Robert Reich refers to the disciplined nature of Republicans and fractious diversity of Democrats - which many of YOU are displaying. " ...a fundamental asymmetry at the heart of American politics: Democrats are undisciplined. Republicans are regimented.
"For as long as I remember, Democrats have danced to their own separate music while Republicans march to a single drummer. That was the story in 1994, when Bill Clinton couldn’t get the Democratic Senate to go along with his health care plan, on which Clinton spent almost all his political capital."
And so on...
Alas, in doing so this time, Reich (whom I respect) ignores that Schumer did the right thing tactically. It was time. Public anger at GOPpers won the Blue Wave of a week ago. But meanwhile, the shutdown was driving civil servants by thousands to resign, which Republicans WANTED. And hurting millions with SNAP and HUNDREDS or other service denials, including food inspections and air travel safety... and with no chance of getting the GOP to negotiate. None. Zero.
Negotiate? THIS Republican Party?
Dig it. Shutting the government down is a FEATURE to them! Without any drawbacks. Civil servants fleeing? Great! Freedom from inspections? Fine! Stockpiling funds to reduce embarrassing deficits? Sure! Taking anti-terror agents off duty, as Bush did in 2001, leading up to 9/11? Bring on whatever might give Trump his distraction from Epstein etc.
The dems timed this exactly right! It... was... time for a judo move that allowed the House to get into session and to reveal Mike Johnson's next writhe to hide the Epstein files.
Finally, there will be another shut down in JANUARY! Close to GOP primary season. The only elections that matter in GOP gerrymandered districts. (So register Republican if you live in such a district!!)
ANY / all of you screeching at Schumer? You want utterly pointless/symbolic Sumo, when judo is called for! Schumer may not be our Grant or Sherman - maybe Newsom will be - but your yowling "I'll-never-support-our-generals!" is not a way to win a civil war.
PS: Reich cites George Lakoff's theory that Dems want a mommy while Repubs want a strict father. I like Lakoff far more than that jibberer Chomsky. But this metaphor is nonsense! Any decent dad is all about NEGOTIATION. No. THE GOP IS NOW ABOUT MIDDLE SCHOOL BULLIES. They don't want a dad's pragmatic "Let's talk this through," They want howls from nipple-twisted nerd-victims. And your MAGA-joe is back on that school playground, desperately sucking up to the top bully in order to be part of the gang of nipple-twisters, not one of the twisted.
Your tears are their food.
But take the SUMO vs JUDO parallel with you. You whiners yowling at Schumer dream of leaders who will out-Trump Trump at gaudy push n shove. But that is not how we'll win.
There appear to be two schools of thought
ReplyDelete(1) The Dems are weak and folded
(2) The Dem are smart and made the best move in the circumstances
I hope that (2) is correct and that too many people don't "use" (1) as an excuse not to vote
On a side note
In almost every other country if the Government fails to pass a budget or other motion of "confidence" then a new election is called
Would it be possible for the USA to adopt that simple strategy?
Would it be possible for the USA to adopt that simple strategy?
DeleteNot without a Constitutional amendment. Federal elections are determined by the calendar, not by anyone's choice.
This works to our advantage as well. DJT keeps hinting at cancelling elections for some "emergency", but there's no mechanism for doing that.
I see the whining and think there is an underlying cause. The Dems in federal government have a lot less power than their voters imagine... and these voters are in denial about it. Fight! Fight more! Do Something! Well... they are but they can't fix our denialism.
ReplyDeleteI sure HOPE we don't adopt a snap election approach on budget adoption failures. We already go collectively nuts during the election cycle. Woe upon us all if we do that most of the time... which is what will happen.
The shutdown is what the GOP wanted if they couldn't have even more. They own the levers of power right now... so they CAN get what they want.
--------
I had a guy honk at me on my way to work this morning. He had a few vulgar words to say about by 2020 Biden/Harris bumper sticker that I've left in place. It all started with "Are you a Christian?" and went very non-turn-the-other-cheek from there.
This isn't just a fight for budget dollars. The nut jobs feel empowered right now, so don't tune out when you walk among strangers. Pay attention to your surroundings.
