Madison Daily Leader - News - 11/12/2012 - Perhaps Einstein was talking about voters

11/12/2012

Perhaps Einstein was talking about voters

By JON M. HUNTER, Publisher

Albert Einstein defined insanity as "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

While most of us seemed to complain about partisan gridlock in Washington, D.C., we as voters decided last Tuesday to keep electing the people we are so frustrated with. Do we expect different results after sending the same people back to work on national problems?

Here's a little background: In a 2011 showdown, Democrats and Republicans can't agree on deficit reduction, so they pass a temporary measure that defers the problem to the end of 2012. If they can't agree on a plan in that timeframe, then automatic tax increases and spending cuts are implemented, which is now known as the "fiscal cliff."

Of course, Republicans and Democrats don't agree. Frustration among citizens grows, with a Gallup poll in August, 2012 showing only one in 10 Americans approving of the job Congress in doing.

So naturally, in the election three months later, we elect 358 of the 393 House incumbents who were running, and we re-elect the president.

In the week following the election, House speaker John Boehner reinforces his position that the Republican majority in the House won't consider tax rate hikes. President Barack Obama reinforces his position that he won't sign a bill that doesn't include tax rate hikes.

It's possible that Einstein was referring to voters when he defined insanity. But it may also emphasize the extraordinary and probably unfair advantage that incumbents have when running for re-election.

Advantages include higher visibility, fund-raising capability, Congressional district realignment, and pork barrel spending. But do we believe the incumbents in Congress are about to change the laws that reduce these advantages?

Ultimately, the only ones with the power to do something differently to get different results are voters.