How to renew America's democracy

[Lafayette]

From the Economist, here: How to renew America's democracy

Excerpt:

FOR PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN to sign a $1.9trn stimulus bill this week was an economic gamble—on inflation, the Federal Reserve and the capital markets. But politically, it was a dead cert. The Democrats, though in control of Congress and the White House, can pass only rare budgetary bills, under a procedure known as reconciliation. Any other legislation could be blocked by a filibuster, which requires a bill to muster a super-majority of 60 Senate votes. Because covid-19 is unpredictable, the stimulus had to be big enough to deal with new variants. Because the administration might not get another chance, the plan smuggled in pet priorities. Because, under the rules, it was not subject to scrutiny in Senate committees, Republicans made no contribution. It is a terrible way for the world’s leading democracy to pass laws.

Many may disagree, but the Trump tenure as PotUS was a colossal failure. For four years, his major political achievement was to reduce upper-income taxation the intent of which was to assure donations for his reelection. Which almost succeeded!

The main point regarding his tenure in office being Covid, the consequences of which he clearly either failed to assess or, even, take preventive action. He left office after having allowed Covid to kill 336800 Americans (from here) in 2020 whilst in office. He took no-action-whatsoever in the most deadly invasion of an epidemic in the history of the country.

As regards presidential negligence, which should be on trial shortly, America has not had such a comprehensive peacetime death-related case before ....

 

[Evilroddy]

@Lafayette

How to renew American Democracy is a very big and a quite complex problem. First is the need to fully and clearly define what Americans mean when they use the word "democracy", for there is no national consensus on what the word means and how it should be expressed institutionally in America. That has to be sorted immediately.

Second is to reduce the role of money in the American political system. This will be difficult so long as powerful American institutions like PACs and the Supreme Court continue to define the spending of money in politics as free speech. Money has derailed American democracy from a bottom-up, vertical relationship between voters and their elected representatives into an elite-driven and horizontal, transactional relationship between powerful groups/individuals and elected representatives, which has fostered de facto oligarchy in the American political system. Present-day America has progressively legalised and normalised what used to be called graft and corruption and this trend must be reversed harshly and effectively.

Third is the primacy of political parties and the historically repeated return to a two-party democracy which has created a Manichean duality in politics among voters and resultant toxic polarisation in the electorate. This is ironic because the two-party system has also allowed the maintenance of a preferential status quo for elites due to the large institutional common ground between the two parties which now dominate American politics at the State and Federal levels. The parties sound like they bicker and disagree but in matters of national interest for the American elites they often are well aligned and cooperative, often at the expense of the American electorate's interests.

Fourth, as the Econmist article linked here describes, revisiting the filibuster and any other super-majority requirements not required by the US constitution is needed in order to reduce the grid-lock inherent in a system now designed to protect the preferential status quo benefiting elites' power, rather than promoting the interests of the widest possible swath of the American electorate.

Fifth is to use education at the secondary and post-secondary levels to properly educate the American public to the responsibilities of democracy and responsible government by giving far more Americans the critical and analytical tools and the political-historical-economic knowledge necessary to become informed, skeptical, engaged and effective electors who can politically demand responsible and responsive government from state and Federal congresses and administrations.

Sixth is the need to clarify and carefully define the the rules by which American democracy is conducted. The mandate and political latitude within which the Electoral College can operate must be clarified and carefully defined. Whether or not the EC is abolished or not can be decided later, so long as its mandate and power is carefully defined and understood by all in the American political process. Likewise the institutions and laws which allow systemic suppression of democracy through the gaming of the political system by voter registration denial, voter suppression during elections, electronic election methods, absentee and advanced voting without good cause and gerrymandering of electoral districts must be stopped. The rules of democracy must be clarified and universally understood.

Seventh is addressing the widening gulf between the aspirations and politics of rural America and urban America. There must be a recognition that both common ground and special differences must be built into America's political system and policies in order to allow both rural and urban populations to realise their aspirations and to be able to live in disparate-harmony with each other. Policies which work for urban populations can be troublesome for rural populations and vice versa, so one-size-fits-all policy is no longer a solution to what ails America's rural/urban communities. This disparity is driving the rise of populism on both the political right and the political left, a trend which will further polarise American politics and which will continue to define and portray negotiation and political compromise as vices rather than vital virtues of American politics.

Cheers and be well.
Evilroddy.

 

[Mycroft]

From the Economist, here: How to renew America's democracy

Excerpt:



Many may disagree, but the Trump tenure as PotUS was a colossal failure. For four years, his major political achievement was to reduce upper-income taxation the intent of which was to assure donations for his reelection. Which almost succeeded!

