Liberals Thrown Another Curve Ball: Left-Wing Think Tank Study Shows Senate Democrats To Blame For Congressional Gridlock

By Joseph R. Carducci on January 16, 2014 Subscribe to Joseph R. Carducci's Feed



We have been hearing over and over from the left about how the evil Republicans in Congress are responsible for holding up the legislative process and gumming up the works of the democratic process. This charge has been leveled by everyone from Nasty Nancy Pelosi and Dingy Harry Reid to Obama and many other prominent libertards. Heck, even the media has been playing this game for a long time as well.
This is something that conservatives have just simply come to expect. Anytime we try to fight for the American people in an effort to try and halt the growing power of an increasingly out of control government, we are blamed for causing gridlock, or even worse. Whether this is due to a government shut down because the President is unwilling to negotiate over anything or the GOP proposes some common-sense plans and ideas to help smooth out the implementation of ObamaCare, it seems that the charge of being responsible for Congressional gridlock is never far behind.
There has been an interesting twist to this cycle. There is now a liberal, left wing-leaning think tank that has come out and stated that it is actually the Democrats who are responsible for this gridlock that we have been seeing in recent days. The Brookings Institution has specifically singled out the Senate Democrats as the real trouble makers and the ones who are holding up the legislative process.
The study finds that the House of Representatives, which has been controlled by Republicans for the past two years, has passed literally twice as many bills as the Senate, just in 2013. They also find big fault with how the rules of the Senate are structured, especially the committee process. Listen to some of what they have said in their report:
“When we look at this category, then, we begin to understand where the problem lies: even in the traditionally collegial Senate, 87 percent of bills die in committee. While the filibuster may grab all the headlines, committees are a far deadlier weapon.”
We should also point out that now the Senate Democrats have gone ahead and changed the rules for filibusters. This means that we are likely to see gridlock continue, without the ability of either party to really get anything done. On the Republican side of the aisle, Senator McConnell has publicly stated that he would like to empower the committees. Of course, this is not likely to happen since it would be a move that will also eliminate some of the major advantages the Democrats have in the Senate currently.
Given the current situation, it is not likely that much of anything will change any time soon. In fact, even the community organizer in chief has made it very clear that he will be doing everything in his considerable power to bypass and work around Congress in the remaining years of his term. This will be especially important to remember if the Democrats do end up losing control of the Senate in 2014 and we eliminate gridlock (since the GOP would then have control of both Houses of Congress).
What do YOU think? How bad are things when liberal think tanks begin turning on their friends in the Senate? Do you agree that it is primarily the Senate Democrats who are responsible for this gridlock? Will the upcoming mid-term elections be enough to fix all this talk of gridlock?

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