Congress: Your Jig is Up

Not one of you should be the new Speaker

Congress: Your Jig is Up

Congress, comprised of both the House and Senate, is considered the MOST dysfunctional government entity bar none. For clarity's sake, that’s you, the people who were elected to represent us.  

Thus, YOU, our elected representatives, are collectively responsible for the current state of affairs.

Not one of you should be the New Speaker. Not one of you is qualified to turn your Conference into a well-functioning body. Not one of you has a clue about how to restructure the way you have operated ad infinitum.

Teamwork is a foreign concept. The status quo survives because self-serving politics is the modus operandi. This creates an impossible wall separating, not only the parties, but members in your own conference.

When was the last time you made finding common goals a priority?

With the longevity of the Neanderthals, the power structure that has been limited to a small, select few, it’s obvious why Congress is a malfunctioning body. You are like a broken record spinning in the same place. Doing things, the way it’s always been done, with few accomplishments to show.

Each candidate’s stated motivation is to bring the conference together. Stop, think about that statement.

Translation: The pitch is for everyone to learn to make nice. Mending or healing so everyone can work together.

So now you think the crux of your inadequacy can be corrected by someone who has lived, breathed, and operated in your unhealthy system?

As if that could happen without the proper outside intervention. As if a group so rooted in the status quo could change with a leader who has mastered the process of postponements through endless hearings, special committees, & reports with no resolutions enacted?

Hire a mediator or leadership/team building specialist to do that.

How can someone who has moved up in leadership by successfully playing the game suddenly address the nucleus of the many conflicts?

The most prevalent reason we have heard from two potential candidates proves that “We the People” are not the priority. 

While I am raising the issue of misguided and wrong priorities let’s consider underlying motivations that might contribute to your passivity.

You are afraid to open your mouths because it might hurt YOUR reelection. It might negatively impact an election one or two years out. Your priorities are about holding on to power, but as a collective body of elected officials what have you really accomplished in the past several decades? Well…

The standard operating procedures have proved to be futile. That is, for the people of the United States. It sure has worked to your benefit.

And all you want is for everyone to make nice!?!

It is important to understand that when those with positional power misuse it, their words and deeds set an example. A bad one, but an example, nonetheless. Worse, it sets the tone and, by example, permeates throughout the entire Congress.

I imagine that it has not dawned on any of you that you have played a huge role in keeping our country divided.

Let me ask again, when was the last time our representatives agreed on a common priority and worked in tandem, and it benefitted we the people? 

Our country is divided because the majority of you, politicians from both parties, hide behind “it’s politics” to continue your petty spats, name calling, character assassination, BUT never show (that means demonstrate through congruent words and deeds) ways in which you can come together on issues. If you did, this inability to even attempt agreement would not be reflected in the current schism of the past several administrations.

Get over yourselves. You are not in grade school anymore. While you prattle on about abolishing Nancy Mace from your in crowd, along with a resounding chorus from leaders and members from other cliques, your eyes are off the ball. Your fellow colleagues are working with the same intention of rejecting access to the inner circle of anyone who stood their ground, led by the longstanding committee chairs. 

You aren’t the military, you claim to be proponents of free speech, so what’s this expectation that one must fall in line?

It should not be a demand to fall in line. Representatives should be falling out of line with the longest serving elected officials.  Your often self-serving, sometimes feckless acquiescence coupled with your total disregard of how you spend our money has brought us to this dismal state of affairs. It’s on you. You led each caucus, you led each committee into this incompetent, rarely productive dysfunctional body.

Why are the younger in congressional line leading a revolt and the 98 % complain and threaten Matt Gaetz and Nancy Mace when they actually are representing the people that voted them in?

When have you shown the kind of leadership that the House so desperately needs? When have you used your power of the purse? When have you used your subpoena power to show you mean business?

Your endless whining that the agencies ignore your requests is on you. If you do not change the way you operate, then why should the people in the agencies stop ghosting you?

None of you have shown the know how to think any differently than the status quo. Thus, you continue to act in the same old useless ways. You might articulate what needs to get done. But how have these same old ways of doing things worked out for the great people of this nation? They haven’t. You have failed us.

Why do you think people are so frustrated, disappointed, and angry with their Representatives and Senators?

Simple. Problem-solving does not appear to be in your toolkit. When I asked a former House member why things don’t get resolved. He confided in me, “We cannot solve the gun issue, for example, because we’d be without a powerful issue on which to campaign.”

