I have partisan political views, but for the purpose of this website, I tend to keep them to myself. But this being the end of the year, the time of reflections, it seems like a time to break some rules. We can set things right again next year.
Through the year, with the problems of Iraq, the renewal of the Patriot Act, and now the recent stories about the President ordering eavesdropping on private phone calls in the U.S. without a warrant, there has been a recurring theme. Exactly how much power should a president have? We live in a time when national security, especially from terrorism, is a very great worry for most of us. How much of our civil rights should we be prepared to give away for our safety?
At the heart of this issue is a longtime struggle for power in Washington – the struggle between Congress and the Chief Executive for leadership of America. We all know that the framers of the Constitution created three branches of government, the Executive, the Legislative, and the Judicial branch. It is understood that by dividing power among the three, and giving each branch the ability (and the duty) to check the other, that government will proceed more democratically.
That part is clear to everyone. What is equally important, but I think is less obvious to many, is that the Founding Fathers did not expect the three branches to share power equally. Congress was expected to take the lead.
We can easily see this intent in the first presidency. George Washington maintained a strict policy as President never to comment on legislation before Congress. He believed, as most Americans then believed, that the President’s job was strictly to enforce the laws on the books. He did not submit budgets. He had no “domestic policy” or “economic policy,” as presidents do now. Washington did not even think it was his right to veto legislation simply because he did not agree with it. For Washington, the veto was reserved solely for laws that he felt were unconstitutional. His Presidency was small, and unobtrusive, and it never would have occurred to him that it was his job to set the national agenda. That job fell to Congressional leadership.
Things have changed greatly in 210 years, mainly because of the arrival of the Fourth Branch of government, the Media. As the media in this country became larger and more important, it began to affect national politics. The media can pick and choose among major issues of the day, and in doing so, select which issues will catch the attention of the public. Note for example how Terry Schiavo became so famous that Congress tried to pass a law to save her, while a patient of mine in a New Orleans nursing home with identical medical issues died unnoticed.
Since the media can set the national agenda, this greatly empowers the individuals who can manipulate them. The President is one man. As an individual, he is a simpler focal point for the media than Congress. It is easy to cover the movements and statements of one man. Congress, on the othe hand, has 535 voting members, every one of whom has his or her own opinions and policies. It is much tougher to sum up Congress in two minutes than it is the President. So, over time, the President has been able to dictate the national agenda with increasing ease. He has become more powerful than Congress.
The relative primacy of the President is not necessarily a problem as long as Congress has the strength and the gumption to continue to check the President when he grabs for more power. The real danger emerges when Congress stops thinking it is its job to say no to the Executive Branch.
This has happened. It has happened because half of Congress, the half in the same political party as the President, has decided that it is more in their interest to support the growth of presidential power than it is to defend the traditional turf of Congress. I am not blaming the Republican party here specifically, because it has not been above the Democrats to do the same from time to time, especially in state legislatures. It just so happens that the Republicans have been in power lately, and lately this problem has been getting more serious.
From the point of view of the common citizen, it is critical that Congress and the President regularly butt heads. The Founding Fathers intended this. They also thought that Congress could and should win most of the time because it can make all the laws and is in charge of the money. To them, and to me, this is desirable. Every citizen has direct representation in Congress, and because members of the House stand for reelection every 2 years, Congress tends to be more sensitive to the public will. In general, in a democracy, we want a government that is sensitive to the wishes of the people.
The media have changed this balance. Because the President commands the immediate attention of the media 24 hours a day, because he is both the spokesman for government and the largest celebrity on Earth, singular influence tends to swamp the more divided forces of Congress. Thus the President leads the government nowdays. The members of Congress see that, and those in his party line up on his side, magnifying the power of the executive and reducing the legistative power. They do this because they are more interested in power than they are in keeping Congress separate and intact as a major force in public life.
How I wish the same pains taken to keep Church and State separate were employed to keep President and Congress independent!
We need a strong and independent Congress. Everyone likes to make fun of Congress, to deprecate it as a confused, pandering, illogical institution. Next to it the President looks firm, focussed, and calm. But we need Congress. If Congress is not strong, the voters are not strong. No one is immune to the tempation of power, and if Congress lets the President take all he wants, little by little he will be tempted to do it.
The Founding Fathers were afraid of the presidency. They thought it naturally engendered the characteristics of royalty and dictatorship, and they took great pains to limit it. Today, that job falls to Congress, and we need to make sure that our leaders are up to this important task.