A Newer Deal Part 9: Fix politics! And a (very) few people who seem to get it.

I'm close to finishing my Newer Deal series, a ten-part – (“tl;dr”) -- array of thirty-five proposals for Democrats and their allies, that might empower them to save America and the world, during the year ahead. 

(Folks who’d rather view it through Substack might start here.)

Yes, I waste time in forlorn hope that fresh ideas will influence a party that – while they are the good-guys in this era of vicious national strife – are arthritic/calcified in their tactical and polemical rigidity. Still, a few folks out there appear sufficiently immune to the Zorblaxxian Lobotomy Ray to actually read and comment cogently. 

Here’s one fellow whose Substack appraisal of my “Newer Deal” is not just coherently lucid. It riffs fresh perspectives about what's happened to American conservatism, plummeting from the erudite honesty of William F. Buckley to the clever hypocrisy of Newt Gingrich, to Sarah Palin's dizzy unsapience, to the vile purity of Trumpism. 

Heck, go read him instead of me. While flattering -- he calls me a "political gadfly with a blog that reads like Thomas Paine crossed with a frustrated systems engineer" -- the fellow is also incisive: "if you can’t get 60% of Americans to nod along, you’re not doing politics. You’re doing wishful thinking. And wishful thinking, however righteous, loses elections."*** There's even a short summary of some of my proposals that impressed him most. 

But on with this slog! I gave the full list of proposals in Part Three. Then, in parts 4-8, I dissect and appraise most of them - from IGUS (Inspector General of the United States) to subpoena powers for the Congressional minority, to sunsetting secrets and NDAs, to restoring in-Congress expertise that Newt Gingrich banned, so that uppity nerds could not utter the words that no Republican wants to hear: "Um, sir or madam, that's not true."

Now in Part 9 let's serve up a few more, so we can wrap up my year-end daydream... that anyone will listen.

 == Gerrymandering ==

By now we're all familiar with the desperately-evil way politicians steal powers that belong to the People. I cheered when Californians - urged by moderate GOP governor Schwarzenegger - ended the vile practice by popular referendum, as have a number of other blue states... but effectively no red ones. And those lopsided efforts put the absolute lie to Republican claims that 'everybody does it.'  (As it's been blue states leading the way in ending the damned Drug War.)

So, Maryland and Illinois gerrymander too? And now California has retaliated vs. the obscenely shameless voter rape by the Texas GOP? 

BFD. Just watch. If they ever get a chance, Democrats will ban it, nationwide! As I propose here:

END GERRYMANDERING!  We shall return the legislative branch to the people, by finding a solution to an indefensible cheat that lets politicians choose voters, instead of the other way around.  We shall encourage and insist that states do this in an evenhanded manner, either by using independent redistricting commissions or else by innovative and inherently fair means, like minimizing overlap between state legislature districts and those for Congress. 

 

Since in many districts, the majority party primary is the only election that matters, we shall act to see to it that all citizens in such a district may get to vote in that election, regardless of party registration.

 

Newly elected members of Congress with credentials from their states shall be sworn in by impartial clerks of either the House or Senate, without partisan bias, and at the new member’s convenience. 

The House may be called into session, with or without action by the Speaker, at any time that a petition is submitted to the Chief Clerk that was signed by 40% of the members. 

That last couple of paragraphs was added to address recent, outrageously turpitudinous behavior by "Speaker" Mike Johnson in the fall of 2025.

Note: 1) The Senate remains inherently gerrymandered to favor small states with extra power. (We needed TWO Dakotas?) Forget changing that, for now. Concentrate on reminding farmers why their grandparents loved Franklin Roosevelt.

2) John Roberts and ilk will continue concocting contorted rationalizations to allow continuation of gerrymandering's massive cheat. Hence, elsewhere I offer innovative ways to get around the "Roberts Doctrine" that wriggle-justifies letting state legislators rob their own citizens of voting power. See a general deep-dive ... and this never-seen-elsewhere proposal!

== Defend the enemy they hate most 

      -- their enemy called fact ==

Some years ago the Internet Caucus of the California Democratic Party asked me to write -- and publicly present -- a piece of 'futuristic legislation." While tempted to address changes in the Outer Space Treaty that we discussed at NASA's Innovative & Advanced Concepts program - (NIAC) - or at the Space Development Conference...

... I chose instead to try out something hugely science fictional... encouraging Americans to rediscover something called Objective Reality!  

Summarized and condensed, here it is.

 THE FACT ACT: The Fact Act will begin by restoring the media Rebuttal Rule, prying open "echo chamber" propaganda mills so that assertions may at least be briefly challenged by opponents. 

