Peter Orszag Quotes
You used to get legislation done by getting the moderates to agree. But we have no moderates now so it doesn’t get done
Peter Orszag, Director, Congressional Budget Office, Director, Office of Management & Budget (Democrat), PBS Overdraft 2012, September 14, 2012
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
At the time Congress was gridlocked in bitter hyperpartisan conflict. Most people called for more comity and bipartisanship and most politicians wanted more bipartisanship but blamed the other party for the rift. Mourdock, arguing for less bipartisanship and no compromise defeated Richard Lugar in the Republican Senatorial Primary election. Lugar, one of the most respected and effective Senators was a statesman who worked with any and all to find effective compromises to reach national solutions. The nation was so politically polarized that the Republican Indiana voters ousted one of their most senior senators because he was effective at developing national solutions. See {626717} and {302706} for other Mourdock’s outrageous comments. While this rhetoric won in the Primary, it lost him the general election in a state where Republicans had a strong majority and should have had the seat.
In the beginning of the 21st century political hyper-polarization made Congressional gridlock the norm. Anything that was acceptable to the Democrats would be rejected by the Republicans and vica versa. However, at times, the public would be impassioned by events and demand Congressional action. A movement for gun control after a serious of massacres with assault weapons in 2012 was the example that Thomas was using. If the legislative process could be stretched out until public passions waned, the normal gridlo{78528}k would control and there would be no reform.
The first Jew to run for the Vice Presidency on a major party ticket.
He made this statement before the gridlock of the Stalemate of 2011 when some Republican Tea Party members held the Debt Ceiling limit—which had been almost 100 times been passed routinely under Presidents of both parties—hostage to obtaining a Constitutional amendment and severe budget cuts with no taxes on the super rich.
At the time, the Republicans held the House of Representatives, but not the Senate or the Presidency. By popular vote, even the House elections had the majority voting for the Democrats, but the gerrymandering gave the Republicans more seats. A minority of the minority Republicans were Tea Party Republicans—ultra conservatives who would not compromise but who intimidated other Republicans by threatening to run candidates against them in primary elections. The result was that the Tea Party Republicans—a minority of the minority could block almost any legislation and did. That Congress passed less legislation than any in American history including the “Do Nothing Congress” of the Truman era.
This was one of the worst Congresses in American History and had the worst productivity record—passing very few bills, and none of any significance. The anti-government, Tea Party hyper-conservative Wing of the Republican Party intimidated the Speaker of the House and they were opposed to any compromise at all on anything.
Peter Richard Orszag is the CEO of Financial Advisory at Lazard. Before June 2019, he was the firm's Head of North American M&A and Global Co-Head of Healthcare.
