One big problem with our system of government.

[Jeebo]

It was set up on the assumption that the contending factions would be the different branches of the government -- senators against the president, representatives against senators, judges against the president, etc. Executive branch officials contending against legislative branch senators and representatives, judicial branch officials fighting with legislators, executive branch officials squabbling with judicial branch officials.

But that's not the way things have worked out. Instead of contentiousness between government branches, the contentiousness actually is between political parties. Different factions often within the same branch fighting over ideology or pure greed or other concerns.

Thom Hartmann mentions occasionally on his radio show that the founders did not approve of what they called "factions" -- what we now call political parties. I would say this is the reason for those concerns.

I don't have any suggestions as to what to do about this source of disfunction within our government. I'm just passing along my observation. I wish I knew of something that could be done about it.

-- Ron