Five reasons America is still in trouble by David Rothkopf - CNN.com

Five reasons America is still in trouble

By David Rothkopf, Special to CNN

updated 6:39 AM EDT, Thu October 17, 2013

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• David Rothkopf: "Keeping up with the debt limit" seems like a seamy reality show
• He says our political system is broken, national conversation is off-track
• Washington ignores really big problems, focuses on everything but governing, he says
• Rothkopf: Ultimately, we're to blame for not going to ballot box and forcing change

Editor's note: David Rothkopf writes regularly for CNN.com. He is CEO and editor-at-large of the FP Group, publishers of Foreign Policy magazine, and a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Follow him on Twitter at @djrothkopf.

(CNN) -- I blame Kris Kardashian.

Think about it. Doesn't the most recent episode of "Keeping Up with the Debt Limit" feel more as though it were an E! production than one by C-SPAN? Hasn't it been as predictable, brief and of itself, as inconsequential as a Kardashian marriage, as odious as Kanye and as certain to lead to unhappiness as Lamar's reputed drug problem? Doesn't the pinheaded disconnect from reality seem familiar?

The problem is that it is easier to deal with the Kardashians than their counterparts in the Capitol. We can just change the channel. The reality is, we all depend on the U.S. government in enough ways that letting it turn into a repetitive, meaningless form of basic cable melodrama would be a formula for national catastrophe.

David Rothkopf

We should therefore try to draw lessons from this round of Beltway follies: what we must fix if our country is not to go the way of Kris and Bruce's marriage. Here are five critical problems we must address.

1. The political system is broken

Gerrymandering has caused House districts to be essentially "owned" by one party or the other. That makes general elections irrelevant. So it is primary voters who determine who runs, and they tend to be the more energized, activist voters of the left and right wings. The result? Extremes are rewarded and virtually ensured of re-election.

Add to that campaign finance rules that give disproportionate power to big money, and incumbents and Senate rules that give the minority and individual senators too much power, and you have system in which gridlock is virtually institutionalized. We need campaign finance reform, an end to gerrymandering and rules reform in both houses of Congress, and we need to make these initiatives a top political priority of America's centrist majority.

2. Our national conversation has gotten off-track

Promote extremist politicians and reward them for their extremism, and you get tension, incivility and a reluctance to embrace the compromise that is essential to democracy. Bring in the language of religion and culture wars, and the debate becomes about what divides us rather than what we need to bring us together, about our problems and not about their practical solutions.

Wedge issues then play a greater role in campaigns than new ideas. Opponents become enemies rather than neighbors with alternative views.

We need to defuse the language, edit the loaded terminology, reinvest in the separation of church and state and call out dangerously divisive ideas, racism, sexism and sheer stupidity, like denying science, history or basic arithmetic.

3. Governance has become a lost art

The least-valued skill set in Washington is the ability to actually get things done. We mistakenly believe that articulating a problem is the same thing as solving it. We reward those who give good speeches and not those who have a proven track record of fixing things.

Politicians are too often elected because they advance an ideology, and when they serve, they inevitably focus on what they need to do to be re-elected. But their jobs were created to serve the public, to govern and to lead, even if that means making their positions of power more precarious. We need to start voting for people who have proved their skill at bridging partisan divides and focusing on the needs of the electorate.

4. We are ignoring the really big problems

We are trapped in a cycle of punting problems ahead a few months and chipping away at the margins of issues. When this shutdown/debt-limit crisis is finally resolved, we will have a few months until it recurs. If a deal is struck before another crisis happens, it will be incremental.

Yet America has much bigger issues: a too-slow recovery from a great economic setback, an inability to create good jobs at the rate of past recoveries and, perhaps above all, a failure to address the growing inequality that is dividing our society.

It is not just an economic quirk that 90% of the benefits of the current recovery are accruing to the top 10% of our society; it is a formula for social breakdown and national decline. It is also profoundly unjust. We need to start demanding that leaders address these bigger issues.

5. The American people have failed their government ... and each other

You can't blame the politicians. You elected them. You turned away from the system. You didn't run for office. You didn't write your views down and pass them along to people in power. You didn't fund campaigns that supported people committed to big solutions.

You have become ill-informed, caught up in the name-calling and the partisanship and the climate that created the Washington we have today. You've got the government you deserve. Remember, according to the Constitution, the top job in the U.S. government goes to the voter. If these clowns in Washington can't get it right and you don't fire them, you deserve what you get.

This is not reality television, even though it feels as pointless. This is just reality. And reality, in this democracy, is what the voters make of it. You can't blame Obama or Boehner. Scarily enough, the TV screen, whether it shows the Kardashians or C-SPAN or cable news, is just a mirror, a reflection of what America wants and is.

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of David Rothkopf.

Redford: Women, young people must save U.S. from men 'behaving stupidly' - CNN.com

Redford: Women, young people must save U.S. from men 'behaving stupidly'

By Alan Duke, CNN

updated 3:24 PM EDT, Wed October 16, 2013

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• President Obama "can't function" now in Washington, Robert Redford says
• The actor says some in Congress are "crippling our whole country"
• Redford sat down with CNN's Nischelle Turner to talk about his new film, "All Is Lost"
• He plays a lone sailor struggling to stay alive after his sailboat is crippled by a collision

(CNN) -- Robert Redford says bigotry, fear of change and a determination to personally destroy President Barack Obama have paralyzed the U.S. government.

Women and young people are the answer to fixing the gridlock that has partially shut down Washington, the actor told CNN on Tuesday.

"Give them the reins," Redford said. "I think they can do better than we have."

Redford, 77, sat down with CNN's Nischelle Turner to talk about his new film, "All Is Lost," which he agreed could serve as an analogy to the shutdown crisis.

In the movie, Redford plays a lone sailor struggling to stay alive after his sailboat is crippled by a collision with a container ship.

"At a certain point, I think, when things really get awful, when things get really bad and all seems to be lost -- there's no hope, there's no possibility -- then a lot of people quit," Redford said about his character. "They say, 'What's the point?' and they quit. And others keep going for no other reason than that."

Opinion: Men dither while women lead

Redford: 'Why are these people behaving so stupidly?'

The conversation then turned to the drama playing out in Washington, where a standoff between Obama and Republicans in Congress has forced the federal government into a partial shutdown and threatened a default on the U.S. debt.

"It's so divided now with the people that are so narrow and so limited that they would take us back into the past," Redford said. "And I was trying to figure out, why are these people behaving so stupidly? Why are they behaving so horribly that it's crippling our whole country?

"And I think it has to do with fear. I think it's a group of people that are so afraid of change, and they're so narrow-minded that some people -- when they see change coming -- get so threatened by change, they get angry and they get terrorized, and then they get vicious. I think that's who these people are. They're so afraid of change that they're behaving miserably."

Obama is "a compassionate man who can't function" in this political environment, Redford said. It "is so decrepit, it is so paralyzed, and the worst of it is it is paralyzed by intention," he said. "There is a body of congressional people that wants to paralyze the system. I think what sits underneath it, unfortunately, is there's probably some racism involved, which is really awful."

Obama's opponents reject whatever he might propose "because their determination was to destroy this person," Redford said. "They wanted, if it meant destroying the government, anything to keep him from succeeding.

"I think just the idea of giving credit to this President, giving him credit for anything, is abhorrent to them, so they'll go against it. Never mind that it's the better good of the people, never mind that they're supposed to be in office representing the interest of the public. They're representing their own self-interests, which is very narrow and in some cases bigoted."

America's problem: We're too dumb

Redford: All is not lost

But, unlike his latest film title, all is not lost, Redford said. He said "something new" is starting to happen that offers hope.

"Susan Collins, who is a Republican, is saying: 'Enough of this. This is not the job I signed up for. I've got to do something,' " said Redford, referring to the U.S. senator from Maine. "So she's bringing a bipartisan group together of women. I think the future should belong more to women and young people."

Women must save the country "because a lot of men that were in control were behaving stupidly," Redford said. "I mean, sometimes you say: 'Can we actually be this dumbed down, or am I actually hearing what I'm hearing from some of these people? Are they really, is that really happening?' It's sad."

Does this mean Redford is already throwing his support behind Hillary Clinton in a 2016 White House bid?

"No, I wouldn't single out one woman over another," he said. "I think it's time to give more women a chance."

"All Is Lost," which is almost a silent movie, with its sparse dialogue, hits U.S. theaters next week.

Sundance 2013: Redford answers conservative critics

CNN's Doug Ganley contributed to this report.

Political Deja VU - CNN.com

Shutdown could be shock therapy

By David Gergen, CNN Senior Political Analyst

updated 7:46 AM EDT, Tue October 1, 2013

The U.S. Capitol in Washington is seen at dawn on Monday as the country faces a. possible government shutdown at midnight.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• David Gergen: Shutdown would hurt people in need, the U.S. economy and markets
• Gergen: We've had shutdowns, but never a default, which may lead to global meltdown
• Default could happen in three weeks, he says, so it would force parties to solve problems
• Gergen: Shutdown would give Obama chance to take charge and get us out of this mess

Editor's note: David Gergen is a senior political analyst for CNN and has been an adviser to four presidents. A graduate of Harvard Law School, he is a professor of public service and director of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. Follow him on Twitter.

(CNN) -- Driven by a hard-line faction of conservatives, Washington has done something terribly stupid: shutting down the national government. Most of America is aghast. But it is also just possible that doing something stupid will help us avoid doing something truly dangerous.

Shutdowns are a lousy way to run a government. Just for starters, this one has cut off services to women and children in need, furloughed hundreds of thousands, further shaken the confidence of the public, sent a shudder through the financial world and created new storm clouds over the economy. And once again the world is wondering about our capacity for leadership.

But all of this damage pales in comparison with the danger posed by a second, lurking threat: a default on our public finances.

The United States has had 17 government shutdowns since 1977 and has generally recovered well. But we have never had a default. Experts, while not fully certain, are convinced that it could be hugely destructive -- even leading to a worldwide financial meltdown. Unless Congress and the White House get their act together, we could default in less than three weeks.

But a shutdown could have a silver lining. It could be such an electric shock to the political system that it forces the politicians in Washington to settle their squabbles before the default deadline.

What we know from past shutdowns is that not only citizens -- especially older ones dependent on Social Security and Medicare -- start raising hell, but so do business and financial leaders who see damage rippling across their economic interests. Politicians are increasingly seen as villains. Pressure tends to grow so unbearable that eventually Washington finds a solution.

Most of the pressure this time will be directed toward Republicans who have misplayed their hand. A new poll by CNN/ORC shows that 46% of Americans blame the shutdown on Republicans, seeing them as spoiled children. Thirty six percent blame President Obama, and 13% point fingers at both.

Seasoned GOP leaders across the country know that the shutdown does serious damage, chances of Republicans picking up Senate seats in 2014 and the White House in 2016 could evaporate. Those leaders will push intensely for a way out.

But Republicans are not the only ones who will come under pressure to find a settlement. So will Democrats, starting with President Obama. We expect our presidents to be leaders of all the people, not a single party or ideology. We want them to rise above the squabbling and keep us on track. The harsh rhetoric that the president has been directing at Republicans suggests that he is less interested in settlement than unconditional surrender.

Moreover, as Republicans make their counterarguments, it is becoming increasingly apparent that they have some valid questions. Is Obamacare truly ready for prime time? Shouldn't the two parties work together on the tax code? When is Washington going to get serious about overhauling the entitlement programs so they will survive for coming generations?

Yes, conservative hard-liners have chosen the wrong place to fight; arguments over Obamacare are no excuse to shut down the government. Yes, hard-liners like Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, are creating deeper partisan divides. But Democrats can ill afford to continue rejecting any talks or negotiations.

Now that the shutdown has happened, Obama has a fresh opportunity -- indeed a fresh responsibility -- to seize the mantle of leadership and get us out of this mess. Instead of just blaming the Republicans, he should call in the leaders of both parties and in Lyndon Johnson fashion, keep 'em talking till they get a deal.

With the shutdown underway, the president has new leverage to say, "Look, we are here to negotiate a settlement so that we can reopen the government. We are not here to negotiate over a possible default; I have said all along that I won't do that. But those of you who have been listening closely know that I have also been saying that I am open to conversations about settling our policy differences so that we can keep the government running.

"Tax reform, entitlement reform and even some tweaking of the Affordable Care Act are on the table now. I have only two conditions: I will not accept a gutting of Obamacare -- we settled that at the ballot box in 2012 -- and any settlement here must include a pledge not to let the country go into default. So, let's get started."

Would it work? Who knows for sure? But one thing is clear: If enough Americans rise up now and pressure politicians in Washington to call off this circus, we could not only end this foolishness over a shutdown, but we could also avoid a truly dangerous default. And we could hold our heads up again.

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The opinions in this commentary are solely those of David Gergen.