Any channel, or station, or Internet podcast, or meme distributor that accepts advertising or reaches more than 10,000 followers will be required to offer five minutes per day during prime time and ten minutes at other times to reputable 'vigorous adversaries.' Until other methods are negotiated, each member of Congress shall get to choose one such vigorous adversary, ensuring that all perspectives may be involved. 

Those 535 groups will get equal numbers of subpoenas to forge forth and challenge echo chambers, so that they may then supply further material evidence on their public sites. And those adversary sites will be subject to this same rebuttal rule.

 

The Fact Act will further fund experimental Fact-Challenges, where major public disagreements may be openly and systematically debated and adversaries reciprocally confronted with demands for specific evidence.

 

The Fact Act will restore full funding and staffing and autonomy to both the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment and the executive Office of Science and Technology Policy (OTSP). 

Every member of Congress shall be funded to hire a science and fact advisor from their home district, who may interrogate the advisory bodies – an advisor who may also answer questions of fact on the member’s behalf. 

 

This bill further requires that the President must fill, by law, the position of White House Science Adviser from a diverse and bipartisan slate of qualified candidates offered by the Academy of Science. The Science Adviser shall have uninterrupted access to the President for at least two one-hour sessions per month.⁴

^{And yes, I know parts of this will never pass. But notice the common theme for at least half of my proposals. Not only will they sound reasonable to 60%+ of average, voting people, but they are nearly all about ensuring the continuation of the 'secret sauce' of our enlightenment experiment.}

^{Accountability.}

                      ^{== VOTER ID ==}

^{STOP OPPOSING THIS! It's a trap to make us look bad.} 

^{Sure, confederates want to use Voter ID laws to repress voting by poor US citizens, as with their old tricks like poll taxes. (They have never shown appreciable evidence of significant non-citizen voting.) Still, blanket rejection of voter ID is just walking into a trap.  Stop reacting out of reflex!}

^{Instead, we must point to the hypocrisy! That these same states are currently closing DMV and state services offices in districts with Democratic voters.  The exact places to get that ID they need!}

^{Hence, the GOPper cheaters aren't aiming at honesty or verification, but repression!}  Moreover, when it is put to folks this way, you can be sure that millions will grasp the difference. And give us that 60%+.

^{Also note, helping poor US citizens to get their ID resolved is a great way to help them stop being poor! Helping them to rise up in the world. And also, it will help protect U.S. citizens from abuse by ICE!}

^{Let's be seen as the ones offering fair and just solutions.}

 

THE VOTER ID ACT: Under the 13th and 14th Amendments, this act requires that states mandating Voter ID requirements must offer substantial and effective compliance assistance, helping affected citizens to acquire their entitled legal ID and register to vote. 

 

Any state that fails to provide such assistance, substantially reducing the fraction of eligible citizens turned away at the polls, shall be assumed to be in violation of equal protection and engaged in illegal voter suppression. 

If such compliance assistance has been vigorous and effective for ten years, then that state may institute requirements for Voter ID.     

     

In all states, registration for citizens to vote shall be automatic with a driver’s license, or passport, or state-issued ID, unless the citizen opts-out.

Any state that 'purges' its voter rolls must first attempt to contact affected voters, both via their registered address and, using modern technologies, conveying such notification to them via any accessible change-of-address process, such as used by the Postal Service.

Note that "compliance assistance" has long been a demand by Republicans, whenever a new regulation puts any kind of burden on corporations or rich individuals. There's ample precedent for insisting that the principle also apply, when burdens are imposed upon the poor.

Dig it again: do not fall for their traps!  They are the ones doing electoral cheating of all kinds. Don't give them a chance to point at us.

            == EQUAL VOTING RIGHTS FOR THE HOUSE! ==

As I said, there is an inherent 'gerrymander bias', imposed upon us by the Constitution, in apportionment of seats in the U.S. Senate. And while I'd amend that bias away, if I could, I can't... we can't... so stop whining about it. OR about the Electoral College!**

But the the House of Representative is a different story. As the Senate represents states, the House is supposed to represent the People with utter fairness. And it doesn't, because of a silly law (not in the Constitution) from the 1920s. Which was incidentally the heyday of the Ku Kux Klan.

 And so...

THE WYOMING RULE: Congress shall end the arrangement (under the  Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929) that perpetually limits the House of Representatives to 435 members. Instead, it will institute the Wyoming Rule, that the least-populated state shall get one representative and all other states will be apportioned representatives according to their population by full-integer multiples of the smallest state's population. The Senate’s inherent bias favoring small states should be enough. In the House, all citizens should get votes of equal value. 

Note a few things. The newest members would be tight for office space! But technology should let up to 600 representatives vote, just fine. It would bring reps closer to their now-fewer constituents. And yes, urban voters would see some relief from their wholly unjustifiable under-representation in the House.

Oh, and yes, this would affect the Electoral College. By a bit. Not tons. But some.

