Political Tug-of-War hurting programs?
When political power shifts in Washington, do government programs suffer? Every two years, Americans vote for their Congressional House Representatives. Every six years, we vote for our Senators. And every four years, we vote for our President. Needless to say, we dont always agree on who these people should be and our elected officials change frequently--resulting in a political tug-of-war. Is the constant flux of political power in the White House and on the Hill a cause for concern?
Government programs are, for the most part, completely non-partisan. However, what happens to a program when political power shifts in Washington? Does the new party in power continue building on the path that had been created, or do they come up with a new idea for how that program should move forward? Or, in the worst case, do they decide that the program in question is low priority and essentially leave it in government program purgatory? Consider the current state of government, with the 111th Congress planning to end session in the coming weeks, and a new Congress starting shortly thereafter; what happens to the programs counting on legislation that has been introduced, but not yet voted on?
What happens to the tax dollars spent on educating legislators that are constantly changing committees or chambers or, sometimes, vocations?
Government programs (especially large, federal ones) are extremely bureaucratic and hierarchical. This translates to very slow implementation of change. A program founded under one President may still be just getting off the ground when a new President is voted in, typically with an adjusted agenda. Although their aims may be the same, often times they have differing means. When the powers-that-be in Washington change, what are the detrimental effects on programs that could otherwise care less which party is in charge?
These are all questions that are left out of mainstream media and news coverage. Of course, our government was founded on the ideals of free and fair elections that result in a multi-party system and a representative government; but I begin to wonder if anyone has seriously examined the potential waste of resources and hurdles to progress this can impose on Federal programs and organizations whose missions are beyond the scope of partisanship and are ongoing, unlike the careers of those we vote into office.
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