Can Congress Be Fixed?

I'll be 74 years old next month, and in all that time I've never seen Congress in such a mess. Neither party has leadership worthy of the name, the majority party refuses even to hold discussions with the minority, and the last time a budget was passed under the normal process ("regular order") was fiscal year 1997. The 119th Congress is clearly the most useless in history.

What went wrong? Lots of ink has been spilled trying to answer that question, and the answer generally depends on the political leanings of the person offering an opinion. There are lots of articles, manifestos, OpEds, memes, and other screeds which offer suggestions for fixing the rot, some of which are silly and unworkable, but many of which are promising, if unlikely (for various reasons) ever to be adopted. Here are a few that I think show potential for returning Congress to something resembling other than a adult playroom:

1. Impose Term Limits. The Constitution limits Presidents to two terms, but places no similar limits on members of Congress. Unlimited terms allow individual members to accumulate power based on longevity rather than competence, and imposing term limits would bring regular infusions of new blood and ideas. A good balance of new and experienced members could be achieved by limiting Senators to two six-year terms and Representatives to six two-year terms, for a total of 12 years.

2. Adopt Flexible Rates of Pay. Set the salary of each member at the median income for the state they represent. This will ensure that members understand their constituents' financial reality.

3. Require Members of Congress to Obtain Health Insurance from the Exchanges in their Home States. Coupled with pay calculation described above, this will ensure that members understand the health care problems their constituents face, and help focus them on developing fair and workable solutions.

4. Conduct Routine Business Remotely. There are many options for secure online communication which will allow members of Congress to remain in their districts, close to their constituents, while conducting most ordinary legislative business. The full Congress could assemble periodically, perhaps quarterly or semiannually, for in-person sessions to conduct business or hold hearings that can not be conducted remotely.

5. Require Single-Issue Legislation. Omnibus legislation running to thousands of pages and larded with "poison pills" for political advantage are opaque, an invitation to corrupt deal-making, and insult to the citizens. Congress needs to return to the traditional budget process (regular order) and adopt a system of single-issue legislation to improve focus and understanding.

6. Bring Back Campaign Finance Limits. Terrible Supreme Court decisions like Citizens United allow corporations and the wealthy to pump unlimited amounts of money to their preferred candidates, giving these a dominant voice in the political process and ensuring that elected officials are beholden to their wealthiest campaign donors rather than the average voter. Campaign finance limits must be reimposed and enforced to reduce opportunities for corruption and ensure fairness in representation.

7. Require Members of Congress to Recuse Themselves from Drafting and Voting on Legislation in Which They Have Personal Financial Interest. The authority of Congress is diminished when there is an appearance of conflicts of interest.

More needs to be done, but this would be a good start ... something to think about as we begin yet another fiscal year with no budget.

Have a good day. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

The Deep State, the Administrative State, and the State of Hysteria

One of the ways in which Der Furor was able twice to capture the presidency was by playing to  conservative anger over the so-called Deep State - a hypothetical unauthorized secret network of powerful individuals and agencies that operate independently of properly elected political leaders to pursue their own agendas and goals - a sort-of modern day Illuminati. 

The Deep State concept is related to another term, the Administrative State, which refers to the array of executive branch agencies at all levels which have the power and authority to write, interpret, and enforce their own regulations.

The Deep State is a mainstay of GOP politics, useful in explaining why their social and economic policies don't work by pinning blame on a shadowy cabal of rogue bureaucrats*, and of books and films eager to mine new sources of villainy for their heroes to fight. The Administrative State is also a focus of conservative anger, equally useful for explaining their policy failures, but without the added bonus of baked-in evildoers seeking world domination. 

The Administrative State is a result of the expansion of government and the complexity of the world over the years. As the federal government grew in size and complexity, ever-larger bureaucracies staffed with subject matter specialists were needed to carry out the responsibilities assigned by Congress ... including the authority (as we noted above) to write, interpret, and enforce their own regulations within the parameters authorized in legislation.

For conservatives who are by nature disdainful of regulations imposed by tyrannical governments™ they do not control, the Administrative State is an anathema to be opposed at all costs. Regulations imposed by government agencies, they argue, are infringements on personal freedoms and are invalid unless specifically approved by Congress as the directly-elected representatives of the people - not by faceless bureaucrats™ answerable to no one.

When last I checked, there were 535 elected members of Congress (435 Representatives and 100 Senators), who have in recent years been unable to do as fundamental a constitutionally-mandated function as publish a budget ... indeed, they have been unable to do little more than adjourn to prevent having to vote on releasing the dreaded Epstein Files™, propose renaming the Kennedy Center Opera House after Melania Trump, pass gigantic pieces of legislation that they regret and immediately begin un-legislating, and steadfastly resist anything proposed by the opposition party ...