** And there are things we can do about the Electoral College other than the silly National Popular Vote Compact. We can discuss those elsewhere. But they do not fall under the 60%+ Rule.

          == Housing and Rural Citizens ==

 

THE RURAL AMERICA AND HOUSING ACT: Giant corporations and cartels are using predatory practices to unfairly corner, control or force-out family farms and small rural businesses. We shall upgrade FDR-era laws that saved the American heartland for the people who live and work there, producing the nation’s food. Subsidies and price supports shall only go to family farms or co-ops. Monopolies in fertilizer, seeds, machinery and other supplies will be broken up and replaced by competition. Living and working and legal conditions for farm workers and food processing workers will be improved by steady public and private investments.

Cartels that buy-up America’s stock of homes and home-builders will be investigated for collusion to limit construction and/or drive up rents and home prices and appropriate legislation will follow. 

These final two are pretty much self-explanatory. And heck yes, the Rural America Act is a blatant effort to persuade farmers and such to ask their grandparents about FDR.

The next one speaks for itself. If expressed right, sustainability can come under the 60%+ rule.

                      == Sustainability ==

THE SUSTAINABILITY ACT will make it America’s priority to pioneer technological paths toward energy independence, emphasizing economic health that also conserves both national and world resources.  Ambitious efficiency and conservation standards may be accompanied by compromise free market solutions that emphasize a wide variety of participants, with the goal of achieving more with less, while safeguarding the planet for our children.

        == Getting near the end ==

Okay, enough for this session. But me reiterate a core point...

... that our biggest problem right now is to patch the damage done to America's systems of accountability, deliberation, negotiation, resilience and pragmatic problem-solving! Problem solving by the People and by honest representatives, who are adults and sincere citizens.  And hence, most of these proposals are about that...

..while passing the 60%+ test. Reforms that are so blatantly reasonable that they might bridge simplistic partisan chasms and draw nods of support from most decent folks.  And hence... their votes.

Do we want more?  You'll get more! As in the miracle year of 2021-22, when Pelosi+Schumer etc. allied with Bernie, Liz, AOC and their wing to pass some really excellent bills!  They concentrated mostly on governing -- infrastructure and taxation, better bureaucracy and bringing home domestic manufacturing. All of them great priorities!  And if you get all children under Medicare (one of these proposals) then the rest becomes inevitable.

Only, alas...

...what we need right now, above all, is a heap of reforms to save the very notions of democracy and accountable law, themselves... and even the very concept of things called facts.

Hence, those aims have been our top emphasis, here.  We'd be weathering the Trumpian psychotic episode far better, if some of these simple measures had been in place, when a perverted tyrant-toddler took over the helm of our great ship-of-state, steering it toward rocks.

 In Part Ten we'll round out some of the last items from the agenda that I've offered in this series. Including -- yes -- some of the stuff you hyper-liberals want on the agenda.

And sure. Some of those things are pretty urgent, too. Just as soon as we cement-in the survival of any sort of decent republic, at all.

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*** When "Mongoose" says that you need 60% to 'do politics' he's talking about now, amid phase 9 of the US Civil War, when we have deeply opposing 'sides' and the art of negotiating has long been shredded by one of those sides. And one of those sides is entirely responsible. Look up Dennis "friend to boys" Hastert, the criminal perv whom Republicans elevated to head of their party and Speaker and two heartbeats from presidency. The "Hastert Rule" forbade any Republican officeholder from ever again negotiating in good faith with a Democrat, or even having one as a friend. And politics - as an art of listening, negotiating and occasional compromise - died that day in America.

Perhaps someday we'll return to the maturity of when Americans with just 40% support will be heard and get to make practical tradeoffs with their neighbors in positive sum ways. It may take a space mission to destroy that Zorblaxxian Lobotomy Ray that's been shining down on this country for some time, now.

Part 8 of a Newer Deal: immigration, budgets, emoluments and... no, the President doesn't own the White House!

 Amid the daily drenching of treasonous-lunacy, can we agree to wish calm-sanity on the world in 2026, as we leave benighted 2025 behind us? 

I'll drop a little humor into this missive at the very end, along with Merry Christmas and Happy Hannukah & Kwanza etc. wishes. But meanwhile...

...let's keep poking at on my 35+ - likely futile - proposals that liberals, Democrats and their residually-sane conservative neighbors might enact, to fix many flaws exploited lately by enemies of our enlightenment and republic.

This series began with an appraisal of political tactics to win elections, especially the most successful one of the last 50 years, the "Contract With America" concocted by Newt Gingrich in 1994 to bury any remnants of the Rooseveltean coalition, commencing decades of Republican dominance. A 'contract' hypocritically betrayed by the GOP! Still, it worked for them. We need to know why.

