Is Politics Broken?

It's a fair question, and CNN took it on tonight. Republicans and Democrats have come to a stalemate on so many issues that even politicians are beginning to question the very structure of America's main legislative body. Bill Maher thinks that our system is broken. Indiana Senator Bayh stated simply, "the people's business is not getting done," and the media flocked to his statement like geese.

But he just said what we already know: partisanship has halted all attempts at compromise and actual reform in Washington. Why do we praise politicians for stating the obvious?

But as for the main question of this blog, does this period in American politics indicate the need for a fundamental change in the way that legislation gets passed? I dont think so. The problem isnt the system. It's the parties and the inevitable consequence of groupthink. The alliance of similar views seems to lead to a paradox where even those who agree are divided by refusal to compromise over relatively minute details. So the bigger question is who needs to bear the brunt of failure in this stalemate, the system or the individual. I choose to go with the variable that been in place for over 200 years.