The Dems in federal government have a lot less power than their voters imagine... and these voters are in denial about it.
DeleteIt was because it seemed as if we did have a winning hand with more and more people blaming Republicans for their hardship. Unfortunately, it was analogous to the Republicans shooting a hostage every hour until they got what they wanted. Yes, they were being blamed, but the cost was too high.
I was angry at the Democratic caving at first, but I'm coming around to the notion that they held out long enough for the damage Republicans were doing to become apparent. If Republicans damage the ACA now, there's no way for them to blame Democrats.
This site says it better than I can:
https://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2025/Items/Nov12-1.html
We wish that, rather than poker, we had gone with retrenchment as our metaphor of choice on Monday. That's really a better characterization of what happened. The Democrats made some progress, concluded they would not be able to achieve their ultimate goal or goals, and fell back, presumably to fight another day.
We do not know what will happen next, of course. Certainly, in falling back, the Democrats had to give up some momentum and some goodwill from their base. And that could have been the wrong choice. However, if they so choose, they can resume the exact same fight at the end of January, when the budget is likely to run out again. In that case, they will likely or definitely have the following things going for them:
+ They will likely have a couple more months of Donald Trump showing fecklessness or callousness.
+ They will be considerably closer to election season.
+ They won't have to worry about SNAP recipients going hungry.
+ They won't have to worry about ruining people's holidays.
+ They will have lots of feedback from constituents, which will serve as both advice and motivation.
+ They will have time to come to a stronger consensus, among members in Congress, of the best way forward.
+ They will likely have, in their pockets, strong evidence of Republican indifference to people's health insurance costs.
If General Grant were here, we suspect he'd rather have a fight with these advantages than without.
So yeah.
Well, constitutional amendments need to be passed by a whole bunch of states. Given that Republicans currently control over 30 state legislatures, I doubt this is the first problem they'd try to solve ... likely they'd start with bigger problems, e.g. the problem that women can get abortions, or that blacks can vote, or something like that.
ReplyDelete"Not without a Constitutional amendment" is my way of saying, "Not until Hell freezes over."
DeleteLarry Hart
ReplyDeleteHere and in most countries, you can call an election early - as in a budget failure - but you can't delay one beyond the term
Alfred - to the rest of us the USA seems to be on a perpetual "election cycle" - can it get worse?
ReplyDeleteThe solution is to limit the political spend
I've been seeing a lot of online disappointment and anger over the Democrat 'caving'. I've also seen sentiments echoing your own. Like Larry, I can sympathise with the former (it's frustrating!) but, hopefully, 'fighting another day' does prove to be the better strategy.
ReplyDeleteOne thing caving did provide: in order to pass the budget, Thompson has had to reopen Congress, and finally swear in Grijalva, which means that the Epstein files are coming home to roost. How much of a distraction will they be, and to whom?
(some entries are already implicating Trump, *and* Thiel)
By the way, anyone with a bluesky account might like to put in a good word for Sarah Kendzior, whose account was suspended without explanation (or apparent reason) a couple of days ago.* A political reporter, and scathing critic of Trump and his enablers (irrespective of party). You don't have to agree with her views to realise this sort of treatment is wholly inappropriate.
* substack account: https://substack.com/@sarahkendzior/note/c-175914197
This weekend I'll begin posting my big 3-parter about the "Contract With America" and why we should do our own... and what should be in it. In fact, now that I think of it... I'll drop some of it down here for your comments. Starting with reforms to Congress:
ReplyDeletePART I. REFORM CONGRESS
On the first day of the new Congress, our new Democratic majority will immediately pass the following major reforms of Congress itself, aimed at restoring the faith and trust of the American people:
FIRST: We shall see to it that the very best parts of the 1994 Republican “Contract With America” -- the parts that the GOP immediately betrayed, ignored and forgot -- are finally implemented, both in letter and in spirit.
Among these good ideas that the GOP betrayed are these:
• Require all laws that apply to the rest of the country also apply to Congress;
• Arrange for regular audits of Congress for waste or abuse;
• Limit the terms of all committee chairs and party leadership posts;
• Ban the casting of proxy votes in committee and law-writing by lobbyists;
• Require that committee meetings be open to the public;
• Guarantee honest accounting of our Federal Budget.
