she's veronique de rugy. seni resrch feow at e mercatus center at george mason university. >> what's really the problem in washington? well, if you ask washington, they'll tell you it's gridlock, and blame inaction on some new and hyper-partisan or ideological era. but while gridlock might be blamed for slowing things down, it can't be blamed for failing to address serious issues. welfare reform and balanced budgets in the 1990s were the product of gridlock that slowly gave way to consensus. and today's washington is more than happy to come together when it suits its own interests. for instance, just last week, congress managed bi-partisan support for other continuing resolution, an agreement that allows the legislators to, once again, put off doing any real fiscal planning. in fact, congress hasn't managed to produce a federal budget in more than three years. washington's problem is not gridlock. it is an increasingly irresponsible government that has r fatoo ng bn le off the hook for performing the most bas