It was a sad moment today when Indiana Democratic Senator Evan Bayh, a moderate liberal, announced he would not seek re-election after twelve years in the Senate, out of frustration and anger at the intransigence and paralysis that Congress has developed into during the past few years, and its basic inability to get anything done for the country.
Bayh may yet run for Governor again in Indiana, as he was in that office in the 1990s before going to the Senate. He indicated his desire to do public service for the people, but sees the legislative branch as in total disarray and gridlock, which disgusts him.
While claiming that the extreme left and the extreme right were both responsible for the disaster that Congress has become, Bayh did make clear that the final straw was when seven members (Republicans), who had agreed to work toward creation of a commission to deal with deficit spending and the national debt, ended up voting against the legislation they had co-sponsored!
This forced President Obama’s hand, making him create such a commission by executive order.
It is therefore clear that it is the far right, and really the Republican party, which has destroyed any camaraderie in the Senate, as they prefer the failure of the Obama Presidency over what is good for the country.
When a party wins control, they are entitled to operate the government by their ideas, but with the occasional cooperation and support of opposition party members, but that is not the case now, and the Senate filibuster has become totally destructive, with more use or threat of use of the filibuster in the past 14 months than in any past period, including the civil rights era of the 1950s and 1960s.
So we are losing top people like Evan Bayh, and one has to wonder will we be fortunate enough to have new senators on the level of quality that Bayh represented.
This is a low moment in Senate history, with good people deciding to bow out, and mediocrity reigning supreme! 🙁