Divided Government -- 3/9/06
When a president has the public on his side, he can often get Congress to do what he wants, even when the majority party is other than his own. When his popularity begins to tank, it can even be difficult to get his own party to follow his agenda. That’s where President Bush finds himself now. With his approval ratings in some polls at the level of Nixon’s before he resigned, he has limited political clout with either party. Members of Congress who face reelection in less than nine months are reluctant to hitch their fates to his dimming star. (Carl Hulse, A Rebellion in the GOP on Security, A Signature Issue, NYT, 3/9/06.)
That’s not news, of course, but it is one of the enduring stories of the last few months, as I have noted in this blog. The latest evidence is the outright resistance of Congress to the Dubai ports deal. Ironically, the actual issue here may be a red herring – the ports deal has been endorsed even by stalwart critics of the president. But with public opinion running heavily against it, it has become radioactive for Congress. Despite veto threats from the president, the House is acting to halt the takeover, and the Senate may not be far behind. (Andrea Stone, House Panel Votes to Kill Ports Deal, USA Today, 3/9/06.)
The worsening relationship between the president and the legislature can be seen in President Bush’s remarks yesterday, blaming Congress for underfunding the post-Katrina rebuilding effort on the gulf coast. (Michael A. Fletcher and Spencer S. Hsu, Bush: Congress ‘Shortchanged’ New Orleans, WaPo, 3/9/06.)
For the president, of course, none of this is good news. For the rest of us, it may be a different story. The founders devised our system to check and balance itself, so that no one branch could become too powerful. With a president who believed in strengthening the executive branch, and Congress disinclined to cross him, we haven’t seen too much checking and balancing in the years since 9/11. What are the advantages and disadvantages for a democracy of a president and Congress finding themselves at loggerheads?