…and in the same spirit…
• Members of Congress shall report openly all stock and other trades by the member or family, especially those trades which might be affected by the member’s inside knowledge.
By finally implementing these good ideas – some of which originated with decent Republicans - we show our openness to learn and to reach out, re-establishing a spirit of optimistic bipartisanship with sincere members of the opposing party, bringing ending an era of unwarranted and vicious political war.
But restoring those broken "contract' promises will only be the beginning.
See, Larry, this is EXACTLY how you fight crappy politicians. You propose GOOD rules, not validate bad ones in desperation to produce ephemeral tactical "wins" that end up leading to losses in the end.
DeleteThe Republicans Contract with America was great PR, but failed to produce genuine reform because the Republicans didn't really want reform. They proposed good ideas to court the public, then dropped the good parts when the public scrutiny waned.
Democracy generally works when rats gain the upper hand and threaten destruction. In desperation, the other side decides to actually change things for the better rather than allow the rats ultimate victory. This is about the only way what the voters actually want drives political action.
Oligarch's facing destruction will sign off on rules that surrender painfull concessions to just laws rather than allow a decisive win for their opponents. The oligarchs on each side sort of nullify each other, allowing the limited power held by "rest of us" to carry the day.
Except for the last one, they were all in the Gingrich 1994 version.
ReplyDeleteNow comes a second reform that's wholly original with me:
SECOND: We shall establish rules in both House and Senate permanently allowing the minority party one hundred subpoenas per year, plus the time and staff needed to question their witnesses before open subcommittee hearings, ensuring that Congress will never again betray its Constitutional duty of investigation and oversight, even when the same party holds both Congress and the Executive.
As a possibly better alternative – to be negotiated – we shall establish a permanent rule and tradition that each member of Congress will get one peremptory subpoena per year, plus adequate funding to compel a witness to appear and testify for up to five hours before a subcommittee in which she or he is a member. In this way, each member will be encouraged to investigate as a sovereign representative and not just as a party member.
Definitely better to make it a per-member allotment. The more independence members have from their party the better, as they represent their voters in government, not just represent the party.
DeleteWe saw Republican executive members in the previous administration ignoring subpoenas, you also need to ensure that there is a proper enforcement mechanism, not dependent on the politically led justice department.
DeletePlanning for electoral mayhem:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theatlantic.com/press-releases/archive/2025/10/atlantics-december-cover-the-coming-election-mayhem/684716/
I think that Schumer should be replaced as Minority Leader because he lacks charisma, leadership, and speaking skills, however I am not unhappy that 8 Senators including the Minority Whip defected on the vote. It is clear that they did so with permission from their caucus.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I have seen NO Dem Senator lobbying to take Schumer's job and No Dem Senator calling for Schumer to be replaced. It takes both conditions to start a movement for replacement in leadership.
Now, do I see AOC prepping to primary Schumer? Yes I do. I wish she would not do it though. I like her gathering seniority to take over Oversight in the House much better than her being the junior Senator from NY. She'd be much more effective as a senior House member than as a junior Senator.
As for a new Contract with America from the Democrats? I'd recommend a single point - "We will vigorously pursue prosecution for all crimes committed by all current or former governmental officials, including changing DoJ policy on sitting presidents, legislators, and SCOTUS."
I would promise the separate the political leadership of the DOJ from the prosecutors office, which must have full independence, based only in legislative responsibilities.
DeleteIn defiance of our host's most recent directive, US Democrats have decided to STOP WINNING, possibly due to some undiagnosed reading disability like dyslexia, but I suspect a different etiology, as their most recent decision to shut down the US federal government in response to GOP attempts to downsize and 'shut down the US federal government' points to a much larger derangement in their thinking meat. Jon Stewart provides some humorous commentary on this insanity:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/jon-stewart-tears-democrats-caving-080458235.html
The same deranged thought process seems to hold true in Germany, as its tolerant liberal progressive government resolves to defeat (evil) Fascism through remilitarization & mandatory military conscription, as nothing proves 'anti-fascism' more than ranks of uniformed German youths goose-stepping to demonstrate strength, unity & purpose.
