Congress Has Changed, Not for the Better, and Now It Needs Changing

Today’s column will be my last in Roll Call. … For this column occasion, I thought back to how Congress has changed over the years since I first wrote for this paper.

Both parties have changed; Democrats have grown less heterogeneous as the contingent of Blue Dogs has declined. Yet the most significant changes have come from, and been driven by, Republicans. …

Respect for the institution of Congress — much less for the framers’ vision of policymaking through deliberation, debate and an effort to find common ground, or at least grounds for compromise — has been replaced by obduracy, contempt for compromise and a level of demonization of the other side, starting with the president. …

The use or threat of filibuster as a routine weapon of obstruction is new, and it has changed the character of the Senate and distorted democracy. [cont.]

Norman Ornstein, Roll Call

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