The Deep State doesn't exist except in the fever dreams of conspiracy believers. The Administrative State does. And as the Republican party races to dismantle it, eliminating the experts and specialists who have kept us safe, healthy, and protected from abuse of the law, we won't be long in regretting its loss.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

* Who are also satanist Democrats, pedophiles, and baby eaters.

Congressional Shoutings

Now that the GOP members of the House of Representatives have managed to get their feces in one sock long enough to elect a Speaker, they will be able to get on with their most eagerly awaited activity: the scheduling of Congressional Shoutings.

They used to be called "Hearings," but experience shows that these sessions are less about "hearing" testimony and evidence and more about "shouting" at witnesses in an effort to score points and create media sound bites; therefore, a more appropriate name is "Congressional Shoutings."

If you've ever watched the sober and dignified behavior of Ohio Representative Jim Jordan as he chairs the House Judiciary Committee, or the solemn and courtly manner in which Kentucky Representative James Comer conducts the business of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, you know what I mean.

It's going to be a long couple of years.

Have a good day. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

Why Not Kill the Filibuster?

I'm amazed at the handwringing and pearl clutching going on by Senate Democrats over what to do about the filibuster.

The Democrats have the razoriest of razor thin margins in a Senate evenly split between the two parties, with a simple majority when the Vice President, serving as President of the Senate, casts her vote. But nothing can be done because of the legislative dodge known as the filibuster, with which a single senator can completely stop any regular legislation with a simple phone call saying, in essence, "I don't like this." The problem is that the procedural motion of "cloture" is required to end a filibuster, and the invocation of cloture requires a two-thirds vote of the Senate ... utterly impossible in the face of a solid wall of Republican opposition to anything the administration wants to do*. 

In theory, the filibuster is a procedural device which allows representatives of the minority to delay action on controversial legislation to give them time to negotiate for their interests. In practice, however, it has allowed the minority to exercise absolute control over the legislative agenda by punitively blocking all regular legislation. It was a favored tactic of racist senators earlier in our history to block civil rights legislation, and this was its primary focus for much of the first two-thirds of the last century.

It has been pointed out by those who study such things that, of a total US population of approximately 330,000,000 in 2020, the 50 Democratic senators represent 41,549,800 more people than do the 50 Republican senators**, and yet routine use of the filibuster to block legislation gives them outsized power.

The filibuster is not - as is sometimes claimed by its proponents - enshrined in the Constitution, but is a creation of the Senate itself. Nevertheless, its use as a tactic goes back as far as the First Congress in 1789, as this overview by the Senate Historical Office points out. Because it is a procedural device created by the Senate, it can be modified ... or eliminated ... by a majority vote in the Senate.

This, some Senate Democrats appear to be afraid of doing. This goes beyond the personal political caution of Democrats Joe Manchin of West Virginia (a deep, deep red state) and Krysten Sinema of Arizona (a state which may be slowly purpling) to include others who fear the loss of the only defensive tool they may have in a future Republican-controlled Senate.

I don't find this to be a particularly persuasive argument. President Biden's agenda appears to be extremely popular with the majority of Americans, according to reliable polling data, and is opposed by Republicans for exactly that reason. They are afraid that if the Biden agenda is enacted, average Americans will realize the advantage of having a government that actually works in their favor, rather than one which advantages big business and the wealthy ... and will vote accordingly. Given the political machinations of Senator Mitch McConnell both as Majority and Minority Leader, can there be any doubt that he would eliminate the filibuster in a heartbeat if necessary?

Reform of the filibuster is a possible option, perhaps by allowing the invocation of cloture with a simple majority rather than a two-thirds supermajority, but even this is unlikely given the inflexible opposition to President Biden by Senate Republicans.

It's time for the Democrats in the Senate to show some spine and pull together to kill the filibuster and move forward with an agenda for the American people.

Have a good day. More thoughts coming.

 

Bilbo

* Let us not forget that it was Minority Leader Mitch McConnell who said he was completely focused on stopping the agenda of President Biden, regardless of how much the American people as a whole may approve of it. What he actually said was, "One-hundred percent of our focus is on stopping this new administration ... We're confronted with severe challenges from a new administration, and a narrow majority of Democrats in the House and a 50-50 Senate to turn America into a socialist country, and that's 100 percent of my focus."

** It's worth remembering that many of the Senate Republicans represent conservative states which are very large in area, but relatively small in population ... the makeup of the Senate which gives each state two seats regardless of population therefore - as the framers intended - favors the interests of states with smaller populations to balance out the advantage in the House of the larger states.

Of Governments and Problems

One of the touchstones of conservative Republican dogma is summed up in the famous quote from Saint Ronald Reagan: “In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.”

