By Noah Dawson

Again and again, politicians promise this and that and then never do anything. Even when one party controls the presidency and both houses, they seem to avoid actually fixing any problems. The more I watch politics, the more I understand about the reason why. It’s simple: any issue you fix is an issue you don’t get to run on next time. Sure, you might get to brag about having solved that issue, but why should voters keep you in office? The problem has been fixed, it’s no longer an issue.

A perfect example is one we see unfolding with energy. Republicans are bashing Democrats for supporting green energy, Democrats are claiming Republicans caused the storm by not acting on climate change. Neither are pushing solutions. Neither is making winterization or investment into energy storage a major talking point.

This isn’t exclusive to energy though, and politicians are especially eager to use this on emotional wedge issues. Republicans talk about ending abortion. Democrats talk about criminal justice reform. But, they know that if they ever actually take on those issues, their careers are over.

Closely related to this is the point that politicians love crises and will stop at nothing to not avoid one. The obvious example is FDR. He got elected because he promised to help the country out of the great depression. He didn’t get reelected because the great depression ended though, he got reelected because he promised he’d continue to fight the great depression. With conditions in Europe worsening, an easy case was made to voters about the need for a continuation of his leadership. The case was made stronger in his fourth election after the US entered World War II.

The same applies to other career politicians. As long as they don’t make the issue much worse, they can make the case they need to remain in office to keep leadership steady. And, even if the issue does subside, it’s a feather in their cap that they showed leadership through the situation, even if they could have taken steps to avoid it.