The main point regarding his tenure in office being Covid, the consequences of which he clearly either failed to assess or, even, take preventive action. He left office after having allowed Covid to kill 336800 Americans (from here) in 2020 whilst in office. He took no-action-whatsoever in the most deadly invasion of an epidemic in the history of the country.

As regards presidential negligence, which should be on trial shortly, America has not had such a comprehensive peacetime death-related case before ....

Please tell me...

What does your thread title and your nonsensical "I hate Trump" blather have to do with your excerpt from that Economist article that you presented?

btw, according to your own numbers and "logic", Biden has killed almost 200,000 Americans. Just saying...

 

[Lafayette]

WAKEY, WAKEY!

Please tell me... What does your thread title and your nonsensical "I hate Trump" blather have to do with your excerpt from that Economist article that you presented?.

More like "just saying blah-blah-blah".

Trump was unarguably the worst PotUS since a long, long time. He's a killer. Hopefully, his trial before Congress will likely come to that conclusion and find him guilty. And if Congress does not come to that conclusion, imagine what future presidents may well get away with!?!

He refused to take correct action against Covid in February of last year when it became known how much of a threat-killer Covid would be. And as a result of his inaction in February and throughout the year the US has undergone the pain of more than 320K Covid deaths during his term of office! (See here)

Now you tell me that "that just isn't so" and is a bold-lie perpetrated by mischievous people like me over the Internet!

Wakey, wakey - dreamer ...

 

[Mycroft]

WAKEY, WAKEY!



More like "just saying blah-blah-blah".

Trump was unarguably the worst PotUS since a long, long time. He's a killer. Hopefully, his trial before Congress will likely come to that conclusion and find him guilty. And if Congress does not come to that conclusion, imagine what future presidents may well get away with!?!

He refused to take correct action against Covid in February of last year when it became known how much of a threat-killer Covid would be. And as a result of his inaction in February and throughout the year the US has undergone the pain of more than 320K Covid deaths during his term of office! (See here)

Now you tell me that "that just isn't so" and is a bold-lie perpetrated by mischievous people like me over the Internet!

Wakey, wakey - dreamer ...

Your Economist article isn't about Trump. Why are YOU talking about Trump?

Look...we already know you are a Trump hater. That's a given. Hell, you repeat your Trump hate blather every chance you get.

So what...are you now starting threads that have nothing to do with Trump hatred just so you can spew your hate Trump blather some more?

btw, do you STILL have nothing to say about all the American Biden killed?

 

[Lafayette]

THE FACTUAL EVIDENCE OF INEQUALITY

How to renew American Democracy is a very big and a quite complex problem. First is the need to fully and clearly define what Americans mean when they use the word "democracy", for there is no national consensus on what the word means and how it should be expressed institutionally in America. That has to be sorted immediately.

Yes, this needs to be done, and it must start "at the bottom", that is, of the age-chart. The kids In school must have a thorough treatment of not How that political-machine in LaLaLand on the Potomac works but How it should work. Because income-disparity in America is sharply unfair.

Iow, what is the fundamental background of freedom of thought? Most certainly, we are "all created equal". But, any review of Income Distribution makes it clear that Equal Income is not one of the "equalities envisioned". For two reasons:
1. It is the paving-the-road for "inequalities" by means of unfair taxation that now dominates pubic-debate. (In the sense that upper-income taxation is patently too low and allows far too much accumulation of earned-income that becomes wealth-for-the-idle.)
2. That the inequality of income is normal but when it becomes disproportionately-different, then the Income Levels become also unfair. As shown here:

Communism proved - in its past existence as a prevalent political theory - that it doesn't work. That is, it is dysfunctional. Because we humans are very different from one another - some more adept and many less adept in successfully generating personal income.

But mankind was also smart enough to understand that if Communism is not the right-rule, then what is? Which means a fair distribution of income - with sufficiency for a decent lifestyle at the bottom and moderation at the top. Of these two opposites, we presently have neither in place in America. What we have is shown above - a very stark difference between the bottom and the top. Which is always a dangerous distribution.

Which is where we should be considering any change - and change is highly due. We must not accept the current LARGE disparity in income from bottom-to-top. From the Pew Research Center:
6 facts about economic inequality in the U.S.

 

[Monica33]

Your Economist article isn't about Trump. Why are YOU talking about Trump?
Look...we already know you are a Trump hater. That's a given. Hell, you repeat your Trump hate blather every chance you get.
So what...are you now starting threads that have nothing to do with Trump hatred just so you can spew your hate Trump blather some more?
btw, do you STILL have nothing to say about all the American Biden killed?

