Tonight there will be promises by each candidate on what he or she will single-handedly do to make our country great again together (that’s a bipartisan combination). The way government works is a bit more complicated. While we all know this, I wanted to add some personal perspective to the mix.
Bills that will become laws originate in the House of Representatives. If passed, they move to the Senate for additional approval. If passed by the Senate, they go to the President for signature or veto. If signed into law, they are subject to challenge by affected parties who can pursue the case all the way to the Supreme court where the law can be upheld or struck down. If vetoed, the veto can be overridden by the Congress if two-thirds of both houses support the legislation. Nowhere in this process does the President have single-handed control.
Presidents, however, do exert a powerful influence. FDR did it in the depression through legislation and his "fireside chats." Reagan reinvigorated America’s sense of pride after Nixon and Carter. Bush gave us the Iraq war. Obama championed the Affordable Care Act. In the cases of FDR and Obama, Congress cooperated with the necessary legislation. This often requires that the same party control both the Office of the President and both houses of Congress (which Obama had for his first two years). Lacking control of both branches, it requires a sensible President and enough sensible members of Congress to collaborate and negotiate effective legislation - something that has been in seemingly short supply of late.
What’s this mean for the current election? Several things. If the new President and the Congress are the same party, odds of the President doing what he or she wants are higher - some of what we hear tonight may come true. Without that, gridlock may limit the President to "executive orders" (Obama’s predicament for the last six years). The new president will have the power, with the consent of Congress, to appoint new Supreme Court justices whose personal leanings will affect the interpretation and enforcement of laws for many future years. However, here again, there is a check and balance between the executive and legislative branches. The framers of the Constitution gave us a robust system for governance. All it requires are the right players. That’s why our votes matter so much, because we pick the team, not just the quarterback.
While the candidates will be looking for our votes, we must remember that much of the control of our government rests with both houses of Congress. It behoves us to scrutinize whom we will elect to Congress this year and in future years. Each individual choice for a representative or senator may not look significant, but collectively it is. Real change in government may come at least as much from changing Congress as electing a President. This is a good year for everyone to look very closely at all our choices (and that includes state and local government as well).
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Monday, September 26, 2016
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