Well, it was Republicans that saved the day back in 1983 when they took control of the Senate, and were able to contain the Democrat spending addiction.

It was Republicans, again, who saved the day when they took control of the House and Senate in 1994 (AND BALANCED THE BUDGET - Bill Clinton never proposed a balanced budget until one was thrust upon him).

It was liberal Democrats who took control of the House and Senate in 2006 and drove the country into the ditch the last 2 years of GWB White House.

It was Republicans who rescued the economy, once again, when they took the House away from Nancy Pelosi´s 4-year reign of failure, in 2010 and helps stabilize the extreme yearly debt of Obama and the Democrats.

This man seems to have an unbelievably trivial, childish perspective on political questions of fundamental importance. There is no "mess" in D.C., at least not having to do with the sequester drama. Important principles are at stake. How much private wealth should be turned over to the government? How large should the government be? Do we really need all of the personnel and services and programs in existence and currently planned? Can anything be done to control entitlement spending?

The writer is no the only person on the Left or the Right who mistakes the healthy functioning of the political process for a mess, thinks something is broken, gridlocked, or that an unacceptable and irrational phenomenon is taking place. It is deeply alarming to come across people who should know better but who do not - who lack even a rudimentary understanding of how the American system of government works, was designed to work, and has always worked.

There is childishness here all right, but it is not in the behavior of political adversaries fighting for their essential beliefs, using the tools and system of government expressly designed for them to do so. The childishness is in the mind of Mr. Fournier, whose unbelievably naive view of how the world works would be unusual even for many children.

You´re late to the party here Professor Fournier:

"What Washington needs is adult supervision."

Barack Hussein Obama
Fundraising Letter
October, 2006

Sometimes you just have to flush twice. A really big clog like Washington may require a rat-o-rooter.

#2: Good post, but please go one step deeper to the real issue.

When the sovereign people of the United States set up and hired the Federal Gov´t, we granted [IIRC] 21 specific tasks and powers to that hired help. Period. If they do anything more, anything else, no matter how "important" and "noble" and "necessary," they are lawbreakers. End.

"Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance."
~~ H. L. Mencken

"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats."
~~ H. L. Mencken

Mr. Veritas is just reporting, not advocating....

The real issue, of course, is that people are people, and therefore lack the necessary values, self-discipline and good sense to govern themselves rationally over any significant period of time.

Some people call this Original Sin, others say it is because of the Id, still others attribute it to simple mortal fallibility. Whatever the cause, it has long presented a heck of a problem for the human race. It is therefore depressing to see ignoramuses like Mr. Fournier take the remarkable, intelligent, well-considered and, until lately anyway, successful system of American government for granted and to spout their sophomoric nonsense and disdain at the sausage making in operation. They know not whereof they speak. The American system has -again, until now, and hopefully in the future- done a remarkable, unprecedented job of containing and reconciling deep, passionate, sometimes violent conflicting values and interests. Even a great civil war failed to destroy the republic but instead made it stronger. This is not just good luck. It did not come about by accident. The American Founders had a clear understanding of human nature and human behavior throughout history, an understanding that has been almost wholly lost by generations of Leftist fantasy ideology and political indoctrination posing as education.

But the American system was not designed to accommodate a massively ignorant, vice-ridden, economically dependent electorate. If it fails, it will be because the people are no longer capable nor worthy of self-governance.

#6: Exactly. We were warned long ago.

"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
~~ John Adams

Washington is a disease. The only cure is to shut off the money. Clean it up? Who cares. Burn it to the ground. Turn it back into a swamp.