A Coming Divide?

A Coming Divide?

   It is a bit ironic that in a nation that practices and tries to spread democracy throughout the world, the United States once again had one of the lowest voter turnouts on record (in some states such as Nevada, it was the lowest in its history)...just over 30% of its citizens voted.  And while political pundits cheered and moaned on both sides, the domination of Congress by one party was merely history repeating its usual pattern of the final years of a two-term president.  Republican or Democrat, the Congress in the U.S. seems to regularly fall to the opposing party in the sixth year.

   What was ironic in the election were the issues that consistently faired poorly when introduced at the federal level, passed on the state level.  Minimum wage increases, a ban on wolf eradication/hunting, stopping Monsanto from introducing GMO products, stopping fracking permits...all passed on different state ballots.  This was a mixed message for the newly elected leaders;  and despite an urge by many politicians to take away environmental regulations, it appeared that the voters were having second thoughts.

   The voters might also be sending another message...time to give up the reins.  Many members of Congress are in their 60s, 70s or 80s.  The new leader of the Senate, Mitch McConnell, is 72, the same age Hillary Clinton will be when the next Presidential election arrives.  The ennui among some of today's voters is spreading quickly among younger voters...when will the career politicians depart?  And why is there room for spending $150 million on a governor's race when the governor's salary is 1/100th that amount and the issues at hand are unemployment and jobs?  And how much influence do lobbyists actually have (quite a bit, it turns out...in one instance, the lobby group for Israel, AIPAC, wanted $225 million more for Israel's defense, this in addition to the $351 already appropriated;  efforts to approve the money, including hiding the request in both a refugee bill and later, a bill to fight wildfires, both failed in the Senate;  after most of the Senate had left for a summer recess, Senator Mitch McConnell called a special session, one in which 4 others Senators appeared --John McCain, Harry Reid, Lindsey Graham and Tim Kaine-- and the bill and money was passed).  Five Senators overriding the process, all legally.

   Last year, Charley Reese, a journalist for 49 years, retired from the Orlando Sentinel and wrote one final column that he titled, 545 vs. 300,000,000 People:  Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against  them.   Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have  deficits?  Have you ever wondered, if all the  politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?   You and I don't propose a federal  budget, the President does.  You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations, the House of Representatives does.  You and I don't write the tax  code, Congress does.  You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.  One hundred senators, 435 Congressmen, one President, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million and they are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.  I excluded the members of the  Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress.  In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.  I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason; they have no legal authority.  They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a President to do one cotton-picking thing.  I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash.  The politician has the power to accept or reject it.  No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes. Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault.  They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.  What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall.  No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating  deficits (the President can only propose a budget; he  cannot force the Congress to accept  it).  The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes.  Who is the speaker of the House?...John Boehner, the leader of the majority party.  He and fellow House members --not the President-- can  approve any budget they want.  If the President vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to (the  House has passed a budget but the Senate has not approved a budget in over three years...the President's proposed budgets have gotten almost unanimous rejections in the Senate in that time). It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted by present facts of incompetence and irresponsibility.  I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545  people.  When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist:  If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it  unfair.  If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red.  If the Army & Marines are in Iraq and Afghanistan it's because they want them in Iraq and Afghanistan.  If they do not receive Social Security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that  way. There are no insoluble government problems.  Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats (whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish), to lobbyists (whose gifts and advice they can reject), and to regulators (to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power).  Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the  economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do. Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible. They, and they alone, have the power.  They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses, provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees. We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!     

   But as with yesterday's post on the mother who stayed smiling and filled with joy even as she battled ALS, my feeling is also one of optimism, a feeling that today's voters, particularly today's younger voters, are intelligent and concerned, and possibly very close to being fed up, despite what the turnout showed.  And like a sleeping dragon, they are awakening and about to move.  As Charley Reese ranted, change would be good for our country...again.  Perhaps ever so slowly, the winds of change --in age, in attitude, in tradition-- will begin to crack our established system, and for the better.  One can only wait and see...the temptations are many once in, and it will take a big changing of the guards.  But 300 million and more are waiting...and next time, they might just vote.