In Part Three I listed my own proposed winning promises!  Some need legislation to either overcome a veto or await a non-traitor president. (Though far easier to pass than a Constitutional amendments, so stop whining about the Electoral College!) But half a dozen are internal reforms Congress can make no matter who's in the Oval Office. 

In Parts 4-7 I commenced dissecting and explaining each of the proposals. Some would directly solve some of the weaknesses Donald Trump has exposed in the U.S. system. 

So, let's continue.

== The immigration dilemma ==

Scream "racism!" all day, but that won't cancel a fact few liberals ever admit or confront. That enemies of the Enlightenment and liberalism found an effective tactic, a way to f---up western nations, politically. 

The tactic? Drive hmany thousands of hapless, innocent refugees across borders into generously liberal democracies! Then watch, giggling, as millions of voters in those countries swing rightward at the polls.

Cringe and deny and evade thinking about it, all you like. But when your enemy employs a winning tactic - in this case leveraging your own goodness and generosity against you - it might be sapient to notice! (As you should notice the tactical effectiveness of the Gingrich 'contract.')

Dig it. In order to do good things in this world (many of them suggested in this series) you must have political power! And sorry - alas - that means prioritizing. 

You can't do everything. So do things first that will both improve matters and win more elections and give us the power to do more good things! Um... duh?

Anyway, here I offer a potential way to approach that sweet spot in a vexing issue. Remaining generous,while countering the till-now 100% effective Putin refugee ploy.

 IMMIGRATION REFORM: There are already proposed immigration law reforms on the table, worked out by sincere Democrats and sincere Republicans, back when the latter were still a thing. These bipartisan reforms will be revisited, debated, updated and then brought to a vote. 

 

In addition, if a foreign nation is a top ten source of refugees seeking U.S. asylum from persecution in their homelands, then by law it shall be incumbent upon the political and social elites in that nation to help solve the problem, or else take responsibility for causing their citizens to flee. 

 

Upon verification that their regime is among those top ten, that nation’s elites will be billed, enforceably, for U.S. expenses in giving refuge to that nation’s citizens. Further, all trade and other advantages of said elites will be suspended and access to the United States banned, except for the purpose of negotiating ways that the U.S. can help in that nation’s rise to both liberty and prosperity, thus reducing refugee flows in the best possible way. 

== Hurt him where it hurts most ==

 

This next one is self-explanatory. 

It plugs a gaping hole that has allowed a maniac to run wild with public property, while refusing all accountability and grabbing bribes, hand over fist!

THE EXECUTIVE OFFICE MANAGER: By law we shall establish under IGUS (the Inspectorate) a civil service position of White House Manager, whose function is to supervise all non-political functions and staff. This will include the Executive Mansion’s physical structure and publicly-owned contents, but also policy-neutral services such as the switchboard, kitchens, Travel Office, medical office, and Secret Service protection details. There are no justifications for the President or political staff to have whim authority over such apolitical employees. 

With due allowance and leeway for needs of the Office of President, public property shall be accounted-for. The manager will allocate which portions of any trip expense should be deemed private and thereupon – above a basic, reasonable allowance – shall be billed to the president or his/her party. 

This office shall supervise annual physical and mental examination by external experts for all senior office holders including the President, Vice President, Cabinet members and leaders of Congress.

Any group of twenty senators or House members or state governors may choose one periodical, network or other news source to get credentialed to the White House Press Pool, spreading inquiry across all party lines and ensuring that all rational points of view get access.

 

== Cancel the many levels of graft! (Well... a lot of them) ==

Here's another one that may seem obvious. Only note what I say about presidential libraries! These have morphed into massive ego shrines, where ex-presidents get to "keep" the lavish gifts they receive from individuals and foreign potentates, so long as they are officially 'on (permanent) loan' from the National Archives!

Donald Trump has even declared that he plans to 'donate' the big Qatari 747 jet, via the Archives, to his post-presidential library for his own personal and permanent use!

Dig it: we can get Obama and Clinton and (maybe reluctantly) GW Bush to sign off on this. And we can word it in a way where the grifters cannot plausibly refuse.

EMOLUMENTS AND GIFTS ACT: Emoluments and gifts and other forms of valuable beneficence bestowed upon the president, or members of Congress, or judges, or their staffs shall be more strictly defined and transparently controlled. 

All existing and future presidential libraries or museums or any kind of shrine shall strictly limit the holding, display or lending of gifts to, from, or by a president or ex-president, which shall instead be owned and held (except for facsimiles) by the Smithsonian. 

Donations by corporations or wealthy individuals to pet projects of a president or other members of government, including presidential libraries or inauguration events, shall be presumed to be illegal bribery unless they are approved by a nonpartisan ethical commission.

 

== And finally... ==

Finally, here's one they'll never pass, though it could benefit the nation, immensely.