Although the full quote, heard in context, was a response to the poor economic conditions of the late 1970's and early 1980's, and Reagan's belief that misguided government policies were responsible for those conditions, only part of his comment is remembered and has been adopted as dogma by the Cut Government/Eliminate Regulations/Slash Taxes Right:

"government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.”

I think the recent Petulant Trump Shutdown™ of parts of the federal government showed pretty clearly that the government, for good or ill, is an essential part of our lives, and that recklessly closing it down causes vast damage to the nation. Consider that the preamble to the Constitution - the document piously invoked by elected officials who seldom seem to have actually read and comprehended it - states that the Constitution was "ordained and established" to

"...establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty..."

So, how well did the Petulant Trump Shutdown™ align with the intent of the Constitution? Let's see ...

1. "Establish Justice." Federal courts nearly ran out of money. Guards in dangerous federal prisons were forced to work without pay*.  

2. "Insure domestic Tranquility." There was no tranquility for the families of furloughed federal workers, federal workers forced to work without pay, federal contractors (who, unlike federal workers, are unlikely to be paid after the standoff), and millions of business owners whose livelihood depends upon the business provided by government workers.

3. "Provide for the common defence." TSA workers, responsible for securing our air travel against criminal and terroristic threats, were forced to work without pay. Members of the Coast Guard - the men and women who rescue those in danger at sea, and our first line of defense against drugs imported by sea - were forced to work without pay. Border Patrol agents - who defend the Trump Sacred Borders against vast, surging armies of illegal immigrants, drug smugglers, and vicious gangs that drag helpless, duct-taped women across the border and into sex slavery** - were forced to work without pay. FBI agents - who protect us from organized crime, espionage, and terrorism and who are unfairly and stupidly maligned and undercut at every opportunity by Trump and his loyalists and enablers, were forced to work without pay.

4. "Promote the general Welfare." It would be difficult to argue that the "general welfare" was promoted by the Petulant Trump Shutdown™ that cost the nation an estimated $11 billion - of which an estimated $3 billion is irretrievably lost. 

5. "Secure the Blessings of Liberty." I think you'd be hard-pressed to find anything secured by the Petulant Trump Shutdown™ ... except the reputation of an administration stacked with billionaires as being out of touch with the experiences and needs of average Americans.

If the Petulant Trump Shutdown™ proved anything, it proved that government is an essential part of modern America, and that it needs to work and work well. I don't like paying taxes any more than anyone else, but I appreciate that the taxes I pay ensure my air travel is safe, that my food and medicine are wholesome and safe, and that criminals are pursued, arrested, and punished***.

If, in mid-February, we endure a second Petulant Trump Shutdown™, the lesson will be that the problem is not the government, but a childish and incompetent president and his enablers who all need to be replaced by people willing to rise to the challenge of actually governing. One can only hope that Congress ... which has hitherto shown a complete lack of spine ... will rise to the occasion and do its Constitutionally-mandated job.

But I'm not holding my breath, and neither should you.

Have a good day. Expect better. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

* "Forced to work without pay" is what we used to call "slavery."

** Just ask Trump. And consider where he may have gotten the story.

*** Unless, of course, they are wealthy and well-connected and able to hire the very best lawyers.

Old McConnell's Plan

Yes, I know you were expecting to see another segment of Great Moments in Editing and Signage. Unfortunately, in an effort to be timely, I've decided to replace that post (which I'd already written, by the way), with this one. Great Moments in Editing and Signage will return two weeks from today.

Okay ...

As you no doubt know, the GOP has been working, frantically and in great secrecy, on its long-promised plan to "remove and replace" the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"). Republicans hate that law for many reasons, not all of them (in my opinion) rational, but it is what it is. They've promised the minority of the voting public that elected them that they'll get rid of the "failed law" and replace it with ... something. Better or worse, we're not sure, although the House version was so spectacularly bad that embarrassed House Republicans punted to the Senate, which yesterday published a "discussion draft" of the bill* that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and a few friends have drafted in great secrecy and intend to put to a vote next week after minimum review and discussion.

This is, of course, a complete travesty of the democratic process, but allowable levels of hypocrisy being what they are today, Senator McConnell and his cabal are moving shamelessly forward with this clandestinely-crafted pile of doo-doo, and will probably get away with it.

Which has inspired me to write a song about the whole sorry mess ...

Old McConnell's Plan

(sung to the tune of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm")

Old McConnell has a plan
To kill Obamacare -
He wrote it in a secret room
And just his friends were there.
Just his banking friends
And insurance friends
     GOP
     Can’t agree
     Gotta write in secrecy
Old McConnell has a plan
To kill Obamacare

Old McConnell has a plan,
To kill Obamacare.
And he says his plan will help,
But who it help’s not clear.
With a tax cut here
And a credit there,
     Here a cut,
     There a break,
     Everywhere a head fake –
Old McConnell has a plan
To kill Obamacare.

