In Which Madam Speaker Brings the Heat

I’m an early riser and my Friday started with the news that Trump sycophant Roger Stone was also an early riser that day, this time headed to court thanks to a Mueller indictment.  It’s not Don Jr or Jared Kushner, my preferred indictees, but it was certainly a good start to my day.

By the afternoon, the shutdown was on hold and Trump’s blustery bullshit not withstanding we all know this is a Nancy Pelosi victory.  I have to say that I have long been a fan of Pelosi and since she and the Democrats took over the House she hasn’t disappointed.

In the last six months, I’ve been reading thorough Martin Luther King essays and they’ve convinced me of the need to hold the line with courage and conviction; to believe in the moral arc toward justice and to insist upon it instead of compromise.  I know plenty of Democrats who worried about Pelosi’s return to the speakership, instead favoring some new voices.  I am impressed by many of those new voices but I believed in Pelosi, in part because I felt that much of the criticism of her was simply old-fashioned sexism of the ugliest variety.  

My appetite to tolerate sexism was never high but since Trump won the Electoral College and the White House it’s been non-existent.  So I was best pleased to see Pelosi back in the driver’s seat.  Her steady command of party order and negotiation, her ability to hold the line when matters get tricky, and her willingness to call out the president on his ignorance and lies have been refreshing and empowering.  It’s telling that Friday’s end of the shutdown resulted in a Trump tweet storm of bullshit and name-calling.  Pelosi stated the obvious and moved forward.  There’s work to be done and she’s gonna do it.  

The Government We Deserve

I have always taught my students that the trick of understanding representative democracy is to understand that in system governed by the choices of citizens, we typically get the government we deserve, if not the government we want.  That's a fundamental truth of self-government: citizens must abide by the choices they make.

The prospect of not teaching American Government for the first time in more than 20 years gave me some anxiety this summer.  Sure, there were times when explaining certain concepts (looking at you, Electoral College) to teenagers was daunting, but mostly I loved studying politics and government with my students.

But as October 1st arrived, the federal government was shut down for lack of a budget deal.   The Tea Party cheerfully rode the waves of their rigid ideological ignorance right toward the prospect of American debt default.  These days,  it's gotten a whole lot easier to not be teaching about government and politics.  Certain things about Congress that are hard to understand (committees in Congress, the power of rural states in the Senate, the advantages of incumbency, the nature of House districts) seem easy in comparison to today's party-driven failure to compromise on matters of grave importance to the nation and the world.

I see in the Tea Party Republicans a fundamental ignorance about the system of government we have and an irresponsible refusal to embrace our founding mandate to compromise.  The comparatively less ideological Republicans will speak about the damage being done to their party and the Congress (thanks, Senator Lindsay Graham for at least saying it), but there is little evidence of a responsible leader who will demand that the Republican party rise above the fray it has created.  Democratic hands are hardly clean as the party reaps the results of their years of refusal to defend the positive good that government in this nation has been able to accomplish.  In my fellow citizens I see a mounting frustration with our government, as if none of this is our fault.  

Mostly I see a nation and a system of self-government that is profoundly disappointing.  We are better than this, I have always thought.  But these days, as we approach a level of irresponsibility that seems unthinkable, I've even begun to doubt that.  We may very well be getting the government we deserve.

Irrational

Just after the election, I promised a post about the state of politics in light of the Obama presidential victory.  Back then, I had hopes that the Republican party would see Obama's re-election as evidence that they would have to deal with the Democrats.

Ha.

Now, nearly two months in to Obama's second term and with more than three months of Congressionally-manufactured fiscal crises hanging over our heads, it's clear that the GOP is not ready to deal with reality, let alone help to govern the nation.  Senate Republicans are one thing and while there is a notable  nut job wing in the group (Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, and sometimes, Tom Coburn), I think that the lot of them typically understands that there must be some middle ground to be found.  It's not much, mind you, and it's still governed by the ridiculous desire to filibuster every damn thing, but I suspect that the proper incentive would get them to at least regularly show up at the table.

House Republicans are a different story, led (though that hardly seems like the right word)  by John Boehner.  Speaker Boehner has mostly been able to move legislation forward this year with the help of the Democrat minority and a handful of the sane Republicans in his caucus.  The other Republicans in the House are prepared to take us over the cliff and then some.

