Tribal Warfare in U.S. Congress

Norm Orenstein and Thomas Mann were recently interviewed about their new book, The Broken Branch: How Congress Is Failing America and How to Get It Back on Track. Here’s an excerpt (from Daily Kos):

Q: Is the current Congress demonstrably more partisan than those in the past? Why does it matter?

MANN: Partisanship particularly increased after the 1994 elections and then the appearance of the first unified Republican government since the 1950s. Now it is tribal warfare. The consequences are deadly serious. Party and ideology routinely trump institutional interests and responsibilities. Regular order -- the set of rules, norms and traditions designed to ensure a fair and transparent process -- was the first casualty. The results: No serious deliberation. No meaningful oversight of the executive. A culture of corruption. And grievously flawed policy formulation and implementation.

My conclusion: What other reasons do you need to vote for alternatives to the status quo? We need a return to a two-party system to stop this power grab by Republicans. In Wyoming, vote for Gary Trauner for the U.S. House seat and Dale Groutage for U.S. Senate on Nov. 7.