The Atlantic:50 Years Ago, Americans Fired Their Dysfunctional Congress
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/01/50-years-ago-americans-fired-their-dysfunctional-congress/384688/?google_editors_picks=true
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Its almost impossible to find anyone who is optimistic about Congress. The good news is that this is not the first time we've despaired over Congressional dysfunction. In fact, in the years leading up to one of the biggest outbursts of legislative productivitythe passage of the Great Society in 1965 and 1966there was a huge chorus of critics who decried the inaction of Congress. Revisiting that history can teach us about how to navigate the present political morass.
We just finished one of the least productive sessions in American history. Partisan gridlock, incivility, and extremism have paralyzed Capitol Hill. There are not many observers who believe that President Obamas current policy agenda stands much of a chance of passing through a broken Congress.
Whereas Obama has been stymied by congressional Republicans who controlled the House and capitalized on minority power in the Senate, Kennedy squared off against a coalition of southern Democratic committee chairmen and Republicans. Since the 1937 backlash against Franklin Roosevelt, this conservative coalition had been the principle roadblock to liberal reform. Southerners, elected to safe districts, thrived in a committee system based on seniority.
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