I find that I am at a loss to explain the level of nonsense that is going on in Congress.  To call the institution dysfunctional hardly gives credit where it is due.  This is kind of dysfunction that holds the national interest hostage to the narrow and irrational interests of the Tea Party wing, a group who is elected to serve in a government that they abhor.  That Republicans believe potential longterm debt (an actual non-issue, as Paul Krugman regularly reminds us) is a more serious concern than immediate jobs, infrastructure development, and the environment drives me round the bend with its foolish ignorance of reality.   Hey, fellow citizens: this is our government and it is our responsibility to ensure it serves the national interest.  Let's demand action.

My Political Pipe Dreams

I have asked my government students to identify the big issues of 2013.  By big issues, I mean the issues that they believe our national leaders should deal with in the coming year.  The assignment was phrased as a personal one: my students could identify the issues that matter most to them or they could think beyond themselves to issues of national import.  By definition, this sort of assignment asks students to engage in a bit of a political pipe dream.  But they are young and should be idealistic, so I've no problem with that.

This is exactly the sort of thing that I think about all the time (scary, no?), so it seems fair for me to also participate in the assignment.  So I have made a political wish list for 2013.  Think of it as my New Year's Resolutions for Congress.  Mine is one part practical and two parts pipe dream.  I'll leave you to figure out which is which.

1.  Climate change: Real action on climate change, including conversations about our resource consumption habits and policies to change them, especially water conservation and oil and natural gas extraction.  As part of this, I'd like to see us commit to alternative energy development and use.

2.  Infrastructure improvement: An updated and modernized national electric grid, a commitment to national Internet access, significant road and bridge repairs.  This commitment would involve short-term costs in exchange for immediate job opportunities and long-term economic growth.

3.  Disaster preparedness: Now more than ever, a national conversation about disaster preparedness is in order. This is exactly the sort of thing that should accompany real action on climate change.  It could certainly facilitate policy proposals to enable progress in emergency planning.

4.  Gun control:  My list here is long.  Count me among those who would cheerfully vote to remove the Second Amendment from the Constitution.  Short of that, I'd like to see national bans on automatic weapons, national limits on bullet purchases, and vigorous background checks.  These solutions will not fully cure our violent nation, but they would be a start.  My greatest political fear at the moment is that none of it will materialize in the current political climate.

5.  Immigration:  At minimum, I'd like to see the Dream Act become law.  At maximum, I'd like broad amnesty for folks here illegally.  I have little hope for the latter, of course, but a girl can dream.

6.  Healthcare costs: A serious effort to come to terms with healthcare costs.  In all honesty, this is truly a pipe dream because the only reasonable solution on this front is establishing a national healthcare model, a sort of Cleveland Clinic writ large, and our nation is so unwilling to understand that this is our obvious solution.

I'm ending my list here, though there are many more issues I'd like our leaders to tackle.  But reality dictates that only a few big policy changes will move forward in a given year and I'm likely already over my limit.  Even so, these New Year's Resolutions made on behalf of Congress are a solid start on moving our nation in the direction I'd like to see us head.  

Okay, Congress, you've been given your marching orders.  Now get to work.

Vocabulary with T: Unlikely Event

There's an old joke about Congress which compares lawmaking to the production of sausage and argues of both that it's best not to see either being made.  As the nation prepares for the self-induced wound that is the fiscal cliff, it seems apt to review the notion.  Congress has landed us in this situation and its their responsibility to get us out.  That they seem determined to do it in a fashion that will leave the national electorate both exhausted and disgusted is no surprise to me.

I could add my voice to the chorus of Congressional critics blaming the Republicans for this mess.  I could wring my hands and wonder why it is that Grover Norquist and the Tea Party Republicans feel that compromise, a principle at the very core of our Constitution and government, is suddenly a dirty word and unthinkable concept.

But human relations are messy at best and these days politics are a mirror of the worst of human relations, so I am not surprised at the painful ordeal Congress has constructed for the nation.  And since crying about it won't change things, I am inclined to find some ways to laugh instead.

Here, T has a phrase that's useful.  Time and time again, I have heard her say it of an unlikely event.   When she says it, the image is always quite clear in my mind.  And these days, as Congress haltingly considers doing the job they were elected to complete, it's a pretty useful notion.  And so I turn to T's phrase and suggest that the specter of Republican members of Congress cooperating and compromising to get their work done will be like seeing a "leprechaun riding a unicorn."

The End of Compromise?

Though you would be hard-pressed to know this if all you consumed was a steady diet of Tea Party political rhetoric, the American Congress was constructed by the Founders to be a legislative body oriented toward cooperation and compromise.  Only by working with one another could legislators govern.  By the early 1800s, with the formation of political parties, this meant that the parties reached across the aisle to build legislation to serve the national interest.  By definition, this means that neither party gets all of what they want.  The hope is that if both receive a little and compromise further on what's left, our deliberative legislative process will govern in the national interest.

