US Senate: Condition Critical

Revealed, in a nutshell, is the problem with the Senate as a governing institution: "I think we are being consistent here against higher taxes, consistently against greater regulation, consistently against creating new causes of action in bill after bill after bill. It's a positive image of our vision of America. We have a pretty good sense that the public has figured out they are not too happy with this new Congress." (Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell [R-KY])
Really?
Senate Republican obstruction isn't in the least a "positive message" for America. And "the public" McConnell represents (read the monied class) is but a small slice of of the vast human landscape that comprises the nation's body politic.
A Pew Research Center analysis in September found that "the number of Americans who see themselves among the 'have-nots' of society has doubled over the past two decades, from 17% in 1988 to 34% today. In 1988, far more Americans said that, if they had to choose, they probably were among the 'haves' (59%) than the 'have-nots' (17%). Today, this gap is far narrower (45% 'haves' vs. 34% 'have-nots')."
McConnell's America is shrinking even as the real-world America grows, and grows impatient and unrepresented.
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Gallup, meanwhile, has similar poll results assessing that the Democrats are "winning on issues." Among Gallup's findings: "Gallup finds the Democrats holding a considerable advantage over the Republicans in public perceptions of which party can handle a variety of national issues." On the following issues, Democrats lead Republicans by these percentages:
Economy: Dems. 50% Reps. 38%
Iraq: Dems: 48% Reps. 38%
Corruption in Government: Dems. 42% Reps. 29%
Protecting civil liberties: Dems 49% Reps. 36%
Senate rules have long allowed obstruction as a parliamentary tool to thwart the majority's legislative efforts. The Democrats did it. The Republicans do it. Theoretically, such obstruction induces both sides to compromise on legislation but the effect, in policy terms, is to bring to a halt attempts to shift policy (whether on Iraq, taxes or anything else).
Currently, Democrats have the slimmest of majorities in the Senate (51% to 49%) and since Republicans insist "[Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid . . . round up 60 votes -- to prevent a filibuster -- on everything from a contentious immigration bill to popular ethics legislation," little of importance to the public (such as a effort to wind down the Iraq war) will be accomplished.
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So how long will this stalemate continue? As long as too many Americans believe the Republican Party is the sole, reliable standard bearer on moral issues (when campaign slogans against the scapegoated pass for "compassionate conservatism"), on immigration (where the party rains down contempt on immigrants even as it looks the other way when its business interests hire immigrants as a source of cheap labor), or on taxes (when "families in the middle fifth of the income distribution realized only a modest $6,600 increase in annual income between 1988 and 2004, while the top 1% of families saw their incomes rise from $839,100 to an average $1,259,700") while median household inflation-adjusted incomes are lower than they were in 1999.
This bondage will come to an end only when enough people realize they've trapped themselves by casting votes according to party affiliation rather than voting on the real, genuine and authentic merits of each candidate. But that's easily remedied come November.