Performance Level of Congress-Senate

February 28, 2007.

Performance Level of the Senate/Congress
By T.S. Khanna

During the last few decades, technologically we have made a tremendous progress but politically we have degenerated just as sharply. Today, from technical perspective, we have a solution to every problem and from political prospective, we have a problem to every solution. Is it too much democracy or too much diversity or just rugged individualism without sufficient training in “give and take”?

Evidently, our democracy places in power the best politicians money can buy and ignores the true leaders money cannot buy.

The senate and the congress fiddle while the national interest burns abroad. The two parties, Republican and Democratic, fight each other with religious fanaticism and continue to destroy the emotional unity of the citizens essential to pursue national interests.

“The Broken Branch”, recently published by the American Enterprise Institute, shows some of the weaknesses in our system. Removing those weaknesses may not be easy. The law makers themselves have vested interest in maintaining those weaknesses. The election process needs an overhaul before we can hope to elect the right public officials. To meet the challenges of the changing world, a number of constitutional amendments may be necessary to incorporate the lessons from our past experiences with democracy,

The Senate and the Congress need a watchdog for their performance and accountability. I urge your readers to give ideas.