OP effectively displaying major Cognitive Dissonance .

He wanted to engineer a progression , Better > Good > Biden > Himself , but got badly stuck .

There is nothing to progress the Biden part except a Bill originally started by Republicans , albeit finalised with Blue Bow decorations rather than Red ones

It is clearly desperately important for him to make a direct personal connection with Biden but he has no big weapon to do it with . Desperation then takes over .

So lame . So contrived .

 

[bearpoker]

WAKEY, WAKEY!



More like "just saying blah-blah-blah".

Trump was unarguably the worst PotUS since a long, long time. He's a killer. Hopefully, his trial before Congress will likely come to that conclusion and find him guilty. And if Congress does not come to that conclusion, imagine what future presidents may well get away with!?!

He refused to take correct action against Covid in February of last year when it became known how much of a threat-killer Covid would be. And as a result of his inaction in February and throughout the year the US has undergone the pain of more than 320K Covid deaths during his term of office! (See here)

Now you tell me that "that just isn't so" and is a bold-lie perpetrated by mischievous people like me over the Internet!

Wakey, wakey - dreamer ...

Sadly the trial before congress is over and Trump was acquitted. Republicans acknowledged his guilt but declined to hold him accountable. It was a classic case of passing the buck.

 

[Rich2018]

From the Economist, here: How to renew America's democracy

Excerpt:



Many may disagree, but the Trump tenure as PotUS was a colossal failure. For four years, his major political achievement was to reduce upper-income taxation the intent of which was to assure donations for his reelection. Which almost succeeded!

The main point regarding his tenure in office being Covid, the consequences of which he clearly either failed to assess or, even, take preventive action. He left office after having allowed Covid to kill 336800 Americans (from here) in 2020 whilst in office. He took no-action-whatsoever in the most deadly invasion of an epidemic in the history of the country.

As regards presidential negligence, which should be on trial shortly, America has not had such a comprehensive peacetime death-related case before ....

Rebuilding US democracy will take constitutional amendments, and with a polarized political system, that's not likely.

The Republicans are the minority party in the USA, and it's doubtful they'll ever have majority support, so they'll oppose any and all initiative to reform the US political system.

 

[Antiwar]

Supposed democracy isn't going to solve humanity's biggest problem.

 

[Lafayette]

WARNING!

Sadly the trial before congress is over and Trump was acquitted. Republicans acknowledged his guilt but declined to hold him accountable. It was a classic case of passing the buck.

Aquitted me-arse.

He's guilty of Munificent-Incompetence in the eyes of most who have witnessed his self-centered political-naiveness over the last 4 years. And his leaving was no different. He roused the ignoramuses with his usual BS-speech, inciting them on to ravage Congress, then returned meekly to the White House from which he left a day later.

Frankly, how pusillanimous can anyone get? Doesn't matter, he's been like that all his life. Which is no excuse.

But a damn fine warning! Let's hope the upcoming "trial" of jerko will be worth its wait. Somehow I doubt Congress can get anything right (or left) ... !

 

[bearpoker]

WARNING!


Aquitted me-arse.

He's guilty of Munificent-Incompetence in the eyes of most who have witnessed his self-centered political-naiveness over the last 4 years. And his leaving was no different. He roused the ignoramuses with his usual BS-speech, inciting them on to ravage Congress, then returned meekly to the White House from which he left a day later.

Frankly, how pusillanimous can anyone get? Doesn't matter, he's been like that all his life. Which is no excuse.

But a damn fine warning! Let's hope the upcoming "trial" of jerko will be worth its wait. Somehow I doubt Congress can get anything right (or left) ... !

There will probably be a trial in Georgia on his attempted election interference.

 

[bearpoker]

Supposed democracy isn't going to solve humanity's biggest problem.

Well no, humanity's biggest problem is human nature, which has to be managed in the most "humane" way possible. Democracy isn't great at that, but it's a damn sight better than any other system.

 

[Rich2018]

Supposed democracy isn't going to solve humanity's biggest problem.

Why not ?

 

[Antiwar]

Well no, humanity's biggest problem is human nature, which has to be managed in the most "humane" way possible. Democracy isn't great at that, but it's a damn sight better than any other system.

Human behaviors wrt Nature is our biggest problem. Nature can and likely will kick our collective ass.

 

[Antiwar]

Why not ?

See #15.

 

[Lafayette]

DC-ON-THE-POTOMAC

Supposed democracy isn't going to solve humanity's biggest problem.