BUDGETS: If Congress fails to fulfill its budgetary obligations or to raise the debt ceiling, the result will not be a ‘government shutdown.’ Rather, all pay and benefits will cease going to any Senator or Representative whose annual income is above the national average, until appropriate legislation has passed, at which point only 50% of any backlog arrears may be made-up. 

== Were these ones kinda 'obvious'? ==

Yeah, obvious, schmobvious. They must be explicit in order to be useful as a sales-pitched Newer Deal!

And if you pass most of them, you'll make clear what should have been, back when Pelosi, Sanders, Schumer, AOC, Liz Warren and the resut united to pass the 2021-22 Miracle Bills. That Democrats are serious about wanting democracy and institutions to work.

Turns out those miracle bills were far from enough! So let's get on with the job of rescuing a flawed system. One that only happened to give humanity its best and most hopeful era, ever.

The Greatest - GI Bill - Generation is watching us. Let's not let 'em down.

Continuing with Part Nine....

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             == Oh, yeah... here's that humorous lagniappe... ==

I promised wry amusement. Re the Epstein pedophilia and now 'redaction' scandal:  this was all eerily predicted in a fun/absurd Kirsten Dunst film "Dick" (1999). Nixon hires two flakey 15 year olds as White House dog walkers... who fall in love with him and croon fantasies into the president's office tape recorder... 

...tapes that soon are subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee. And Dick realizes... "I can survive all the rest, the burglary, the coverups, the bribes.... But messing with 15 year olds will get me lynched!" 

      So he erases their love songs, leading to the 18 minute "Gap"!

In light of the the pathetic Bondi 'redactions' and Epstein's pal -- the pussy-grabber -- having on-record said "I like 'em young" ... have I uncovered "Dick" as an important part of the training set for the AI that's running this simulation? 

Tell me another place online where you get connections like this!

Merry Christmas and Happy Hannukah & Kwanza etc. wishes for sanity, peace and joy in years ahead. 

And to hell with the aliens who've been shining a stoopidity ray upon us. Vamoose, twerps, or we'll getcha, someday.

Midweek: Will the "sane wing" Republicans step up? -- And my selection of best SMBCs!

I'll pause this time - midweek - to blurt a couple of mini rants about the monsters who will soon unleash something hellish, in order to distract us. But hang around to the end, where I'll recommend some of the best recent comix from Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal!

This weekend, I'll get back to part 8 of my ongoing series of tactics that might help fix this mess we are in.

== Do not be fooled when Republicans 'stand up to Trump' ==

Parse it carefully. There are defection/revolts by a few in the Party of Lincoln vs. Trumpism. Some rare GOPpers who happen to be decent/principled and not very blackmailed are standing up. (Tho all GOP senators are complicit with DT's cabinet of monsters, that includes several KGB agents.) 

But this vote re Obamacare is not such a revolt! It is a tactic to get the GOP out of a jam, backing away from their cruel act that risks enraging tens of millions, if Obamacare subsidies expire, then giving them excuse to blame dems for resulting deficits.

Likewise, the Roberts "Court" will rule against Trump on some symbolic matters, in order to maintain an illusion of 'balance'...

...though never re: any matter that affects POWER. 

So, expect a curb or two on ICE raids, because that shit is mostly sadistic theater for diehard racist MAGAs. But Roger Taney Jr. - I mean John Roberts - will okay DT's power to fire IGs and JAGs and wreck whole agencies. And cheat elections and send troops into cities. And send ICE toward citizens. And bully the military officer corps. 

That last matter - DEFENDING OUR DEFENDERS - is the core topic of my current posting. (Before this one.) 

We need to make clear to our loyal military men and women that they aren't forgotten. And help is on the way!

But stay focused. Power is the criterion to watch.


== Are there any signs of movement by Principled Republicans? ==

Good question. Sure there are Kinzingers and Liz Cheney (gulp). But aside some such anecdotes, are there signs of actual, organized revolt by decent or at least slightly patriotic Republicans? Perhaps leading to a split-off Sane Conservative Party? (We need one.) 

I'm likely clutching straws. Even if Paul Ryan, Romney, George F. Will and others do step up, Trump will only signal Putin to unleash the planned super-9/11 attack, now that he and Gabbard and Noem have re-assigned or fired or neutered many counter-terrorism agents and staff. Thus hoping to get us to rally around the leader. (It worked for Bush.) Whereupon... they hope to send well-drilled ICE prison-parolees after new targets to round up. Cancel elections...

... and release blackmail kompromat on any GOPper pol who dares to lift his head. (Or, in the case of Collins/Murkowski, whatever male relatives they are protecting, by submitting to Putin.)

So, standing up will take a lot more guts than Olde Republicans ever had. Or ever will. 