Phillip K Dick blamed this type of mental derangement on the recursive nature of Minimax Strategy which justifies militarization, rearmament and fascism on the assumption that any 'reasonable opponent' will do the same, leading our pro-federalist Dems to act exactly like an anti-federalist GOP, anti-fascist German progressives to imitate actual Nazi fascists on parade and our left-leaning 'Antifa' to imitate Mussolini's black-shirted fascists in both dress & tactics.
These are small minds trapped by circular argument.
Best
Who are you and what have you done with matthew? Excellent insights. Though the top trick of Gingrich's Contract was to use polls and focus groups to ONLY propose "60% items" that polled better than 60% approval. It was an ELECTIONEERING document and we need something similar.
ReplyDeleteSince none of you have commented yet on the first two "Contract" items, from the list of Congressional reforms, I'll now add three more:
ReplyDeleteTHIRD: While continuing ongoing public debate over the Senate’s practice of filibuster, we shall use our next majority in the Senate to restore the original practice: that senators invoking a filibuster must speak on the chamber floor the entire time.
FOURTH: We shall create the office of Inspector General of the United States, or IGUS, who will head the U.S. Inspectorate, a uniformed agency akin to the Public Health Service, charged with protecting the ethical and law-abiding health of government. Henceforth, the inspectors-general in all government agencies, including military judge-advocates general (JAGs) will be appointed by and report to IGUS, instead of serving at the whim of the cabinet or other officers that they are supposed to inspect. IGUS will advise the President and Congress concerning potential breaches of the law and provide protection for whistle-blowers and safety for officials refusing to obey unlawful orders.
In order to ensure independence, the Inspectorate shall be funded by an account that is filled by Congress, or else by some other means, to pay for operations a decade in advance. IGUS will be appointed to six-year terms by a 60% vote of a commission consisting of all past presidents and current state governors. IGUS will create a corps of trusted citizen observers, akin to grand juries, cleared to go anywhere and assure the American people that the government is still theirs, to own and control.
FIFTH: Independent congressional advisory offices for science, technology and other areas of skilled, fact-based analysis will be restored, in order to counsel Congress on matters of fact without bias or dogma-driven pressure. Rules shall ensure that technical reports may not be re-written by politicians, changing their meaning to bend to political desires. Every member of Congress shall be encouraged and funded to appoint from their home district a science-and-fact advisor who may interrogate the advisory panels and/or answer questions of fact on the member’s behalf.
Several of these appear nowhere else on the planet. Your crits will be helpful since I plan to start posting tomorrow.
"In order to ensure independence, the Inspectorate shall be funded by an account that is filled by Congress, or else by some other means, to pay for operations a decade in advance. IGUS will be appointed to six-year terms by a 60% vote of a commission consisting of all past presidents and current state governors."
Deletehmm... past presidents is rounding error. Current Governors is kinda odd... why? the Repubs are pretty close to 60% of governors currently.
"current state governors" is currently 55/45 Republican, but could very easily swing to 60/40.
I like your reform points, although it only covers and does not remove some problems. If we use point four, for example, before last weeks election, Trump would have had nearly enough votes to ram a candidate of his choice through.
ReplyDeleteIf I were to suggest changes:
- The ability to declare national emergencies should be given to Congress. Only then a President gains the full range of executive powers for a limited amount of time. Half a year seemed to have worked for the Romans.
- During that time period only, the President can issue executive orders. They all end automatically with the expiration Date of the crisis.
- While the President is the only person who can propose a candidate for a cabinet-level position, after confirmation, they remain independent heads of their departements until they loose the confidence of Congress.
Only in a declared crisis, the White House can direct the secretaries and their departements.
or just a national emergency declaration expires in one week, unless authorized by Congress. (something like 9/11 there's not time to call congress into session)
DeleteThe same deranged thought process seems to hold true in Germany, as its tolerant liberal progressive government resolves to defeat (evil) Fascism through remilitarization & mandatory military conscription, as nothing proves 'anti-fascism' more than ranks of uniformed German youths goose-stepping to demonstrate strength, unity & purpose
ReplyDelete1) The draft existed until 2011, when it was put in dormancy because of constitutional fairness reasons.
