By Rachel Suh
With Congress reportedly in the most dysfunction it has ever been in, leading to political “chaos” and over three dozen members (so far) resigning for the 2024 election term, Americans now have an opportunity to reflect on what we want to see happen in government through our representatives, many of whom may be new to Congress in 2025.
While the diversity of the American people- which should be celebrated and uplifted- will keep us all from agreeing on a solution to every issue, I am sure we could start to build a working agreement for us to come together with what we can agree on so we can all move forward on the path to functionality.
I wonder, can most Americans agree that our representatives should focus on the following issues?
1. Reducing Waste. Most Americans can agree that waste in government has become a pressing issue. Inflation (coined ‘greedflation‘ after many Americans realized “record profits” was synonymous with “inflation”) high debt, fraud, and wasteful spending known as “pork” has caused transparent federal government funding to come to a grinding halt over the past decade — with an average of 5 Continuing Resolutions passed a year to keep government from shuttering — as representatives on both sides of the aisle argue about how and where to spend our money.
We can all agree — despite a lack of action by our representatives — that auditing and removal of fraud and wasteful spending should be a top priority for government, whose budget has ballooned to nearly $7 trillion for the proposed 2024 fiscal year. In the corporate world, we call this approach “Working Lean” and it requires constant reassessment on how we can improve ourselves, from the organization and its policies to spending and even the development and final release of a product.
Government’s product is supposed to be a transparent accounting of taxpayer dollars known as a “budget”. This gives Americans a tangible list of line items to look at to determine the true effectiveness of their representatives. Unfortunately, our federal government is prolifically known to not follow it’s own budgetary process, rarely passing a budget on time in the last forty years.
They are, however, unfathomably good at writing blank checks also known as Continuing Resolutions. These Continuing Resolutions are used as a form of tactical funding — not the stopgap measure it was intended to be- where Congressional members play fiscal chicken with one another about line items in the budgetary process until the government warns of and even falls into a shutdown because their projects aren’t funded to their liking.
Without a regular yearly budget, we have seen government spending grow nine times since Barack Obama took office, from $2.98 trillion a year to the aforementioned $7 trillion. At the same time, our deficit has skyrocketed from billions to almost two trillion dollars, doubling in the last year alone. A lot of this is due to a malfunctioning budgetary process, which reflects Congressional dysfunction as they are unable to agree on new programs, reduction in spending, and pet projects.
When continuing resolutions are passed (45% of the time over the past decade the government has been funded through this temporary funding), it is a blank check for Congressional committees to spend at the same levels as the last passed budget or resolution, no line itemization necessary, but it freezes funding for new programs and initiatives. So, for example, even though the Department of the Interior bought that shiny new conference table the last budget allocated $20,000 for, they still receive that money… they just can’t spend it, and billions of dollars are frozen in Congressional purgatory, until an actual budget is passed.
It becomes painfully clear from seeing freezes in hiring and military expenditures and preparedness, to preventing the creation of new programs, to the diversion of personnel from working on assigned projects to preparation for the constant threat of a government shutdown, Congress’ stalemate is reflected in the product it produces- a desperate passing of resolution to prevent shutdown. It also reflects on the rest of its organization as departments urge Congress to give them long-term financial solutions, the infrastructure to strategize, and the ability to function with appropriate personnel and programs. Because of Congress’ dysfunction, shutdowns have occurred multiple times in the past decade, and a 35-day shut down can cost Americans $3 billion in unrecoverable economic losses, which would not be happening if Congress could set aside party politics and pet projects to formally pass a balanced budget.
Congress should focus on providing the best product possible: working first to provide a vision for the United States and then line-itemizing a ten year plan instead of stuffing as many expenditures into a singular bill as possible before the government shutters non-essential programs.
2. American Exceptionalism. That ten year plan should be an extensive celebration of the American People. Americans are amazing. We have paved the way for Constitutionalism, Freedom, Equality, and Inventions. From medicine to technology, buildings and mobile crafts, America is why people around the globe get the blessing of living in modern luxury. We may have fallen behind recently in regards to human and civil rights, corruption, and inventions, but that can be just a mere moment in American history. Falling behind is not because we are no longer exceptional, it is because we have lost focus.
Which brings me to my third and final (and perhaps most important) issue:
3. Productivity. Our representatives’ focus has been on self and party loyalty, which has created disorganization, chaos, and distraction. Politicians can lie and misdirect, but just as unfortunate, it is legal, in some cases, for media to lie and misinform you about political misdirection. This is a reality of the American First Amendment — the right to lie — whether we like it or not. And also, for many (I stopped watching TV about 15 years ago), it’s wildly entertaining, with millions of viewers turning on their TVs every night to see the most recent political gossip.
This probably shouldn’t be our focus.
Our Congress and varied politicians should not be acting like they are part of a soap opera in the hopes of garnering more donations from people who enjoy the hysteria.
The Capitol Building is not the Roman Coliseum; it is not there to entertain and kowtow to the lowest instincts of humanity. It is there to represent American Exceptionalism; it is there to represent us.
Therefore, we should be putting into office people with strategic plans to build America — not attack other Americans. We should elect representative who focus on solutions — not distractions — and who are willing to put their names behind American Exceptionalism — not behind the Almighty Dollar and self-preservation.
It’s time for Americans to work together and stop letting our politicians point us toward division with the right hand, as their left hand reaches for our coffers.
I know a majority of us want a functional government, and to get there we need representatives that focus on being positively remarkable, who are willing to be the best representatives for American Exceptionalism and the Constitution, and put pet projects and party loyalty aside for a greater cause: A United America.
Rachel Suh lives in Pagosa Springs, and is a Certified SCRUM Master and Strategic Consultant working in facilitation, mentoring, training, and coaching. She has a passionate hobby of Political Activism.
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