Word: viciousness
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...makes the problem worse. From health care to energy to the deficit, addressing the U.S.'s big challenges requires vigorous government action. When government doesn't take that action, it loses people's faith. And without public faith, government action is harder still. Call it Washington's vicious circle...
...Death of Moderates The vicious circle has its roots in the great sorting out of American politics that has occurred over the past 40 years. In the middle of the 20th century, America's two major parties were Whitmanesque: they contradicted themselves; they contained multitudes. As late as 1969, the historian Richard Hofstadter declared that the Democratic and Republican parties were each "a compound, a hodgepodge, of various and conflicting interests." (See the top 10 forgettable Presidents...
...Ronald Reagan, the first truly conservative Republican elected in 50 years. But it was only after Reagan and his GOP successor, George H.W. Bush, left office that congressional Republicans realized they could use political polarization to stymie government - and use government failure to win elections. And with that realization, vicious-circle politics started to become an art form. (See pictures of Republican memorabilia...
...Clinton's first two years in office, the Gingrich Republicans learned that the vicious circle works. While filibusters were occasionally broken, they also brought much of Clinton's agenda to a halt, and they made Washington look pathetic. In one case, GOP Senators successfully filibustered changes to a 122-year-old mining act, thus forcing the government to sell roughly $10 billion worth of gold rights to a Canadian company for less than $10,000. In another, Republicans filibustered legislation that would have applied employment laws to members of Congress - a reform they had loudly demanded...
...outweighs the relatively minor inconvenience of a crowded d-hall. Since many students in Mather, Dunster, and the Quad work and study in the immediate vicinity of the Yard each day, they should be able to eat where they choose. Restrictions pose a problem partly because they create a vicious cycle: As soon as one House restricts, others become overcrowded and begin to follow suit. Soon enough, a Cabot resident must wander through the frozen Cambridge streets facing rejection after rejection. To avoid this, no restrictions whatsoever should complicate where Upperclassmen take their meals, save that they continue to remain...