2) In the current compromise, the draft will not be reinstated if enough volunteers are recruited.
3) Since I served, I can confidently say that the goose step is not part of what is called Formal Training.
4) If the draft is fully reinstated (we are at least a year behind having the necessary bureaucracy for registering draftees), there will be the option to refuses the military service. Draftees then will be employed in the Civilian Service, in Hospitals, Nursing Homes, Emergency Services, War Memorial Gardening, and other social institutions.
5) Since the Kremlin has time and again voiced his appetites of invading EU Territory, and the US are withdrawing from Romania, rearmament is one necessary step. I fear, though, it is too late to build up a meaningful detention.
6) The total electoral folly of the conservatives and the social democrats is that this should be financed by social cuts and debts (though we are in a better Position than the US regarding both points).
7) Germany hasn't a progressive government. It is centrist-conservative.
Also, I shall remind anyone that Europe is currently the target of various concerted hybrid war operations, from desinformation, sabotage, assassination plots and outright military threats.
DeleteI suspect were they to happen in the US, and the perpetrator someone other than Russia and China, that country would have been levelled to dust by now.
I suspect were they to happen in the US, and the perpetrator someone other than Russia and China, that country would have been levelled to dust by now.
DeleteWell, also Argentina and El Salvador are probably exempt at the moment. Maybe even North Korea.
We live in the stupidest timeline.
C-Plus. The council of Governors is a hugely under-utilized resource! They have negotiated among themselves many shared consensus agreements like the Universal Business Code. Moreover, many (not all) GOP governors aeem to be residually sane, old fashioned pre-Gingrich Republicans. I doubt it will ever swing 60 insane vs 40 sane. But in ANY event, spreading power more widely gives the blackmailers and corrupters more territory to have to cover.
ReplyDeleteOger, the whole point of this newer-deal contract is that it will only take effect at all if Dems take power. Hence they can set up the Inspectorate and get it rolling. Though after that I would not mind if the IGs and JAGs independently have a voice in choosing their boss.
Peesidential rapid authority would seem essential in a modern fast-paced world. But the emergency powers having EXPIRATION dates and strict definitions would be a great step.
Putin's cabal thought they had conquered the West. Recent resilience by Europe has them terrified.
https://www.threads.com/@stonekettle
ReplyDeleteEven the Russian bots are like, shit, after the Epstein emails, even WE can't support Trump anymore.
Heh.
In this clip from Stephanie Miller's show, she discusses her appearance on Hannity, ostensibly to be made fun of for kissing Jasmine Crocket's feet at a public event, but she managed to get a few mentions of Trump being in the Epstein files out there to the FOX viewers.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSyksG7juQI
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ReplyDelete• Require that committee meetings be open to the public;
ReplyDeleteThis is a well-intentioned idea, which is almost impossible to achieve in reality.
Politicians are cockroaches who exercise power in darkness, because if they try to operate in the light, the public will become so disgusted by what they see, they will want to squash them in revulsion
The true power brokers will find someplace nice and dark to conduct their horsetrading. Shine a light on committee meetings, and those meeting will stop beling the place where power brokers actually exercise power. Instead, places in the light with transparency become stages for political theater, where politicians PRETEND to make decisions. The real deals will be cut in some nice, dark corner of DC.
It will be fairly obvious if what open committees decide doesn't match with what actually get enacted.
DeleteFOURTH: We shall create the office of Inspector General of the United States...
ReplyDeleteAn oldie, but a goodie. In Australia, we're currently discussing this little chestnut with the Government concerning amendments to the (deep breath) "Environment Protection and Biodiversity Control Act" (EPBC, or "the Act"). One of many recommendations put to the Government (all of which it claims to be implementing) is the establishment of an Environmental Protection Authority to oversee the enforcement of the Act.
An inspectorate? Great!
An *independent* inspectorate? ... We-ell... the Environment Minister reserves the right to overrule certain decisions in 'matters of national interest': a power they would only invoke occasionally. (Also, we're a democracy, dontcha know?)
... options on a bridge might also be available.
Anyway, senate submissions are open. The fight goes on, and we get to repeat this in another five years' time. (the Act must be reviewed every ten years. This iteration has already taken five!)