Outstanding suggestions. Wish I had a magic wand or laser to "make it so" - all of it. If only we were serious about governing instead of auditioning for a child's Holiday Play from Hell.
I guess the silver lining might be that the Republicans are fully displaying their immaturity and their ignorance of democracy, decency and the Founders wishes.
For my part, I am including "Project 2025" in all my comments. There it is. The plan to install a kleptocracy just like Russia.
That's a big ask for a Congress that is functionally ungovernable.
It is ungovernable for two big reasons. First, there is the Hastert rule introduced when Gingrich became majority leader during the Clinton years. That rule originally was that the Republican speaker would only introduce legislation that had majority support in the Republican Caucus. It has now morphed into the belief that the speaker should only introduce legislation that can pass with only Republican votes. In other words, Republicans have no interest in bipartisanship.
Second, because of the modified Hastert rule and the narrow majority that Republicans hold in the House, a small number of MAGA fanatics who have no interest in legislating, are able to force the House to choose between not passing anything and only passing the legislation that this small number of representatives approve. These MAGA faithful have had the luxury of being elected from "safe" districts and so could take extreme positions.
This only works, however, as long as Republicans hold a majority AND the MAGA extremists continue to get re-elected. This next election cycle holds the promise of changing both of those things. Dems have a good chance of regaining their majority in the House. And key MAGA bomb throwers are in trouble. Boebert almost lost the last time around, is facing several investigations, and clearly has some personal problems. Gaetz is still under investigation by the House ethics committee for sex trafficking and wants to run for governor. MTG is running for the Trump VP slot. Her pivot to support McCarthy has cost her standing with the Freedom Caucus. Aligning herself with a failed Trump presidential bid may further tarnish her career. Trump has encouraged her to run for the Senate in 2026 against Kemp and Ossoff. If she chooses to run again, she has a 6% lead in her district against the generic Democratic candidate. Trump won that same district in 2020 by 40%.
If voters give the Democratic Party a unified government in 2024, you'll see a return to normal order. The remaining MAGA terrorists will still be noisy, but largely powerless. Hopefully voters will continue to reward the party that demonstrates that the federal government CAN again be a force for good in the lives of its citizens.
Common sense suggestions all, but the background music I keep hearing is that lovely Stephen Foster melody "Beautiful Dreamer." Politics seems never to be about common sense.
I agree with Bill - outstanding suggestions, but I'm not gonna hold my breath. We need to redouble our efforts to highlight the deficiencies, but unfortunately, Congress and the Supremes have lowered expectations so much that the deficiencies have become normalized.
Outstanding suggestions. Wish I had a magic wand or laser to "make it so" - all of it. If only we were serious about governing instead of auditioning for a child's Holiday Play from Hell.
I guess the silver lining might be that the Republicans are fully displaying their immaturity and their ignorance of democracy, decency and the Founders wishes.
For my part, I am including "Project 2025" in all my comments. There it is. The plan to install a kleptocracy just like Russia.
That's a big ask for a Congress that is functionally ungovernable.
It is ungovernable for two big reasons. First, there is the Hastert rule introduced when Gingrich became majority leader during the Clinton years. That rule originally was that the Republican speaker would only introduce legislation that had majority support in the Republican Caucus. It has now morphed into the belief that the speaker should only introduce legislation that can pass with only Republican votes. In other words, Republicans have no interest in bipartisanship.
Second, because of the modified Hastert rule and the narrow majority that Republicans hold in the House, a small number of MAGA fanatics who have no interest in legislating, are able to force the House to choose between not passing anything and only passing the legislation that this small number of representatives approve. These MAGA faithful have had the luxury of being elected from "safe" districts and so could take extreme positions.
This only works, however, as long as Republicans hold a majority AND the MAGA extremists continue to get re-elected. This next election cycle holds the promise of changing both of those things. Dems have a good chance of regaining their majority in the House. And key MAGA bomb throwers are in trouble. Boebert almost lost the last time around, is facing several investigations, and clearly has some personal problems. Gaetz is still under investigation by the House ethics committee for sex trafficking and wants to run for governor. MTG is running for the Trump VP slot. Her pivot to support McCarthy has cost her standing with the Freedom Caucus. Aligning herself with a failed Trump presidential bid may further tarnish her career. Trump has encouraged her to run for the Senate in 2026 against Kemp and Ossoff. If she chooses to run again, she has a 6% lead in her district against the generic Democratic candidate. Trump won that same district in 2020 by 40%.
If voters give the Democratic Party a unified government in 2024, you'll see a return to normal order. The remaining MAGA terrorists will still be noisy, but largely powerless. Hopefully voters will continue to reward the party that demonstrates that the federal government CAN again be a force for good in the lives of its citizens.
Common sense suggestions all, but the background music I keep hearing is that lovely Stephen Foster melody "Beautiful Dreamer." Politics seems never to be about common sense.
Dave, I'll have some of what you're smokin'!
I agree with Bill - outstanding suggestions, but I'm not gonna hold my breath. We need to redouble our efforts to highlight the deficiencies, but unfortunately, Congress and the Supremes have lowered expectations so much that the deficiencies have become normalized.