Dawidziak: Gridlock adds intrigue to 2012

The congressional supercommittee turned out to be not so super. Its failure to agree on ways to reduce federal budget deficits is the latest and most tragic example of the partisan gridlock gripping Washington.

Here's what the co-chairs of this bipartisan special joint committee said in their statement: "After months of hard work and intense deliberations, we have come to the conclusion today that it will not be possible to make any bipartisan agreement available to the public before the committee's deadline."

Did you see that? "Not be possible to make any bipartisan agreement."

Today is the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. If such a crisis hit today, would our federal leaders say they are incapable of agreeing on a course of action? Well, here's a news flash for Washington. We are in the midst of a grave economic crisis which, while it can't be compared to Pearl Harbor in historical significance or loss of life, is still causing suffering for Americans. People are losing homes to foreclosure, going without health insurance and despairing of finding a job.

Predictably, both parties' immediate reaction was to point fingers. This blame game accomplishes nothing and the content of their individual statements betrays their blatantly political agendas. The Democrats are playing to their base by portraying the GOP's refusal to tax the rich as the major stumbling block. The Republicans zeroing in on President Barack Obama's "lack of leadership" as the root cause of the committee's failure sounds like it came straight from their party's talking points. With the presidential election next year, it's not hard to figure out why.

What is hard to figure out is how both sides are willing to accept failure for some perceived future political gain. With so much hanging in the balance, doing nothing should not be an option. Leadership is action, not position.

This constant kicking the can down the road is, to use a hot political buzzword, unsustainable. Remember, the supercommittee was created in mutual fit of can-kicking when Washington was unable to reach a grand bargain on deficit reduction during the federal debt-ceiling crisis in August. The joke in politics is that when you don't know what to do, create a blue ribbon panel -- delaying tactic to make it look like you're doing something.

As a result of the committee's failure, $1.2 trillion in automatic cuts in domestic and military spending are due to begin in 2013. In addition, the U.S. bond rating and ability to borrow are threatened and so is any recovery from recession. Voters are watching and, since the supercommittee's failure, polls show the public approval rating of Congress falling from 22 percent to 12 percent.

Any impact on next year's federal elections is hard to predict. Neither side is showing effective leadership. The Republicans bet history will be on their side. Their oft-quoted, hope-filled wisdom is that no incumbent president has been re-elected with the unemployment rate over 8 percent.

However, history is full of firsts. Even with Obama's approval as low as 44 percent, the Republican primary field has yet to produce a clear alternative popular enough to beat him.

With disillusionment running high, the time might be right for an independent third-party candidate. Conventional wisdom says one cannot succeed. Teddy Roosevelt got 27.4 percent of the vote as third-party candidate in 1912 and Ross Perot got 18.9 percent in 1992. With several candidates, including former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman and former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, rumored as considering it, 2012 could be the year for a viable independent candidate.

The American people and the times demand effective leadership. We need can-doers, not can-kickers.