I realise that House members have no clue that the collective constituent body is fed up. It’s great having a personal pollster who polls snippets of your own constituents so they can keep the good news coming.

See, that schism of which I spoke has provided a transparency to your motivations and actions. The best aspect of subjecting the population to lockdowns provided people with time to reflect, time to see through the promises and compare it to…well, to nothing getting done to better our world.

I monitor the collective sentiment of the people. Any wilful blindness that lingers exists because some are too fearful to think for themselves, some erroneously think people in positions of power and/or control are the authorities, or some cannot admit that their earlier conclusions were wrong.

The number of people who have opened their eyes, hearts and minds grows exponentially every day. It has past the 2/3rds mark which includes Independents, Republicans, and a growing number of Democrats.

How many of you are aware of organisations that are working in a majority of counties to primary a considerable percentage of you? It’s happening. And the momentum is snowballing.

You cannot hide by playing your back-and-forth game of attempted agreement that becomes a stalemate or a capitulation. You cannot hide behind empty promises anymore. While good old Kevin McCarthy thought he could continue sailing through his speakership being the duplicitous panderer, that time is over.

So let’s return to the issue at hand: Who should be the new Speaker?

Since the Speaker does not have to be an elected official, and because you all could use some on-the-job training, you need someone who has already bucked the system in the past and succeeded in the “outside world”. And of course, someone whom you respect.

You need someone who has a vision that leads from strength. You need someone who can establish more productive ways to get your job done. You need someone who will not tolerate your endless hearings and media preening.

You need someone who is willing to push you to use the power of the purse. You need someone who will not tolerate your endless moaning that the DOJ, FBI, IRS never give you the documents you need. You need someone who will push you to take bold action.

You need someone who thinks strategically. Someone who knows how to take on the Fake News. Someone who can put Democrats on their back foot. Someone who cuts through the fear porn of a shutdown.

There is no federal law that automatically determines what stays and what goes during a shutdown. A government shutdown happens when nonessential U.S. government offices can no longer remain open due to a lack of funding. 

The operative word here is NONESSENTIAL.

A shutdown is the best possible alternative to determine the most vital operations of our government.

The OMB has decision making ability to determine what continues to operate in a shutdown. That’s to whom you should be talking.

You need someone who can ensure the narrative puts the onus on the White House and The Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

You need someone who takes offensive positions. You know the Democrats modus operandi is to never take responsibility. You know that all their talking points will be to BLAME the GOP.

The biggest benefit to allowing the wasteful government to shutdown is it will show how many services are integral in serving the public’s needs. A shutdown will show those services which are superfluous. It will assist the decision making needed to determine what to cut from the budget.

You need a Speaker who will proceed by telling the public that the White House, their own OMB, refused to agree that certain essential services would remain operating.

You need a Speaker who will strip the media of its fear porn, reminding them that social security, Medicare, veterans’ benefits are separate from this bill.

In the past, Congress has passed several acts prior to a government shutdown. The PAY OUR MILITARY ACT  (H. R.3210) was signed into law on September 30, 2013, just hours before the government officially shut down. So, if the White House and OMB refuse to play ball, the power for the House to keep certain services funded is in your hands. Then the blame would definitely fall on the Democrats.  

The current deficit hole is far too large to be solved with cuts in the current crop that have been proposed.

The Speaker’s role, in an ideal world, would catalyse the body to voluntarily cut wasteful spending. And when the other side refuses to play, the world will know who is really to blame.  

Again, think of your talking points, think of finally having the ability to blame the Democrats if they refuse.

Getting the United States on sound monetary ground needs to start now. Yes, it will take years, if not decades, to undo the damage you have all had a hand in. But the time is now to stand up and do what is right for the American people and it’s future generations.

Since it’s not a single one of you, choose a person who can make the right differences in how the House should be run. Please.

About:  Dr. Jan Halper-Hayes is an internationally recognized leadership and strategic change expert, best-selling author and sought-after speaker.  As a renowned expert in mergers & acquisitions, she advises senior executives on the impact of their strategic decisions, addresses the components that could precipitate failure. Her clients have been pioneers applying innovative solutions when bringing diverse organisational cultures together.

Clients include Fortune 100 and FTSE 100 companies such as American Express, Unilever, Toyota, & various governmental departments in the U.S. and UK.