One Woman's Viewpoint

Three things were striking the morning after Super Tuesday: Nikki Haley's declining to endorse former President Trump as she withdrew from the Republican primary; a new poll showing 6 of 10 Americans doubt both President Biden's and Trump's mental acuity when it comes to serving as President; and the Ukrainian's First Lady rejecting the invitation to attend the State of the Union address.

In 2024, America is a divided nation with weak political candidates whose own political inertia is earning it international snubs.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) in his surprise announcement that he would vacate his leadership role in November, said, "I have many faults. Misunderstanding politics is not one of them." McConnell has seen that the many compromises he has achieved in recent weeks over border security and foreign aid in the Senate are for naught when it comes to getting legislation through the House of Representatives. He's done.

Starting his Senate career some four decades ago in the Reagan administration, McConnell has seen a lot of things that are all but impossible in today's Congress. He saw a time when budget hawks like Sen. Pete Domenici and Rep. Manuel Luján actually stood for responsible government spending. He observed GOP Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole regularly cut deals with Democrat Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill and vice versa to further the interests of the nation rather than serve personal fundraising agendas. He saw a Congress united against the global threat of Soviet domination and willing to stand up to the Kremlin.

The close of the 2024 legislative session was rather unremarkable, but for rumblings of calling a special session to address public safety. A mere 72 bills of the more than six hundred filed made it to the governor's desk to be signed into law.

The lackluster session juxtaposed against a state awash in revenues yet at the bottom of every national index is again giving rise to talk of "professionalizing" the Legislature. Our legislators are unpaid but for per diem when the Legislature is in session and for interim meeting attendance. For those who must travel long distances and pay for lodging, the per diem rate is barely a break-even proposition.

The problem with this "citizens' legislature" model is two-fold: first, it limits the pool of those who can serve in the legislature to the independently wealthy, the flexibly employed, or the retired. Second, the minimal staff and drop-in nature of the legislators themselves limits the Legislature's efficiency and effectiveness which dilutes its power in favor of the executive branch.

Congressional approval ratings are measured monthly, and for the last quarter of 2023, have pretty much bottomed out. December polling, the most recent available, showed 85% of Americans disapprove of the job its Congress is doing.

And that was before the GOP-led House killed the bipartisan combined border security and foreign aid package, threatened the stand-alone foreign aid package, and successfully impeached the Secretary of Homeland Security by a single vote on the second try.