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erations and those concerned with<br />
government pensions. Closely related<br />
to that are also: (1) the growing<br />
competition between public employee<br />
unions and taxpayers, and<br />
(2) the fights for taxes and funding<br />
between the states and the federal<br />
government over federal programs<br />
like ObamaCare.<br />
Third, and this is a critical point,<br />
the fact that our governments now<br />
represent one-third of the economy<br />
also means that our governments<br />
are doing more things than they<br />
have ever before – and by a wide<br />
factor. Those governments doing<br />
many more things lead to unprecedented<br />
partisanship that is at the<br />
crux of gridlock today.<br />
Simply put - a government that<br />
does but 100 things will find far<br />
fewer partisans than a government<br />
that does 1,000 things. Today, our<br />
governments all combined do $5<br />
trillion worth of things each year<br />
and we have many more partisans<br />
than our founders could ever imagine.<br />
As a result, we also have an unprecedented<br />
competition among<br />
those seeking government benefits,<br />
preferences and spoils doled out<br />
at all levels of our state, local and<br />
federal governments. Businesses,<br />
citizens, lobbyists, charities, government<br />
contractors and more compete<br />
for those spoils. Indeed, many businesses<br />
seemingly compete as much<br />
in the halls of our governments as<br />
they do in the marketplace. Many<br />
times, they can gain greater victories<br />
from government than they can<br />
in the marketplace.<br />
All of this adds up to the fact that<br />
the number of people doing business<br />
with our governments or dependent<br />
on them dwarfs the number<br />
of those people at any previous<br />
time in our history. The result of this<br />
new, “my piece of the pie partisanship”<br />
is people less driven by ideology<br />
and more driven by self-interest.<br />
Further, we see greater divisions<br />
among Americans and greater pressure<br />
to deliver the goods on the focal<br />
point of all of these competitions<br />
- our elected officials.<br />
Worse yet, the source of the current<br />
gridlock is not subject to any<br />
one close-end decision. To the contrary,<br />
our federal government is doing<br />
thousands of things which no<br />
single vote, war or legislative act<br />
“Simply put - a government that does but 100 things will find far fewer<br />
partisans than a government that does 1,000 things.”<br />
could resolve. As a result, we are<br />
likely to face division and gridlock<br />
for decades to come.<br />
Some choose to blame hyperpartisans<br />
in the major parties – and<br />
now the Tea Party – for our current<br />
gridlock. Partisans, however, are<br />
present in every age. For instance,<br />
Samuel Adams was considered incendiary<br />
as he sought revolutionary<br />
change in Boston. He was the<br />
leader of a mob and far more partisan<br />
than anyone in modern politics.<br />
He was essential, however, to our<br />
founding and the freedom that has<br />
spread across the world. Continuing<br />
the thought, John Adams stated<br />
outright that the Revolution would<br />
be attributed to another highly<br />
partisan writer of the age, Thomas<br />
Paine.<br />
Youngman & Ericsson, LLP<br />
1981 North Broadway • Suite 300<br />
Walnut Creek, CA 94596<br />
The point is that for anyone to<br />
blame partisans is to blame the<br />
symptom, not the cause. It is human<br />
nature for people with so<br />
much at stake to be highly partisan.<br />
As lawyers, we should be no more<br />
surprised at their fervor than at the<br />
fervor of our clients whose cases<br />
mean their fortune to them, if not<br />
more.<br />
In short, we should stop blaming<br />
the participants and start focusing<br />
on the dynamic, which brings them<br />
to the fray. They are acting in their<br />
self-interest or for their personal<br />
ambition. The rules of the game accentuate<br />
their ambition and their<br />
natures. Should one company sit<br />
at home while another seeks an<br />
advantage in Congress? Should we<br />
really expect people being taxed to<br />
the point of moving not be vocal?<br />
California has lost over 4.5 million<br />
taxpayers since 1998, mostly to low<br />
tax states. We shouldn’t any more<br />
blame them than to blame our clients<br />
for filing lawsuits for their<br />
claims.<br />
So what are we to do? First, and<br />
this will be the hardest, we need<br />
to understand that there is no example<br />
in history of a government<br />
lasting as comparatively large as<br />
ours. Part of the story of Rome and<br />
Greece at their heights is bureaucratic<br />
breakdown and class warfare<br />
over stagnant economies and divisive<br />
tax schemes. It is not a story<br />
of governments getting their fiscal<br />
house in order.<br />
As such, we need to understand<br />
Estate Litigation Lawyers.<br />
www.youngman.com (925) 930-6000<br />
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION CONTRA COSTA LAWYER 9
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