When the ability to compromise breaks down, the nation suffers as a consequence.  The Civil War is typically cited as the most extreme example of a failure to compromise.  It's not a perfect example, because there were some very good reasons to refuse a compromise that would permit the continuation of slavery, a morally repugnant institution in a nation claiming to favor liberty above all other values.  Even so, we should be profoundly reluctant to reject compromise these days, when the issues on the table don't approach the gravity of slavery's threat to American values.

In the last twenty years, it's gotten harder and harder to build compromise between the two parties in Congress.  Both parties are guilty, though the lion's share of the blame goes to the Republican party, as political scientists Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein argue in their new book about congressional gridlock, It's Even Worse Than It Looks.  You can see evidence of this everywhere, but especially in last night's primary election defeat of Indiana Senator Richard Lugar, who was seeking re-election to the seat he's held since 1976.

Lugar, a Republican, has long been the kind of Senator willing to reach across the aisle, committed to the idea of finding a moderate compromise in order to govern well.  This morning, the New York Times called Lugar "a collegial moderate" and the characteristic is perfect.  But it was that moderation that served as the primary  explanation for his loss to Republican challenger Richard Mourdock, whose Tea Party-fueled campaign thrived on a steady stream of invective directed at Lugar because of the Senator's long-standing record of compromise.

Democrats were not expected to devote a lot of resources to this race in the fall, feeling that the well-respected Lugar would likely be re-elected by his moderate state come November.  The Mourdock primary victory changes that calculation and Indiana is now very much in the running for the Democrats, who suddenly have a chance to pick up this Senate seat.  I'm a Democrat and I should celebrate that.  And yet I can't help but feel this is a hollow victory.  It puts us one step further away from the compromise that is essential for our nation to govern itself.  That's not good for any of us.

What He Said

I am fond of making jokes at the expense of sensible midwesterners.  In fact, I like to believe that I've turned it into something of an art form.  But the facts demonstrate that our nation could use a little more common sense in the conduct of our politics.  So it is that I am directing y'all to read the wisdom of the sage of the prairie, Warren Buffet.

He's talking to you, Tea Party. Time to listen up.

The War on Women

Last fall, a bunch of Republicans ran for Congress and state legislatures on a platform promising fiscal diligence and attention to the unemployment problem.  As it turns out, that was just lip service.  The real goal these folks have pursued since they took office is to use their newly elected power to attack women, their healthcare, and their right to make decisions about their bodies.  Unemployment is still north of 8.5% but Republicans want to address the problem of abortion.

Yesterday, the state of Texas adopted a law which would require a woman seeking an abortion to have a sonogram 24 hours before the abortion procedure.  The purpose of the sonogram is to ensure that the woman knows she's pregnant with potential human life.  A baby, as it were, and not a guppy.

This week, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to on a plan to ensure that no insurance provider in America will provide coverage for abortion.  Under this arrangement, women may obtain an abortion, but only if they can pay for it out of their own pocket.  Currently, individuals and employers do not have to pay taxes on income used to pay for insurance premiums.  Under the House Bill, insurance premiums which cover abortion services would be excluded from that tax deduction.  An insurance company may still cover abortion services but the money used by employers to pay for that premium is no longer tax exempt.  Practically speaking, insurance companies and employers are likely to simply remove abortion care from their policies so as to avoid dealing with the giant abortion coverage accounting morass the House saw fit to create.  The good news is that the federal bill will go nowhere in the Senate; President Obama has vowed to veto it.  The bad news is that women are being treated as if their right to control the fate of their own bodies is neither guaranteed or respected.

Though I normally make clear that my opinion is just that, on this issue I'm going to go a little further and speak for women.  I feel comfortable asserting that the vast majority of women understand that pregnancy entails potential human life.  We don't need Texas to explain that to us.

When you're pregnant and wish to be pregnant, that prospect is both exhilarating and terrifying.  On balance, a women who wishes to be pregnant is thrilled by the prospect and all that it entails.  But if you're pregnant and wish not be pregnant, there's no question that you know a baby is on the way.  And if you're seeking an abortion, it's because you are not ready to bring a new life into this world.  To suggest otherwise is to demean millions of women who daily struggle to raise the children that they have.  I can think of no legislature in this nation willing to vote for policies which limit how men may use their bodies.  Why?  Because a man's body is his, and his right to control its destiny and fate is protected by the law and the Constitution.

