I read with wonder, if not surprise, of the struggle within the Democratic contingent in Congress: the far left wants this feature, the near left wants that, moderates want neither, etc.

It seems there is a tendency in our Congress to minimize effort by cramming together things that ought to be separate. Take the vast bills that the Democrats have put forward. Each faction has included in these bills favored initiatives that may or may not have much to do with the general focus of the bill. Others react negatively to some of these initiatives and may or may not or might or might not support the bill on that account. It makes me think of a group of picky eaters trying to agree on a pizza order.

In any case, diverse matters are lumped together in an enormous single bill that must be swallowed whole. Isn’t there a mechanism, there ought to be, that will allow these huge packages to be broken up so that their components could be debated and voted on in a case by case process? This would, of course, take a lot more work and would compel legislators to make decisions on specific issues.

Of course, if a legislator is a Republican there would be no need for personal decisions. The Republicans are another gross, forced amalgam that cripples the Congress. Individuals are not allowed each to use their own judgement, but must conform to the “party line.” And Republicans comply with a regularity and uniformity that is really quite surprising in what pretends to be a democratic government. Are they all so thoughtless or incapable of independent judgement, or are they coerced to go along because they want to get along? I think of a verse from an old anti-Stalin parody:

Party comrade, Party comrade,

What a sorry fate is thine!

Comrade Stalin does not love you

‘Cause you left the Party Line.

How our legislative process would be improved if focus could be directed to individual proposals and if Republicans could behave like free human beings and not like Communist drudges.