Wall Street Journal: David Rivkin on why health care gridlock is necessary

Former White House lawyer describes why the Constitution makes it hard to get things done in Congress

People often complain about gridlock in Washington, but they may need a reminder of how this country was founded, according to some Constitutional law experts. In an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal, David Rivkin explained that the political gridlock associated with health care reform is actually a good thing: It is “part of the Constitution’s design and consonant with our underlying political traditions.”

“In short, the government established by the U.S. Constitution, as well as the document itself, is ‘conservative,’” Rivkin wrote in the Feb. 21 editorial, which he co-authored with law partner and frequent co-author Lee A. Casey.

The authors briefly examined what the Framers achieved by making “legislative accomplishments difficult” through a regulation system that requires a high level of consensus for government action. Rivkin and Casey used several quotes from the Federalist Papers by founding Americans such as James Madison and John Jay to support their argument.

“When the country is fundamentally divided over an important issue—such as health-care reform—the necessary consensus may not be achieved … all of this may well mean that change, even necessary change, is postponed or permanently thwarted,” Rivkin wrote. “But that is the price of the remarkable stability of government that we have.” 

Rivkin closed the article by nodding to the American people, whom he said “appear to instinctively understand and accept” the sort of compromises the system is designed to protect.  

A recent Rasmussen Report poll found that 61 percent of the American public felt that Congress should start all over again on health care reform.

About David Rivkin
David Rivkin is an attorney in private practice and partner at Baker & Hostetler in Washington, D.C., who has had a lengthy career distinguished by service in the White House during two presidents’ terms, in the U.S. Department of Justice and in the U.S. Department of Energy. He is a well-known writer and media commentator on matters of constitutional and international law, as well as foreign and defense policy. He is a visiting fellow at the Nixon Center, contributing editor at the National Review, and a member of the Advisory Council at National Interest magazine. He currently serves as co-chairman of the Center for Law and Counterterrorism at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. He also represents foreign governments and corporate entities on legal, political, defense, economy and public relations matters.

For more information, visit www.davidrivkin.com or contact:
David B. Rivkin, Jr.
drivkin@bakerlaw.com
202.861.1731
Suite 1100
1050 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036-5304