The two-party system is broken. The standstill in Washington over the debt ceiling is proof that petty politicians will do almost anything to posture instead of proceed to solve the problem at hand. We’ve already seen the FAA stop collecting taxes on airlines, soldiers are having essential training cancelled (while still being asked to go to war) and financial markets (which are already a mess due to lack of a spine to reel in wild speculation and dangerous practices) are again starting to react to uncertainty.

But, now, Tea Party Republican Jim Jordan, R-OH, is being threatened with having his district redrawn according to the Columbus Dispatch:

Jim Jordan’s open defiance of Speaker John Boehner’s efforts to solve the debt-ceiling crisis could cost the Urbana Republican his safe House seat in next year’s election.

Two Republican sources deeply involved in configuring new Ohio congressional districts confirmed to The Dispatch today that Jordan’s disloyalty to Boehner has put him in jeopardy of being zeroed out of a district.

“Jim Jordan’s boneheadedness has kind of informed everybody’s thinking,” said one of the sources, both of whom spoke only on condition of anonymity. “The easiest option for everybody has presented itself.”

Jordan’s rural 11-county district, which has a 60 percent Republican voter index, “is easy to cannibalize because it stretches so far,” the other source said….

After The Dispatch posted the story on its website today, Jordan linked to it on Twitter and posted it on his Facebook page, telling followers and friends: “I would be interested to hear your comments on this article suggesting that my vote will result in my congressional district being eliminated.”

Breaking up and parsing out Jordan’s 4th district and throwing him into a new one that is competitive would solve a dilemma for GOP congressional map-drawers who, because of population shifts, must reduce the number of Ohio congressional districts from 18 to 16 before the Feb. 8 candidate filing deadline for the May 3 primary election….

One of the Republican sources said Jordan, a former state legislator, became inoculated against compromising by his comfort in a district he has represented since 2007 and which he typically wins with more than 60 percent of the vote.

via Payback may be coming for congressman’s ‘disloyalty’ | The Columbus Dispatch.

This crass suggestion of those in power that they should be able to override the wishes of voters as easily as redrawing the map- as opposed to the people of Jordan’s district having the right to vote him out of office for his actions shows how petty our two-party system has become- and how meaningless our system of “election” has become. Even if we move to a more democratic system like instant runoff ballots, we’re still at odds thanks to the oddity of letting the foxes have the key to the hen house door.

Here is a better way to solve the impasse- before a single U.S. debt payment is missed, all members of Congress and the president- those who have brought us to the brink of bankruptcy- or at least, default- should have to forfeit their campaign chests- and start amassing debt against their campaign fund raising ability for every dollar that isn’t made right by our government. This would almost guarantee passage- or a complete transformation of our government. Accountability would begin instantly.

It’s time for a solution to this partisan BS. It’s our country- not John Boehner’s, not Jim Jordan’s, not Barack Obama’s. Get to work you jackasses- or we’re going to take your bribe money away.