Four out of five Americans say Washington is so caught up in its own political intrigues that it can’t even begin to fix the nation’s big problems
by Steven Thomma
McClatchy Newspapers
3/5/2010
WASHINGTON — Washington has its moments when the nation’s capital shines for all the world to see. Inaugurations. The Fourth of July .
This isn’t one of them.
Recent days instead have shown Washington at its worst. An ethics mess in the House of Representatives , even in its ethics committee. A nasty fight over spending in the Senate with the two major parties scrambling for political advantage rather than helping Americans in need.
The White House exploding in leaks and back-stabbing over who’s to blame for the failures of President Barack Obama’s first year. Lobbyists flooding the capital to stop financial revisions. One senator, Ben Nelson , D- Neb. , holding up the health care overhaul to extort special terms for his state. Another, Richard Shelby , R- Ala. , blocking 70 presidential appointees to extort help in getting projects for his state.
The result? Four out five Americans say Washington is so caught up in its own political intrigues that it can’t even begin to fix the nation’s big problems.
“It looks ugly, just ugly,” said Sherry Bebitch Jeffe , a political scientist at the University of Southern California .
” Washington looks totally dysfunctional right now. They can’t seem to get even the most basic problems solved or even addressed,” said Whit Ayres , a Republican pollster. “It looks paralyzed by gridlock, by partisan sniping. And the country’s fed up with it.”
A new McClatchy-Ipsos poll underscored the sentiment, with 80 percent of Americans saying that Washington is broken and unable to function. The survey also found that those Americans who blame either party are pretty evenly split over whether to blame the Democrats or the Republicans.
There’s little doubt, however, that public dismay at all this is fueling the rise of “tea party” rage, Sarah Palin populism and even Jon Stewart’s mordant comic commentary on current events.
The Democrats, of course, vowed to change Washington…
The article continues at Yahoo! News.