Look, democracy is nothing but people like you and me (and millions others) having their "say" about where a country should be going. The point being, most of us don't really give a damn who is running the country as long as they have a decent job.

Which means what? This: When the fit-hits-the-shan we finally get Very Upset that the people "we voted into office" can't seem to get-it-right! The damage is done, and we pay the consequences. (Tepid growth and insufficient employment nationally.)

For as long as they have no idea whatsoever of what a country should be doing, then those people up in DC-on-the-Potomac will do whatever-the-hell-they-want-to-do that pleases either their party-leaders or themselves (and their next election). Meaning what?

This, methinks: Representatives to Congress should never be allowed to pass more than two consecutive appointments to either the Senate or the HofR. They may have to leave after two-sittings in Congress, but they can always make a come-back in a following election.

Otherwise our democracy will remain as it is. Full of personal self-interest and the rest of us voters can go you-know-where! Yes, boyz-'n-girlz, that is the depth to which democracy has sunk and not only in America. Meaning what? That those people in political office who think it is a lifetime career have it all-wrong! When it isn't! Without renovation, then any management-organization (political or business), get's too comfortable and seeks ONLY to maintain that comfort! (It's a human frailty.)

What we must avoid is this:
*We, the sheeple, voted for them so we-the-sheeple must take the blame for their Collective Self-interest!
*We, the sheeple, have to rise out of our collective-stupor and vote for some intelligent people who have first the nation at heart and their own personal career secondly.
*We should participate in political campaigns to assure that the above two rules are maintained.
*Instead of bitching-in-a-blog when things go very wrong.

Where do we find such people. Everywhere. They've just been put to sleep by the inanity of a jerk-PotUS who lost the popular-election but won the presidency! (How did that happen in an antiquated institution called the Electoral College, which no other developed country on earth has replicated in their own country.)

WHATZAT? It is the reality of a political-governance that is more than two centuries old and showing that it needs some serious rethinking-remaking ... !

 

[mrdeltoid]

From the Economist, here: How to renew America's democracy

Excerpt:



Many may disagree, but the Trump tenure as PotUS was a colossal failure. For four years, his major political achievement was to reduce upper-income taxation the intent of which was to assure donations for his reelection. Which almost succeeded!

The main point regarding his tenure in office being Covid, the consequences of which he clearly either failed to assess or, even, take preventive action. He left office after having allowed Covid to kill 336800 Americans (from here) in 2020 whilst in office. He took no-action-whatsoever in the most deadly invasion of an epidemic in the history of the country.

As regards presidential negligence, which should be on trial shortly, America has not had such a comprehensive peacetime death-related case before ....

America is not a democracy, and there's so much emotion driven hate and incorrect info in your post, I wouldn't know where to start, or how to respond.

 

[Lafayette]

Well no, humanity's biggest problem is human nature, which has to be managed in the most "humane" way possible. Democracy isn't great at that, but it's a damn sight better than any other system.

I keep saying: We must teach our high-school students the ideals of our democracy - and we have many. But also the incompetent manner in which it is often run. (Politics should not be BUSINESS wherein we enhance our own personal wealth.)

 

[mrdeltoid]

I keep saying: We must teach our high-school students the ideals of our democracy - and we have many. But also the incompetent manner in which it is often run. (Politics should not be BUSINESS wherein we enhance our own personal wealth.)

Did you support Biden?

 

[Evilroddy]

America is not a democracy, and there's so much emotion driven hate and incorrect info in your post, I wouldn't know where to start, or how to respond.

mrdeltoid:

America is and has always been a representative democracy. Read the preamble to the constitution and the articles laying out how representative democracy works. Perhaps you mean America is not a Parliamentary Democracy or a Direct Democracy, which it is not. However a representative democracy is still a subset of the greater family of democracy.

Yes, Lafayette is passionate and angry but at the core of his arguments there are at least two critical kernels of truth. Income inequality and concentration of wealth threaten American democracy because elites in America have sold the populace the notion that money is de facto free speech. This has led to the normalising and legalising of what used to be called political graft and corruption, which has made voters' voices and ballots more irrelevant to elected politicians, who are now effectively indirectly buying their offices and are increasingly beholden to those who help them in that buying.

The second kernel of truth in Lafayette's posts is that a society which syphons off public taxpayer monies to enrich the elites who receive lucrative government contracts for government services is at its core very dangerous, as it makes such a system progressively more hostile to the interests of the vast majority of the population who no longer believe themselves to have a stake in the state and then turn their backs on it. Eventually such rejection manifests itself in dangerous forms of populism and ultimately in rebellion or revolution, which are seldom good for the people or the country. So better governance with an element of redistribution of income to poorer citizens and poorer regions of the state are the only ways to keep a capitalist liberal democracy stable in the long run.

