The 'Washington Outsider' experiment is failing (Clete Wetli/al.com)

[eppur_se_muova]

By Clete Wetli
on September 26, 2017 at 7:15 PM, updated September 26, 2017 at 7:20 PM

Clete Wetli is a liberal political activist living in Huntsville and a regular contributor to AL.com. Email Clete at [e-mail] or visit cletewetli. com.

For decades, Republicans have tried to convince American voters that the only way to remedy the dysfunction in Washington was to install political outsiders. Over time, they got their wish as conservative candidates across the nation railed against the establishment and won. They thought they hit the jackpot and the lottery when the ultimate outsider, Trump, was inaugurated. Well, it isn't working and it never will.

Washington will not suddenly function smoothly because it becomes filled with people who have no idea how the legislative process works. It will not suddenly create smart, effective policy because a neurosurgeon is put in charge of Housing and Urban Development or a political ideologue is put in charge of the Department of Energy who has no idea of its function. Putting your daughter and son-in-law in place as senior advisors will not make their advice any more pertinent, competent, or wise due to their unfamiliarity with the mechanics of government and diplomacy.

It is painfully obvious in the era of Trump that outsiders can't get the job done. That's because Washington needs good, practical policymakers instead of empty red-meat rhetoric. As another failed attempt to repeal the ACA comes and goes, it is important to remember that Republicans are failing because they have never had a viable, workable plan to deal with the nation's healthcare crisis.

In fact, they have no real plan to deal with tax reform in any substantive way that won't end up being a massive giveaway to the rich while punishing the poor. Outsiders think that they can govern using the vague bullet-points that got them elected, but don't understand that details and consequences matter. Outsiders think they can just wing it and that they can figure it out as they go along. They forget that they must win support for their ideas and that their policies have to be good, lawful, and, most importantly, specific.
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more: http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2017/09/the_washington_outsider_experi.html

[Dustlawyer]

1. Add the rise of the Tea Party elected officials who did not only not know how government works,

they wanted to kill government because they did not know what government did. Now they block their own Party's policies because they don't want to spend any money so their Party can do nothing. That is the only worthwhile purpose they have served these last several years is blocking their own Party because it wasn't heartless enough!

The Republican Establishment politicians only want to represent wealthy Donors and corporations, the ones paying them to stay in office, so they are tone deaf to regular Americans. They don't give a shite about anyone else.

Then there is Trump, the worst the human race can produce. He is like the perfect storm of BAD. Ignorant, lazy, entitled, mental, greedy, corrupt, liar, un-empathetic, racist, misoyginest, narcissist, and a cheat. I know I left some out, but you get the idea.

We end up with this garbage dump of humanity for two reasons. At the root of our problem is that we allow legalized bribery of our public officials. What we therefore get are the ambitious, power mad, greedy bastards who are willing to sell us out to the big Donors.

The other is the propaganda. The manipulation of Americans to vote against their interests. This is done by big advertisers influence on the MSM, RW radio and TV hosts who garner bigger ratings b y being more outrageous, and the corporate MSM.

What a freakin mess!