What a shame that women cannot make the same claim.

Full Stop

Will they or won't they shut down the government tonight?  This last week, as Congress has done its level best to drive the ship of state right over the cliff, I've grown more and more frustrated by the hype and pomp of the whole mess.  Congress has a job: agree on a budget.  They should do it. 

I object strenuously to the patently ridiculous Tea Party claim that if we don't cut spending now the end is nigh.  If I hear one more elected official speak about the future of endless debt we are leaving our children, I will hurl.  Or reach through my radio and wring some necks. 

While we should certainly consider long-term fiscal solvency in this nation, it's not really that complicated.  And the real facts on the ground tell us that right now 25% of our children are living in poverty and are skipping meals.  I could be wrong, but I'm guessing these kids could give a damn about the debt.  They'd like decent health care, a safe place to live, good schools, and some nutritious food to eat.   

It also rankles me that Republicans will only consent to spending cuts to the 12% of the budget that serves the needy.  These social programs, though never generous to begin with, do keep some of our poor and frail citizens from falling deeply into the abyss.  And don't get me started on the GOP's continued insistence on historically low tax rates for the wealthiest Americans.  Or the raft of riders on issues like support for family planning and other matters unrelated to the budget task at hand.  The rich get richer while Congressional Republicans proceed to cut programs to ensure that all children are vaccinated.

Well played, GOP.

It's not that Democrats are exempt from blame.  Years of cowardly unwillingness to patiently explain how government is good and why it serves our community interests have left Democrats unable to defend the programs they believe in.  And so Republicans run rough-shod over our ability to govern ourselves at all, let alone do it well.

If the government is shut down tonight it will cost us millions of extra dollars, not to mention demonstrate to the rest of the world that our proud democracy is ridiculously unable to compromise and work together for the common good.  We elected members of Congress to govern and damn it, that's what they should do.

Full stop.

Update: So we have a budget, one with some big cuts, and now we'll all just have to hope this doesn't slow down (or stall) the recovery, which I fear it will.

So Much for the Huddled Masses Yearning to be Free

I've been troubled by U.S. immigration policy for most of my political life.  In 2006, my very first post for this blog was a discussion of immigration in the United States.  The furor surrounding Arizona's new immigration law certainly had me thinking about the subject again.  Then yesterday, on the day Arizona's ridiculous law came into semi-effect,  I read that Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC) is considering introduction of a Constitutional amendment that will eliminate birthright citizenship. 

What have we become?

Though I have nothing but condemnation for the approach Arizona takes in their law, I am sympathetic to the idea that the federal government has let down the states when it comes to immigration.  I am not particularly concerned about enforcement, per se, since I believe that we should return to the open-door immigration policy that made us the land of opportunity.  I will oppose with all my might a Constitutional amendment to eliminate birthright citizenship.   In the meantime, with the exception of Graham's dangerous proposal, Congress has dodged responsibility on this issue.  It's time for us to contact Congress and demand that they lead and address some of the most pressing issues related to immigration. 

For one thing, the current Congressional failure has resulted in a myriad of deeply troubling developments.  Illegals who arrive as children may receive an education but when they graduate high school, no matter how accomplished they are, they may not be able to attend college because they can't qualify for the federal financial aid that is available to their peers.  And they can't get a job for lack of a few documents.  Should they find a way to make it through college, they graduate with skills and a college diploma, at home in a nation that will not treat them like the citizens they clearly are.

Undocumented workers labor in a world of scant regulation of labor practices, unable to complain about any poor treatment they endure for fear that a complaint will result in deportation from the $3 an hour job that keeps their head just above water.  Fear of deportation keeps these same vulnerable people from getting driver's licenses or reporting the crimes committed against them.  A sick illegal resident may receive emergency treatment because by law hospitals cannot turn them away.  But chronic health conditions are unlikely to receive treatment, thus shortening the life-spans of these hardworking people.

These problems are just the tip of the iceberg.  Enough. 

Let's be the nation that the Declaration of Independence promises we will be.  Let's fulfill the pledge of the Statue of Liberty.  Let's demand that Congress take action to arrange an amnesty program for the illegals who are here now.  Let's figure out a way to open our borders and additional citizenship rights for others who come here seeking the historic opportunities our ancestors sought for themselves and passed down to us via birthright citizenship.  Let's discuss this seriously without hyperbole and fear of the other.  Let's understand, respect and embrace the reality that we are a nation of immigrants.  And most importantly, let's quit pretending that this problem will go away on its own.