There will be no more Ike/Dirksen/Goldwater/McCains. So, it's likely we must take this phase all the way to Appomattox. And do it all ourselves. Alack.

== Some fun (and philosophically brilliant) one pagers from SMBC! ==

I'm a sucker for this online strip. But I only come back every 6 months to binge it...

... which allows me to make a favorites list, just for you!

For example: This one is much like my story “The Giving Plague,” where circumstances force a bad man into being (repeatedly) a world-beloved hero.

https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/branch-2

And do poke at these selected ones!

https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/frenchmen

https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/life-7

https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/steve

https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/xx

https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/princess-3

https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/happiness-5

https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/firstborn

https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/number-one

https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/sex

https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/attention-span

https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/addiction

https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/lesson

And finally this one that SO came true!

https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/slam

 

And one that oughta:

https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/sad-5

Save our Defenders! And more Newer Deals.

For those just now tuning-in... my series about a Democratic Newer Deal aims to emulate the two most 'successful' legislative agendas of the last 30+ years, one of them a massive electoral success, despite being total fraud...

... and the other one a surge of rapid accomplishments. We need to learn from both of them, should Congress be recovered by the Union side in this latest phase of our 250 year civil (culture) war.

How does one measure political 'success'?  

First, does your publicized agenda attract voters so you'll win the next election? 

Second, can you then pass a whole lot of reforms that you and your constituents want, right away, before the political winds shift again?

The first desideratum was achieved in 1994 by the most successful tactical ploy of the last 30 years, Newt Gingrich's deceitful but alluring "Contract With America." His Contract made dozens of promises, half of them sounding reasonable to U.S. voters, enabling the GOP to crush Bill Clinton's Democrats and commence the Neo-Conservative era. That ploy was - of course - a damned lie... every promise betrayed, then forgotten by the GOP masters. And by their voters, distracted down rabbit holes of Fox-hypnosis. Still, such a successful tactic should be studied for why it worked.

The second great political success of the last 30 years came in 2021-22 when Nancy Pelosi & Chuck Schumer - aided eagerly by Bernie, Liz, AOC and pragmatic progressives - used their brief window of opportunity to send to Joe Biden's desk a miracle year's worth of truly terrific bills. Bills that (alas!) far too few Democratic voters remember, distracted as they are by Trumpian antics. 

Unlike Gingrich-era hypocrites, Pelosi/Sanders et. al. truly wanted to rebuild American infrastructure, help poor kids, boost science, get fairness in taxes and the rest. Their action plan? Start any major reform campaign with a tranche of measures that are both urgently needed and that satisfy the 60%+ rule.  

What 60%+ Rule? 

Start with reforms that sell themselves by appealing to more than 60% of voters... and THEN fight the harder fights. Pelosi & co. did that in 2021-22. And for the first time in three decades, the Dems had a good legislative year.

They stopped too soon! Not their fault, but boy did we need more! Including some items to preserve democracy and justice, in case a monster like Trump ever regained power.

That is the pair of drivers behind my Newer Deal proposals.  Your agenda must be clear and dramatically appealing to 60%+ of American voters, so that you will win! 

And you must act on those 60%+ items quickly, to prove that you are not Republican hypocrite-liars. And in order to get in place the urgent stuff immediately!*

...so that opposition delaying tactics - and even a political wind-shift - will not reverse the most important ones.

== Earlier agile judo-proposals for a new Congress ==

As I did in the previous five postings, I will here amplify or examine some of those 35+ proposals, should Democrats regain the power to pass legislation. A dozen of them can be done, even if opposed by a monstrously Kremlin-controlled president! And nine could be enacted by just the House of Representatives, all by itself.

Almost all of the proposals are listed here, in this earlier posting, though I since added a couple based on reader suggestions. So far, we've covered the most urgent, including establishing the Inspectorate, a wholly independent agency to truly empower and protect the auditors and IGs and JAGS and others who can thereupon protect those who protect the rule of law!...

...plus a major step toward solving health care, by defining all children as 'seniors' for purposes of Medicare, a move that can be easily afforded, while cancelling all standard objections...

... plus partial solutions to abuse of presidential pardons and his sale of favors and hoarding bribe-gifts and abusing presidential control over public property like the White House. And I promise you've not seen those particular proposals, before. 

Only now...

 == Okay then, let's appraise four more! ==

The next one seems pretty damn vital, as the current administration drags us all toward an Epstein-distraction war. I'll discuss some of the whys and therefores, below.

 

 THE SECURITY FOR AMERICA ACT will ensure that top priority goes to America’s military and security readiness, especially our nation's ability to respond to surprise threats, including natural disasters or other emergencies. For starters, FEMA and the CDC and other contingency agencies will be restored.

NOTE: amid their all-out war against the brave and brilliant men and women of the U.S. Military Officer Corps, Republicans keep blaring assertions that Democrats have (so far) been too polemically stupid to refute. Foremost among these lies is the claim that the GOP is somehow better at Military Readiness. 

The opposite is true! Across the spans of most GOP or Democratic administrations, military readiness is nearly always rated higher after Democratic ones.  

Care to bet $$$ on that?  Anyway, the CDC and FEMA are just as important to defense against unexpected dangers, as well as replenishing the Trump-undermined counter-terrorism staffs who have been reamed-out and demoralized under Tulsi Gannard and Kristi Noem, almost as if the administration wants another 9/11. And maybe they do.

But let's continue with this Defense-related act.

 When ordering a discretionary foreign intervention, the President must report probable effects on readiness, as well as the purposes, severity and likely duration of the intervention, as well as credible evidence of need. 

All previous Congressional approvals for foreign military intervention or declared states of urgency will be explicitly canceled, so that future force resolutions will be fresh and germane to each particular event, with explicit expiration dates.

NOTE: These two pragraphs have been desperately needed for a long time. And I do fault Joe Biden for not doing this.

Emergency resolutions must expire and new ones be required for each "urgency'!  

These resolutions are the last vestiges of Congress's Constitutional power over declaring war. And they must remain meaningful!  

Continuing...

 Reserves will be augmented and modernized. Reserves shall not be sent overseas without submitting for a Congressionally certified state of urgency that must be renewed at six-month intervals. 

NOTE: The paragraph above refers to a travesty of George W. Bush, calling up reserve units of men and women with families and jobs and lives and hurling them directly, without preparation into the (lie-based) Iraq and Afghanistan Wars. Such a call-up of reserves for overseas conflict may be necessary some times... though arguably it was not, in those cases, when it was - in effect - a Bushite cheat. 

In any event, Congress ought to be able to weigh in, on behalf of their constituents... and the Constitution.

Continuing...

Any urgent federalization and deployment of National Guard or other troops to American cities, on the excuse of civil disorder, shall be supervised by a plenary of the nation’s state governors, who may veto any such deployment by a 40% vote or a signed declaration by twenty governors. 

The Commander-in-Chief may not suspend any American law, or the rights of American citizens, without submitting the brief and temporary suspension to Congress for approval in session. 

NOTE: in case you are puzzled why I give such authority to an ad hoc panel of a minority of governors... think about it!

1. Governors are normally the commanders of their state militias or National Guard units! They damn well should be involved in determining whether a president's nationalization has good cause. Sure, George Wallace showed us that any one governor can be awful and should not have such veto power, alone. But TWENTY would give a good sense that something is very, very wrong with the order.

2. Why TWENTY? Why not a majority? Because the nation is badly divided and for a matter like this, no narrow majority should be able to impose its will, with military force on a large, objecting minority. If 40% of governors say "You may not turn our states' own citizen volunteers into a force to impose your will upon our citizens," then that should be enough to force a pause. "Stay out of our cities and we'll handle this ourselves."

3. Governors?  Heck yeah. Several reasons. First that Congress has been useless for all but two years out of the last 35, ever since Dennis Hastert declared a GOP rule absolutely forbidding Republicans in Congress against negotiation. We have to turn somewhere! And a council of governors is a locus of truly elected sovereignty that has been (I assert) way under-utilized.

Governors can do plenty nationally!  Look up the Uniform Business Code. If a bunch of states pass coordinated legislation, a whole lot can get done. 

And a final note: Look at the current Republican governors. A third of them are actually sane grownups! Sincere, patriotic and at least slightly-decent, old-fashioned conservatives. USE THIS!  Approach them and talk to them. Working with Democrats, they can supply one area of American sovereignty in which a sane majority holds sway.

== Another one... more brief but essential! ==

Want more unconventional proposals? You might expect the author of The Transparent Society to offer one dealing woth excessive secrecy, so here goes:

THE SECRECY ACT will ensure that the recent, skyrocketing use of secrecy – far exceeding anything seen during the Cold War - shall reverse course.  

Independent commissions of trusted Americans shall approve, or set time limits to, all but the most sensitive classifications, which cannot exceed a certain number. If a new document is classifed into the highest layers, then another must descend the ladder.

 These commissions will include some members who are chosen (after clearance) from a random pool of common citizens.  Secrecy will not be used as a convenient way to evade accountability.

Congress shall act to limit the effect of Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs)that squelch public scrutiny of officials and the powerful. With arrangements to exchange truth for clemency, both current and future NDAs shall decay over a reasonable period of time. 

NOTE: Yes, I know, all of this will be hard to pass, amid paranoia. Especially when (I believe) a fair percentage of folks in DC are being blackmailed. But elsewhere in the 35 proposals is an endeavor to lure the blackmailed or fearful into coming forward.  Anyway, a party that promises this... and goes at least part of the way... may be taken more seriously.

