Rep. Steve La Tourette (R-OH) shocked Washington by saying he was not going to seek re-election because he was “sick of Washington,” referring to the acrimony in Congress. Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) announced in the spring she was retiring from Congress because of the gridlock and acrimony that exists now.
So far this year, 11 Republican House members and 3 GOP Senators are not running for re-election. Frustration with the gridlock in Congress is the primary reason most of these lawmakers are hanging it up. Gridlock has also caused 15 Democrats in the House and 6 in the Senate to retire.
These actions come at a time that the approval rating of Congress is at record lows teetering between 9% and 11% approval. Congress is less popular than BP was during the height of the Gulf oil spill. The current House has been the most unproductive in history in terms of passing bills, and even worse at enacting laws. It has kicked the can down the road on almost every major issue despite the fact the nation’s economy is under duress.
Freshman New York Republican Congressman Hanna told the Syracuse Post-Standard editorial board “If all people do is go down there and join a team, and the team is invested in winning... there’s not a lot of value there.” He called his Democratic friends “much more congenial” than Republican ones.
He then went on to warn that House Republicans are becoming “incapable of governing” by habitually deferring to “extremes.” “We render ourselves incapable of governing when all we do is take severe sides,” he said. “I have to say that I’m frustrated by how much we — I mean the Republican Party — are willing to give deferential treatment to our extremes in this moment in history.”
Rep. La Tourette cited the polarized climate of Congress as a prime reason for not seeking reelection. "The atmosphere today and the reality that exists no longer encourages common ground," he later added. He elaborated on his thinking at a Thursday Capitol Hill news conference called to promote a plan to compromise on spending and taxing. He said “Congress is simply unable to function, with both sides driven by their bases and too few moderates available to put aside politics and do the nation's business.”
But he reserved his harshest words for lobbyist Grover Norquist. Rep. LaTourette recalled receiving a phone call after he and Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN) proposed legislation that would enact the Simpson-Bowles deficit reduction plan. That plan aimed to cut the deficit by $4 trillion over 10 years through budget cuts and tax reforms, which would set taxes at 21 percent of the gross domestic product. Norquist was critical of that bipartisan effort. (Alan here... George H. W. Bush is similarly critical of Norquist. http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2012/08/bush-41-who-hell-is-grover-norquist.html)
Nearly every Republican in Congress and almost all Republican candidates, including Mitt Romney, have signed a pledge to Grover Norquist to never raise taxes. That is the reason Congress could not pass the “grand bargain” last year which has now resulted in a “fiscal cliff” at the end of the year.
The Tea Party has been purging moderate Republicans in both the 2010 and 2012 election. They have been successful in most cases defeating lions of the Congress like Senator Lugar, Senator Bennett, and others. It is like there is a sign outside the meeting room where the Tea Party caucus meets saying “no moderates allowed.”
Things will not get better next year. Tea Party candidates have won several primaries for the Senate and are favored to win the general election. These candidates ran on a platform of not compromising with Democrats or moderate Republicans. So the prognosis is more gridlock no matter who wins the White House.
Meanwhile, the post office is designing a new stamp in its endangered species series. This one commemorates moderate Republicans.
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