Old McConnell has a plan
To kill Obamacare.
And if you read his plan, you’ll see
There’s nothing really there.
There’s naught for you,
And there’s naught for me,
     Nothing to protect us,
     Single guy
     Or family -
Old McConnell has a plan
To kill Obamacare.

Feel free to add your own verses. And if you're one of the 23 million people expected to lose your health insurance** if the GOP rams this through ... good luck.

Have a good day. See you tomorrow for Cartoon Saturday ... God knows we need it.

Bilbo

* Good luck understanding it.

** According to the CBO analysis.

Do Your Job!

The untimely death* of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has had the collateral effect of tremendously enlarging the diameter of the rings of the Congressional three-ring circus. Justice Scalia's body was still warm when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R, KY) grandly announced that Congress would refuse to take up any nomination President Obama made to fill the vacancy, citing a supposed policy** that mandates that lame duck presidents are not permitted to make judicial appointments in the last year of their term.***

If we needed any more evidence of the utter bankruptcy of sober statesmanship in Congress, this provided it.

I can understand that Republicans - obsessed with their hatred for President Obama and liberal Democrats - would reflexively oppose giving him the opportunity to fill a Supreme Court vacancy. But announcing up front - before any nomination had even been considered, much less announced - that Congress would take no action on any nomination until after the election is so blatantly unconstitutional that one wonders why Republican heads don't explode from sheer gall overdose. Article II, Section 2, Clause 2, states that "[The President] shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to ... appoint Judges of the supreme Court." It doesn't state that "[The President] shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to ... appoint Judges of the supreme Court, except when he's in his final term of office." For those who loudly rail about "original intent" and "strict constructionism," this is some pretty amazing mental contortionism.

I understand the Republican fear that the President might appoint an "activist" judge who would "legislate from the bench." They argue that important issues of policy must be settled in the legislature and not in the courts^† ... we have, after all, an entire branch of government that is supposed to be devoted to legislating, and it's not the judicial branch. This, however, presupposes that we have a functioning legislature ... which we don't. Legislation from the bench starts to look like a reasonable alternative when lawmakers don't execute their responsibility to legislate from the legislature.

A few years back in my office we had a mantra we were fond of chanting when we were faced with intransigent or lazy behavior on the part of other offices ... drawn out and spoken with a deep growl of disgust, it went,

"Dew yer jaaaaahhhhhbbbbb!!"

I'm saying that a lot lately as I observe the clown show where Congress used to be.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

* Can a death be timely? Discuss.

** The so-called "Thurmond Rule."

*** This is the same policy to which Senator McConnell was inflexibly opposed when Democrats tried to invoke it.

† As it happens, I agree.

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, 2015

In the biblical book of Revelation, verses 1 through 8 of Chapter 6 introduce the figures we know today as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Only one of them (Death) is actually named; the others are simply described - War, Famine, and Pestilence.

But the Bible was written more than a thousand years ago, and things change. The traditional Four Horsemen certainly are still with us, but I contend that they are slowly being displaced by the updated Four Horsemen - Vanity, Ignorance, Demagoguery, and Denial.

Vanity is exemplified by self-important celebrities and political figures interested only in their own self-aggrandizement. Many televangelists, and rabble-rousing community leaders like Al Sharpton follow the Horseman of Vanity.

Ignorance is exemplified by those who deny evidence and blindly follow their prejudices. Those who choose to ignore common sense, compassion, morality, and established science in favor of blind religious belief follow the Horseman of Ignorance.

Demagoguery represents political blowhards who rage endlessly and irresponsibly, without regard for the consequences of their ravings. Right-wing TV and radio gasbags like Rush Limbaugh, and irresponsible politicians like Donald Trump and Ted Cruz follow the Horseman of Demagoguery.

Denial is the twin brother of Ignorance, and represents those who blindly follow their chosen beliefs, regardless of all evidence to the contrary, refusing to admit or acknowledge objective reality. Climate change deniers and Second Amendment zealots follow the Horseman of Denial.

America is a free country, although there are those who would play upon our basest instincts and fears in an attempt to take those freedoms away. Nobody will ever take away the hundreds of millions of guns now in the hands of people who take counsel of their worst fears, but our other fundamental freedoms - of speech, peaceful assembly, and religion - are on the block*. We are afraid of the wrong things.

Look around you. Think. And if you're going to follow a horseman, do it at the track.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

* Look under "p" for Patriot Act.

Happy New Year from Congress!

The 114th Congress is in session, and your elected reprehensives wish you a Happy New Year ...

The new majority party is ready to take care of you and address the issues you really care about ... as long as your last name is "Incorporated."

Have a good day. Happy New Year, anyhow. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo