Few people would doubt that Barack Obama was elected the forty-fourth President of  the United States at a perilous time in American history.  In fact, his timing could hardly have been worse.  Financial markets had crumbled, major banks and insurance companies were descending into insolvency, millions of Americans were losing their jobs,  economic recession was spreading across the globe, and the resultant U.S. tax revenues were taking a nosedive.  The President was faced with an immediate need to prop up the financial services industry,  save the auto industry, and bail …

At the local level, the governor and state assemblies are granted powers under the federal constitution to manage their own affairs, so long as they don’t interfere with rights granted under that constitution. When, however, a minority of senators from various states are granted the power to thwart the will of the majority of American people, a line has been crossed that forms a border between good, representative government and gridlock.