The Art of the Grandstand
There is always a need, when something goes wrong, for tough questions to be asked, and for people to be held accountable. This is a fundamental component of the US Congress. It is their Constitutional mandate, to serve as an oversight body.
However, the Congress is very poor at doing their job. It's not a matter of not knowing what is going on, or knowing how to do anything to fix the problem. It is rare that they make it that far in their thought process.
Which is sad.
I look at this matter through the prism of the current IRS scandal.
I will admit that I was one of those who at the outset was very critical of the IRS. I was appalled at the idea of the IRS targeting specific groups for undue scrutiny.
However what differentiates me from many Congress, and what I hope differentiates most of the sensible people in the country from Congress, is the fact that rather than allowing their views to evolve through the exposure to new information, they dig in - or rather they climb their soapbox and begin grandstanding.
Undoubtedly when the news came out that the IRS had been scrutinizing certain groups of people more than others, and especially because these were groups that supposedly were trying to get tax-exempt status, there was legitimate outrage and shock.
But now we have more facts. The first thing to recognize is that the 501(c)(4) application states that it is for organizations whose activities are exclusively for the social welfare. Political organizations, or any organization - period - that engages in political activities are supposed to be ineligible for such exempt status.
The more important aspect comes when you step back and look at the broader facts, and the facts that are stated in the Inspector General's report.What you have is a situation where a government that is shrinking in terms of personnel due to tightening budgets has a total of 150 people reviewing thousands of applications more because of the up-swell of organizations applying for that status. They have an obligation and a mandate to review all of these applications that come in so that they can determine eligibility.
Now, I can't say this for certain, but my way of thinking about it is like this; I'm working in an office with a massive pile of documents to plow through. I need to figure out a better way of getting through all of this than I am currently using. I notice through doing it the first come-first serve basis that there are a lot of organizations that are likely political and have certain words in their name like Tea. I decide that, given the regularity with which that connection seems to be the case, I will pull these all together and look at them as a group while I sort through the rest of applications the usual way.
This is a stupid idea. There are any number of groups that will miss scrutiny through a filter such as this, and any number that will be netted erroneously. But it is a simplistic thought that will naturally come to anyone in an office trying to deal with a mountain of paperwork - handle the obvious and simple first, and handle the stuff that needs more attention later.
But so far as will ever be born out in Congressional hearings, it was all a conspiracy by the White House to destroy the Republican Party by making it so that organizations that are not supposed to receive tax-exempt status in the first place, are subjected to taxes.
That is because for many members of Congress this isn't about the IRS doing something it shouldn't have. This isn't about people being treated unfairly. For an unfortunately large number it is all about staking territory from which to attack or defend political considerations in 2014, 2016, and beyond. They don't ask questions in these hearings paraded on television looking for answers to real questions. They only try their best to make statements, embarrass people, and fling dirt about with little to no basis in reality for their statements or claims only vaguely disguised as questions.
It is not limited to either party in Congress, nor is it only on this issue. Both parties do this on virtually every issue that comes to committee and gets any sort of media coverage.
So who is to blame? Certainly some blame goes on these men and women themselves - blow-hearts who are more at home on talk radio than they are in Washington D.C. These people who are elected to represent us all yet play to the basest prejudices and hatreds in people. These representatives who twist the rules to their advantage, gerrymandering districts to net more sympathetic voters. These men and women who while living in a glass house throw stones everywhere decrying the uselessness and futility of government while taking full advantage of all it has to offer.
I do fault the media as well. We have a media culture now that is more interested in attention grabbing sensationalism rather than investigative journalism. Our media environment exists that is terrified to call anyone a liar for fear of being accused of being partisan. So they come up of inventive linguistic gymnastics to say that someone sort of, kind of, maybe stretched the truth by making statements that are not entirely accurate based on all available information.
But contrary to popular opinion I believe that we the American people are the real problem. We, the American people, are the ones who elect these people, and re-elect these people.
I don't like flimsy excuses. Too many people complain about how hard it is to go vote, yet every Election year thousands head out to the polls and cast their vote. I have not once missed an election since I reached the voting age. I by no means am an expert on all political matters, but I at least do my best to familiarize myself with as much as possible and show up to make a choice when the time comes. I do not believe we are stupid people. Yet one must wonder if we have the memory of goldfish and the attention span of gnats, if not being collectively insane by the Einstein definition, that despite the complaints levied as a collective so many still re-elect the same people.
I'll paraphrase Conservative commentator Eric Erickson; hearings on Capitol Hill are often excuses for members of Congress who are really bad at their jobs to stand up in front of the camera and act like they've done so much more than they have - like they're on top of the issue, whatever the issue is.
Here's the thing though, what these people do is by design highly visible and a part of the public record. The only way it works is if they can show to their constituents all the talking they've done, plastering their face all over CNN, MSNBC, and Fox talking up all the questions they have and how they aren't getting the answers they want. Which is true, they aren't getting the answers they want. But that is because they want confirmation of whatever idea they have and want to prove, not facts. They do this to get our attention, to show off to us and make us think whatever hot-air they're blowing amounts to something more than just grandstanding.
We the people hold the power. We vote for those who will represent us. No matter how many commercials are shown on television, no matter how much money they have for their campaign, no matter how many e-mails they send out, we choose who we vote for. We decide whether or not we will let ourselves be intimidated and discouraged by the tactics of others or what nonsense they say. If our nation fails, we the people share that responsibility, no matter how much we may feel like cursing others for it or blaming others for it. That is what it means to be in a democracy.
Ours is not a perfect world. Our government we have is less so. But we do have much more power to shape things than most do if we would only stop feeling sorry for ourselves and do what we can to change things. It starts with not rewarding those who know only how to grandstand and have made it an art-form. We can do better if we're willing as a nation to take up that responsibility.
