The inescapable answer to America's problems? Fix Congress
Pretty much on a daily basis now, I find myself muttering or shouting, “If only Congress wasn’t broken,” or something to that effect.
I’m happy to acknowledge that our problems have many causes. Still, here’s my answer to the question “What is one thing you would do to solve — or just improve — American politics and America’s mounting list of crises?”: Fix Congress.
Sort of like Balzac’s famous line, “Show me a great fortune, and I’ll show you a great crime,” if you show me a big problem, I can make the case that Congress’ dysfunction either created the problem or made it worse.
This is not a partisan point because the problem has been worsening for decades. But we might as deal with the problem right now. And right now Congress is controlled by Republicans and they are controlled by the president. Whatever you think of Donald Trump’s various executive orders — I think it’s been a mix of the good, the bad and the ugly — the simple fact is that presidents aren’t supposed to govern or legislate by diktat.
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2025-05-13/congress-executive-orders-donald-trump
I tend to despise Jonah Goldberg -- he and his momma certainly contributed to the current morass we're in -- but this is a reasonable op--ed, despite his squishy compliment about Trump's EOs.