Tuesday’s midterm election swept more than 60 Republicans into the House of Representatives, allowing them to take back the majority in the lower legislative branch. Additionally, the Republicans gained six to seven Senate seats, significantly narrowing the Democratic majority in the upper house.
Midterms send message to overreaching government
The midterms brought a political correction to the Democratic party’s progressive overreach. Under the current 111th Congress, the federal government has grown by leaps and bounds—manifested in the stimulus package, healthcare, the jobs bill, new banking regulations, a federalized student loan industry, and 2010’s $3.8 trillion federal budget. A Republican House of Representatives, a narrowly Democratic Senate, and a Democratic White House ensures that America’s 112th Congress will be a divided, gridlocked government.
Gridlocked government not as bad as it seems
Is gridlock bad for America? On the contrary, Americans do not give gridlock the praise it deserves. Republican and Democratic politicians both excoriate gridlock as the hindrance that prevents the government from “getting things done.” This, however, is the very reason we are to be thankful for a gridlocked government. A government that cannot easily pass legislation on the whims of the ever-changing legislative majority is a safe, predictable, smaller government.
Safe government requires checks and balances
A safe government relies on multiple institutions to prevent the state from achieving most of its ambitions. This is why, as conservative columnist George Will noted on a roundtable discussion for ABC’s This Week, “The framers of our Constitution didn’t want an efficient government; they wanted a safe government. To which end they filled it with slowing and blocking mechanisms — Three branches of government, two branches of the legislative branch, veto, veto override, supermajority, and judicial review.” Conversely, ambitious, “efficient” governments, like the socialized democracies of western Europe, tend to grow in power and scope, undermining its citizen’s liberties and increasing dependency on the state.
Partisanship contributes to slowing government
However, America’s founders did not anticipate the role that partisanship would play in slowing down government. Starting in January, any large federal initiative is likely to fail due to partisan gridlock. This will make for more predictable politics, another worthy characteristic for a national government. Many market analysts conclude that a divided, predictable government helps the stock market. Apparently, fewer two thousand-page bills make for a more stable business atmosphere. Historical data for this tends to be mixed because of the brevity of data available. Many factors affect the stock market; therefore, isolating gridlock’s effect on the markets is impossible.
However, global management firm T. Rowe Price’s chief investment officer Brian C. Rogers has stated, “Investors like to have a division of power between the legislative and executive branches.” Additionally, lending house J.P. Morgan believes that stocks are likely to perform better, “in anticipation of a more balanced U.S. Congress.”
Gridlock results in smaller and more humble government
Gridlock also produces a smaller, humbler government. Unified Democratic control of both houses of Congress and the White House produced the New Deal in the 1930s, the Great Society in the 1960s, and the current swelling of government under President Obama. Although Republicans often run on a platform for smaller government, they also have created entitlement programs when they controlled government. Medicare Part D passed during an era of unified Republican government in 2003. On the other hand, divided government makes new entitlement programs and large regulatory bills impossible to pass. Such an environment can force the parties to work together to tackle issues like the federal debt that both sides racked up during years of unified government. For example, the 1990s produced the first budget surpluses in thirty years under a republican Congress and a democratic President.
On Oct. 6, President Obama reminded his supporters the consequences of democratic defeat in the midterms, saying, “We’re not going to be able to keep on making progress.” Precisely, Mr. President. The American people said no to the progress of an unleashed majority and yes to a safer, more predictable, smaller government. Gridlock is the wonderful American mechanism that provides for such modesty in an era of government ambition.
