No Time for Heroes

The goings on in the U.S. Senate are incomprehensible. For months, the two chambers of Congress haven’t worked; instead they play out absurd theatrics.

Don’t worry if you no longer understand what’s going on in the U.S. Senate. The majority of Americans don’t know that the Republicans just blocked a law, the adoption of which would help the fire-fighters, sanitation workers and police officers who suffered health problems caused by the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. The Senate is the stage for absurd theatrics, which have played out in both houses of the U.S. Congress for months. Surely, it will not be the last act. The Senate has been dysfunctional for years.

Money is to blame. The Senators have introduced the “three-day-work week” so that they can take care of an important matter in their home state: fundraising. Generally, no laws are adopted on Mondays and Fridays. And because the whole thing can be hindered by a seven hour long speech (filibustering), the Senate meets to pass laws with thick wallets. Finally, the most important job of a Senator is to be happy to help.

That’s how not only the health care reform was watered down but also environmental protection. And so the Republicans worked to keep the tax relief for the super-rich instead of helping the heroes of Sept. 11. Even if the Senate were to adopt it, it can’t be saved by the Senate. Strong individual financial interests might be more interested in something else than the interests of the majority.