The Antiplanner is glad to see that Republicans decided to take my advice and back off on the showdown over the debt ceiling. But this still leaves the question of why our government is suffering from so much gridlock and how we can prevent it in the future.
Fortunately, left-leaning journalist Ezra Klein over at the Washington Post has some answers. Apparently, gridlock is all the fault of the tea parties. The tea parties forced the House to pass a “no-earmarks” rule, which means Congressional leaders can’t use earmarks to bribe members of Congress to vote for stupid laws.
Second, tea parties (and others) have forced Congress to make its decisions transparent, that is, open to public scrutiny. The inability of members to make back-room deals is apparently reducing Congress’ ability to function.
