning
like one today because we now view government as unlimited. For many, faith
in government is now stronger than faith in God, in practice, if not in
theory. At least God tells us He loves us. Government never can. Our faith
in government to rid the world of totalitarian regimes, while at the same
time caring for children and grandparents whose welfare should be the first
responsibility of their families, was always destined to disappoint.
Democrats tell us if we return them to power things will be better. No they
won't, because the problem isn't which party has a majority. It is far
deeper than that.