And that's enough of the super-serious stuff. Now for a couple of head-scratchers... till you slap your forehead with 'of course!'

== Get past blather to... intent! ==

These are two more items that Congress could enact, without caring a whit about presidential vetoes! Because they are about the internal running of Congress... or even just the House!

 

We shall use anonymous conscience polling to probe for coercion: 

Once per day, the losing side in a House vote may demand and get an immediate non-binding secret polling of the members who just took part in that vote, using technology to ensure reliable anonymity. While this secret ballot will be non-binding legislatively, the poll will reveal whether some members felt coerced or compelled to vote against their conscience. Members who refuse to be polled anonymously will be presumed to have been so compelled or coerced.

I've wanted this one for a long time, but it's especially redolent and compelling today.

Do you honestly think that most of Donald Trump's current bestiary of mad-ludicrous cabinet members would be there, if today's GOP weren't by far the most tightly-disciplined political machine in the history of the republic?  

Look at the faces, during those hearings and confirmation ballots! HALF of the Republicans who voted for Pete Hegseth, RFK Jr., Kristi Noem, or Tulsi Gabbard wore expressions of agony!  Or else stone, cold, frozen resignation.

I have elsewhere offered my own theory as to how they are being coerced. But just the tight discipline - all by itself - speaks volumes! Hence the purpose of my proposal for daily anonymous polls would be to give such members a chance to 'vote' as their conscience truly would have wished.

Sure, these anonymous polls would not be binding or have legislative effect. The reps' constituencies still have final say. And being on record before voters is democracy. Moreover, I believe that - if this were tried - the GOP leadership would threaten hard any Republican representative who cooperated, even a little. Even to answer a simple poll.

Still, that top-down repression of their own caucus, in itself, would say a lot. And chip away at something monstrous.

== okay, here's another obscure one! ==

THE INTENT OF CONGRESS ACT: We shall pass an act preventing the Supreme Court from canceling laws based on contorted interpretations of Congressional will or intent. For example, the Civil Rights Bill shall not be interpreted as having “completed” the work assigned to it by Congress, when it clearly has not done so. In many cases, this act will either clarify Congressional purpose and intent or else amend certain laws to ensure that Congressional intent is crystal clear, removing that contorted rationalization used by the current Court majority to make-law, rather than adjudicate.

This will not interfere in Supreme Court decisions based on Constitutionality. But interpretations of Congressional intent should at least consult with Congress, itself.

Yeah, that one seems kinda obscure. You must first understand the contortions that John Roberts and Clarence Thomas and their accomplices have performed, in some cases, to justify betraying American democracy and all that. For example, in excusing the outrageous theft-crime of gerrymandering, Roberts concocted a reasoning - or Roberts Doctrine - that no neutral map-making commission can ever do a perfect job of fairness. And hence -- (they 'reasoned') - we might as well leave it to a state assembly majority that has already outrageously cheated to keep itself in power. (I offer a way around that Roberts rationalization here**, with a gerrymandering solution that evades it, completely.) 

Another rationalization used by the Roberts cabal is "intent of Congress." They opine that this or that law was never meant to do what decades of Americans assumed that it would do. In fact, they have several times ruled that Congress clearly intended the exact opposite!

Um, why not ask Congress what it intended? 

Again, nothing can stop the Court, no matter how badly suborned, from issuing rulings based on contortedly rationalized interpretations of the Constitution, as with the absurd notion of presidential immunity (dealt with in another of these proposals.) But with this act, Congress might at least say: "Stop using Congress's intent as your excuse for doing your judicial legislating."

== Jeepers, Brin, are you done yet? ==

Dunno. Do you mean, am I done beating my head against walls, knowing that this series will get just as much attention from the political caste as I got with Polemical Judo? In other words... crickets? Zilch? Like the number of folks who are still reading here?

Yeah, I know. I should stay in my lane. Put it all into scifi stories! Get back to blogging about cool things coming out of Science. Or better yet, give up both because no one reads, anymore.

Sorry. Can't help it. Ideas are the sparks coming off my loose wires. If you want me to stop... call a good electrician.

... and onward to Part 8... where we'll discuss Immigration, bribery, presidential power over public property... and libraries! (A top vehicle for corruption!)

=============================================

* ... and yes, that means YOU must stop all your fantasies about Constitutional amendments. Stop that. Just please stoppit, willyou? That won't happen.  

** Here's a proposed legal argument that demolishes the "Roberts Doctrine" that he concocted to protect gerrymandering. https://david-brin.medium.com/the-minimal-overlap-solution-to-gerrymandered-injustice-e535bbcdd6c 

...and a more general deep-dive into this wretched crime: https://www.davidbrin.com/nonfiction/gerrymandering1.html