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Change Is Also Needed In Congress

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JOSEPH H. BROWN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 14, 2008

Now that the political conventions are over and the presidential campaign is in full swing, it's time for my quadrennial civics lesson. After listening to the two candidates' acceptance speeches, they might need a refresher course themselves.

As voters hang on every word Barack Obama and John McCain say between now and Nov. 4, they must keep in mind that it takes more than a president to get things done.

For instance, I received an e-mail from a Republican group warning me that Obama would boost government spending and raise my taxes. Maybe, but only if Congress goes along with him.

Then there was one from a local Democrat organization telling me that McCain would do away with a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy. No he won't; the Supreme Court might, but he can't do that on his own.

Other Branches Of Government
Candidates and voters need to remember that there are other branches of government besides the executive branch. Sometimes during their speeches these guys talk as if there were no Congress. They need to be reminded that no proposal by the nation's chief executive is simply adopted by executive fiat.

As we should have learned in, say, fifth grade, legislation is proposed, then it undergoes consideration, study, debate, amending, and voting up or down in both houses of Congress. There's also the Supreme Court that makes rulings on laws' constitutionality.

In short, we don't elect people to be dictators for four years.

George W. Bush learned that right after he was re-elected in 2004. One of his campaign pledges going all the way back to 2000 was partial privatization of Social Security allowing Americans to have some ownership of the entitlement. Yet his proposal went nowhere, even with a Republican-controlled Congress.

Pay Attention To Congress

Both candidates talk about change in Washington, and Americans claim to be for it. But in 2006, 94 percent of sitting members of the U.S. House who ran again for office were re-elected. That's an improvement from 2004 when 98 percent were returned to office, but it proves that Americans have a schizophrenic relationship with Congress.

On the one hand Americans despise what's going on in Washington. On the other they keep sending the same people back over and over again.

A good example is my dear mother who lives in Chicago in the congressional district represented by Bobby Rush. A few months ago I asked who she voted for in 2000 when Rush was challenged in the Democratic primary by a young state senator named Barack Obama, who lost big time.

"Bobby Rush, of course," she answered, as if I had asked a stupid question. Why? "Because of (Rush's) clout."

This is from a woman who has railed against Chicago's political machine since I was a child.

John F. Kennedy once said that the president's responsibility was to present to the American people the nation's unfinished business. The bottom line, however, is if we want real change in Washington, it's going to have to come from more than the president. Capitol Hill will need new occupants, not just the White House.

Joseph H. Brown is a Tribune editorial writer.

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