This is why so many frustrated Americans supported the populist Donald Trump in his bid for the presidency. But he was just a huckster and rather than serving their interests, he gave disproportionate tax breaks to the very rich, followed policies which raised the stock markets but not the well being of most working and unemployed Americans, created tariff policies which hurt their interests and followed a policy of divide to rule, alienating Americans from Americans. Ultimately his inaction and denial to a pandemic cost the lives of about 40% of the nearly 400,000 Americans who died from complications associated with Covid-19 before he left office.

US could have averted 40% of Covid deaths, says panel examining Trump's policies

The country began the pandemic with a degraded public health infrastructure, leading to more deaths than other high-income countries

www.theguardian.com

He then tried to subvert democracy in America in order to hold onto power but was fortunately too undisciplined and too stupid to successfully pull his semi-silent coup off. In other words Former President Trump and minions like Lindsey Graham, Mitch McConnell, etc. are significant parts of the problem with democracy in America and are therefore serious obstacles to its renewal.


Cheers and be well.
Evilroddy.

 

[Rich2018]

See #15.

How will nature undermine democracy ?

 

[Evilroddy]

How will nature undermine democracy ?

Rich2018:

Nature is not a democracy, it is a predatory hierarchy which regularly shakes things up with local, regional or mass extinctions and die backs. In any democracy humans do what they want to do, not what they should do, so democracy is not the answer for our pending environmental come-uppin's. I don't think Antiwar wants to admit that depressing truth although he did niggle about "supposed democracy" in one post above. We are nature and we are presently at the top of the hierarchy, causing extinction after extinction. We are fulfilling nature's desired role for brutal change and soon we ourselves will be the victims of that change with deaths in the billions.

@Antiwar too.

Cheers and be well?
Evilroddy.

 

[Evilroddy]

THE FACTUAL EVIDENCE OF INEQUALITY



Yes, this needs to be done, and it must start "at the bottom", that is, of the age-chart. The kids In school must have a thorough treatment of not How that political-machine in LaLaLand on the Potomac works but How it should work. Because income-disparity in America is sharply unfair.

Iow, what is the fundamental background of freedom of thought? Most certainly, we are "all created equal". But, any review of Income Distribution makes it clear that Equal Income is not one of the "equalities envisioned". For two reasons:
1. It is the paving-the-road for "inequalities" by means of unfair taxation that now dominates pubic-debate. (In the sense that upper-income taxation is patently too low and allows far too much accumulation of earned-income that becomes wealth-for-the-idle.)
2. That the inequality of income is normal but when it becomes disproportionately-different, then the Income Levels become also unfair. As shown here:

Communism proved - in its past existence as a prevalent political theory - that it doesn't work. That is, it is dysfunctional. Because we humans are very different from one another - some more adept and many less adept in successfully generating personal income.

But mankind was also smart enough to understand that if Communism is not the right-rule, then what is? Which means a fair distribution of income - with sufficiency for a decent lifestyle at the bottom and moderation at the top. Of these two opposites, we presently have neither in place in America. What we have is shown above - a very stark difference between the bottom and the top. Which is always a dangerous distribution.

Which is where we should be considering any change - and change is highly due. We must not accept the current LARGE disparity in income from bottom-to-top. From the Pew Research Center:
6 facts about economic inequality in the U.S.

Lafayette:

Okay, how do you sell this clear reality and the policies necessary to reverse it to an American polity of which a very significant part is viscerally hostile to notions of socialism and redistribution of income or wealth and is armed to the teeth? The problem,is clear, yes, but the denial of the problem and the refusal to fix it is strong and based in deep emotions and principles of individualism, the primacy of the market place as sold through powerful networks of think-tanks and media and an almost religious adherence to the celebration of predatory success. How do you change such a nation quickly and effectively? You don't. This must be a pan-generational remedy.

Cheers and be well.
Evilroddy.

 

[mrjurrs]

OP effectively displaying major Cognitive Dissonance .

He wanted to engineer a progression , Better > Good > Biden > Himself , but got badly stuck .

There is nothing to progress the Biden part except a Bill originally started by Republicans , albeit finalised with Blue Bow decorations rather than Red ones

It is clearly desperately important for him to make a direct personal connection with Biden but he has no big weapon to do it with . Desperation then takes over .

So lame . So contrived .

And which bill are you referring to? Because if it's the relief bill that was tied to the omnibus bill in December you can log off and do something else, because they are two different things.