However, the Congress is very poor at doing their job. It's not a matter of not knowing what is going on, or knowing how to do anything to fix the problem. It is rare that they make it that far in their thought process.
Which is sad.
I look at this matter through the prism of the current IRS scandal.
I will admit that I was one of those who at the outset was very critical of the IRS. I was appalled at the idea of the IRS targeting specific groups for undue scrutiny.
However what differentiates me from many Congress, and what I hope differentiates most of the sensible people in the country from Congress, is the fact that rather than allowing their views to evolve through the exposure to new information, they dig in - or rather they climb their soapbox and begin grandstanding.
Undoubtedly when the news came out that the IRS had been scrutinizing certain groups of people more than others, and especially because these were groups that supposedly were trying to get tax-exempt status, there was legitimate outrage and shock.
But now we have more facts. The first thing to recognize is that the 501(c)(4) application states that it is for organizations whose activities are exclusively for the social welfare. Political organizations, or any organization - period - that engages in political activities are supposed to be ineligible for such exempt status.
The more important aspect comes when you step back and look at the broader facts, and the facts that are stated in the Inspector General's report.What you have is a situation where a government that is shrinking in terms of personnel due to tightening budgets has a total of 150 people reviewing thousands of applications more because of the up-swell of organizations applying for that status. They have an obligation and a mandate to review all of these applications that come in so that they can determine eligibility.
Now, I can't say this for certain, but my way of thinking about it is like this; I'm working in an office with a massive pile of documents to plow through. I need to figure out a better way of getting through all of this than I am currently using. I notice through doing it the first come-first serve basis that there are a lot of organizations that are likely political and have certain words in their name like Tea. I decide that, given the regularity with which that connection seems to be the case, I will pull these all together and look at them as a group while I sort through the rest of applications the usual way.
This is a stupid idea. There are any number of groups that will miss scrutiny through a filter such as this, and any number that will be netted erroneously. But it is a simplistic thought that will naturally come to anyone in an office trying to deal with a mountain of paperwork - handle the obvious and simple first, and handle the stuff that needs more attention later.
But so far as will ever be born out in Congressional hearings, it was all a conspiracy by the White House to destroy the Republican Party by making it so that organizations that are not supposed to receive tax-exempt status in the first place, are subjected to taxes.
That is because for many members of Congress this isn't about the IRS doing something it shouldn't have. This isn't about people being treated unfairly. For an unfortunately large number it is all about staking territory from which to attack or defend political considerations in 2014, 2016, and beyond. They don't ask questions in these hearings paraded on television looking for answers to real questions. They only try their best to make statements, embarrass people, and fling dirt about with little to no basis in reality for their statements or claims only vaguely disguised as questions.
It is not limited to either party in Congress, nor is it only on this issue. Both parties do this on virtually every issue that comes to committee and gets any sort of media coverage.
So who is to blame? Certainly some blame goes on these men and women themselves - blow-hearts who are more at home on talk radio than they are in Washington D.C. These people who are elected to represent us all yet play to the basest prejudices and hatreds in people. These representatives who twist the rules to their advantage, gerrymandering districts to net more sympathetic voters. These men and women who while living in a glass house throw stones everywhere decrying the uselessness and futility of government while taking full advantage of all it has to offer.
I do fault the media as well. We have a media culture now that is more interested in attention grabbing sensationalism rather than investigative journalism. Our media environment exists that is terrified to call anyone a liar for fear of being accused of being partisan. So they come up of inventive linguistic gymnastics to say that someone sort of, kind of, maybe stretched the truth by making statements that are not entirely accurate based on all available information.
But contrary to popular opinion I believe that we the American people are the real problem. We, the American people, are the ones who elect these people, and re-elect these people.
I don't like flimsy excuses. Too many people complain about how hard it is to go vote, yet every Election year thousands head out to the polls and cast their vote. I have not once missed an election since I reached the voting age. I by no means am an expert on all political matters, but I at least do my best to familiarize myself with as much as possible and show up to make a choice when the time comes. I do not believe we are stupid people. Yet one must wonder if we have the memory of goldfish and the attention span of gnats, if not being collectively insane by the Einstein definition, that despite the complaints levied as a collective so many still re-elect the same people.
I'll paraphrase Conservative commentator Eric Erickson; hearings on Capitol Hill are often excuses for members of Congress who are really bad at their jobs to stand up in front of the camera and act like they've done so much more than they have - like they're on top of the issue, whatever the issue is.
Here's the thing though, what these people do is by design highly visible and a part of the public record. The only way it works is if they can show to their constituents all the talking they've done, plastering their face all over CNN, MSNBC, and Fox talking up all the questions they have and how they aren't getting the answers they want. Which is true, they aren't getting the answers they want. But that is because they want confirmation of whatever idea they have and want to prove, not facts. They do this to get our attention, to show off to us and make us think whatever hot-air they're blowing amounts to something more than just grandstanding.
We the people hold the power. We vote for those who will represent us. No matter how many commercials are shown on television, no matter how much money they have for their campaign, no matter how many e-mails they send out, we choose who we vote for. We decide whether or not we will let ourselves be intimidated and discouraged by the tactics of others or what nonsense they say. If our nation fails, we the people share that responsibility, no matter how much we may feel like cursing others for it or blaming others for it. That is what it means to be in a democracy.
Ours is not a perfect world. Our government we have is less so. But we do have much more power to shape things than most do if we would only stop feeling sorry for ourselves and do what we can to change things. It starts with not rewarding those who know only how to grandstand and have made it an art-form. We can do better if we're willing as a nation to take up that responsibility.
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