… Signs of political dysfunction abound in the United States government. Perhaps the best illustration is the ongoing fight over the U.S. budget, the national debt, and tax and entitlement reform , which has led to extraordinary (and so far unsuccessful) efforts to resolve legislative stalemate including the “super committee” and the sequester. The source of these deadlocks over budget reform is hardly a mystery: it is the mismatch between highly ideological political parties and our divided form of government which makes passing legislation difficult even in the absence of partisan deadlock.
The partisanship of our political branches and mismatch with our structure of government raise this fundamental question: Is the United States political system so broken that we should change the United States Constitution to adopt a parliamentary system, either a Westminster system as in the United Kingdom or a different form of parliamentary democracy? [cont.]
Richard L. Hasen (UC Irvine), Drake Law Review
Indecision over public policy is not dysfunction, failure to pay our bills is and should not be an option. The 14th amendment provides for this but there still remains a vote on the subject. Legislatures should be allowed to vote their preference but that should not include the good faith and credit of the United States