Paul Ryan?

So the new Republican Speaker of the House is coy about his political future. He ran with Romney for Vice President against Obama/Biden and lost badly. But then he wasn’t Speaker. Now he is and that is something to protect for him I think.

Paul Ryan is an attractive man and gets along with a lot of people, many who do not think as he does. And in a politician that’s a good thing. Especially these days. Getting along with others is the first step to making compromises that actually get things done. We need a lot of that behavior in Congress these days; it would be a happy relief!

So Ryan continues to learn his job in place. And he seems to be doing well until…well when he isn’t!

You see Ryan continues to play the conservative political game as though it is the only game in town. It isn’t. it is not even one half of the game, but the rest of the field is so split among differing ideologies that the conservative hold on congress continues to gridlock all governance.

Because conservatives are fearful people – it is the nature of why they are conservatives in the first place (they don’t trust anyone, even themselves, so they spread discord and suspicion everywhere) – they don’t dare give an inch to anyone who doesn’t agree with them 100%. The trouble is even those who do agree with them 100% are suspicious in their eyes (the nature thing again!) and so they hold back giving into the suspicions.

Again, the gridlock goes on.

Well, this fall’s presidential elections will help settle a lot of things. First, someone will win the White House race. I think it will be the Democrats. And I think it will be Hillary Clinton. With that settled republicans will need to skirmish their powers to finish the Obama term and get some decisions made that they can still make. Gridlock will ease just a bit.

Along with the White House race are all of the House of Representatives and the one third of the Senate. I think the Senate will move toward Democrats and cause the Senate to be much more evenly split. This will allow some movement in that house of congress.

On the other end of the building the House of Representatives will also shift away from Republicans and toward Democrats. This will be caused by the anger and frustration of the American people about their own government. They know it is not about the White House but actually about Congress. That’s where the gridlock resides. And they want that to end. So votes in the House will shift towards even-steven and gridlock will ease a bit.

This all means that republicans will need to pick their fights more carefully. Their missteps in the last decade or so have removed all doubt about their ability to govern and to conduct international affairs. They are not capable of enough subtlety to govern domestically or internationally. It is a sad state of affairs but true enough. The hens have come home to roost!

It would help the two party system if both parties began negotiating today toward this inevitable end. We need a full Supreme Court roster of justices. We need fair and aggressive budgets. We need reform in education. We need climate actions that would hurry the demise of the oil economy in favor of renewable energy. And we need economic blinders removed to witness the new age of innovation that is ready to leap from the shadows of our moribund economy. There is a whole new world to be built and experienced. Right now only the young will gain from this experience. The elder generations have given up and dug in. Of course they will lose doing this and die deaths of regret and loneliness.

The world is exciting only when engaged. The opposite only causes fear and trembling. And that’s no way to live life.

We all know this so why do we allow backward thinking and greed to control our futures?

I think the answer is simple. We are too lazy as a society to do the work needing to be done to make the truly great things happen. And yet this is where the excitement and fun happens. Why put that off when a little work and risk will open it up to us all?

Can the elections be quickened? Could we possibly change the calendars of government and get this awful, embarrassing political season behind us?

Oh how we all wish it!

April 26, 2016