President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney after the first Presidential debate (Photo used under Creative Commons/Flickr Gwydion Williams)

By Michael J. Whelan

At the risk of you turning off your radio about now, let me add one more thought to all the election year talk we are all suffering through.

Whenever I hear any candidate for our state legislature, or Congress, or the presidency, exclaim that if we will only vote for him or her, he or she will go to either Springfield, or Washington, D.C., as the case may be, and will proceed to single handedly clean up whatever is wrong with government, I wince, literally.

That is because I know that THEY know that once they get there, they will have no power whatsoever to clean up the mess left to them by their predecessors. That is because of that little glitch known as the separation of power in both state and federal government. In other words, no one person, be it a state legislator or Congressman or President, can do anything without the cooperation of both parties and in some cases the executive branch of government.

This was drilled into us in high school civics class, but I’m afraid most of us either failed to learn it then, or have since forgotten it.

So when your candidate of choice tells you that he or she will clean up corruption, or repeal Obamacare, or reduce your taxes, or stop the war in Afghanistan, just try to remember that they know they can’t do it all by themselves.

They will need to go along to get along, which is exactly why we as a state, and nation, are in such a quagmire.

Michael J. Whelan has been a licensed practicing attorney for over 33 years. He also serves as an arbitrator in the 11th Judicial Circuit Mandatory Arbitration program. In addition, he is presently the president of the board of directors of his homeowners association, and is also a member of the board of directors of The Old House Society. He and his wife of thirty-one plus years, Cheryl Whelan, live in Bloomington. He and Cheryl enjoy exercising, reading, and being close to family and friends.

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