Last political contribution I sent in was John Edwards, just before he crashed. I think I'm the kiss of death, so I refrain from making any more contributions!

Hasturd was the problem alright: He was a college coach, so he brought the concept that winning was more important than anything else. He played right into America's fixation on sports. In order to win, your team had to be on the offensive, initiate the play, and accept nothing from the other team. Since his reign, we have had zero cooperation between the benches in congress. There used to be a lot of cooperation, a lot of quid pro quo, which is exactly what a legislative body is supposed to do.

There still is a LOT of legislation needed that both sides could agree on, but they each try to lard up the bills with their pet projects. We need the ability to get bills stripped of their riders if they can't pass both houses. Likewise, I think Obama should have just given the senate 30 days to consider his SC nominee and then declared him to be a member of the court. Nothing in the constitution says the senate leader can veto a supreme court nominee.