I
haven't really been following the midterms, but just wanted to share
some general concerns. It just seems like Groundhog Day to me. The
incumbents screw up (real or perceived, but the more interesting
question is: how was their performance vs. the hypothetical
alternative?), supporters are demoralized and fail to mobilize compared
to the fired up opposition, and the other party sweeps into power.
If it's a divided gov't, nothing gets done (and it's so unlikely for one party to control 60 Senate seats). If one party has a monopoly on the Executive and Legislative, then they invariably overstep their "mandate", attempt to reverse the recent progress of their rivals, and make their fair share of screw ups too. Then the whole cycle repeats in 2-4 years, and the American people (and the world) are stuck in this futile cycle. For example, the GOP has tried to repeal Obamacare dozens of times, even when they didn't have the Senate. Now that they do, I am sure they will try again, even though it won't get past the Obama veto. And all the while infrastructure, education, climate change, immigration, etc. initiatives just languish while the problems get worse.
The only exceptions to this pattern seem to be (hopefully) rare, unifying security events like Pearl Harbor or 9/11 (Bush's GOP gained seats in 2002), or an especially bullish sustained bubble economy combined with terrible behavior by the opposition legislators (Clinton's Dems gained seats in 1998).
If it's a divided gov't, nothing gets done (and it's so unlikely for one party to control 60 Senate seats). If one party has a monopoly on the Executive and Legislative, then they invariably overstep their "mandate", attempt to reverse the recent progress of their rivals, and make their fair share of screw ups too. Then the whole cycle repeats in 2-4 years, and the American people (and the world) are stuck in this futile cycle. For example, the GOP has tried to repeal Obamacare dozens of times, even when they didn't have the Senate. Now that they do, I am sure they will try again, even though it won't get past the Obama veto. And all the while infrastructure, education, climate change, immigration, etc. initiatives just languish while the problems get worse.
The only exceptions to this pattern seem to be (hopefully) rare, unifying security events like Pearl Harbor or 9/11 (Bush's GOP gained seats in 2002), or an especially bullish sustained bubble economy combined with terrible behavior by the opposition legislators (Clinton's Dems gained seats in 1998).
I'm
not sure what can be done about this in the short term. Obviously the
usual ideas surface: a more active and educated electorate, voting rules
reform, a truly popular vote, longer terms and/or term limits, less
unlimited dark money in politics, more time on politics and less on
campaigning/fundraising, more competitive districts, and frankly better
parties and candidates who can behave like gentlepeople and put country
first. Clearly our representative gov't is dysfunctional when a majority
of the public want tougher gun control, but our leaders are much less
amenable. Same goes for bipartisanship, climate change, pot, gay rights,
taxes on the rich, even Obamacare (when you peel away the
misinformation).
http://billmoyers.com/2014/08/
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