"After all, some Democrats are not averse to using the ring of power for good." hyperlink leads to Lord of the Rings, specifically to Boromir's speech on the use of the One Ring. Didn't know you guys in the US had the son of Gondor among Democrats, but hell yeah! Just don't give him the ring, of course
A must have constitutional amendment that is absolutely imperative is one that limits the flow of individual or corporate money, seen and hidden that is allowed to corrupt the election process since the Supreme Court allowed that in 2019. Starving the beast of political money 💰 is must have priority above everything else when the new Congress takes hold in 2027.
I suspect many voters would like to see Congress taking a more active role, in theory. However, even when Congress is functioning relatively well and trying to get things done, it is still a messy and long process. So, it seems much easier to just have the president ignore Congress.
People say constitutional amendments are impossible in this polarized electorate, but I just absolutely reject that. I'd like to see more candidates advocating for amendments.
Back in the '80s and '90s, Republicans frequently campaigned on a balanced budget amendment, which, though a bad idea in principle, was a very good campaign topic.
We already have a serious constitutional amendment moving forward that more than half the states have already given resolutions asking Congress to send to them. This includes deep red states like Idaho and my own home state of Oklahoma.
This particular amendment focuses on campaign finance. But in light of the problems of our gerontocracy, I think amendments on term limits for SCOTUS and maximum age would poll very well too.
We shouldn't preemptively concede that an amendment is impossible.
I’ve been thinking—and I’ll write about this—that after November we could have an opportunity. If Republicans figure out that Trumpism is dead and the next president is likely to be a Democrat, they just might decide that it’s time to start limiting executive power, because in a few years, their guy will not be wielding it. I recognize this depends on at least a few prominent Republicans being smart, so it is a longshot.
You get an 'A' for content and a 'D-' for your photo. Why make a young, vigorous and handsome young candidate look like a shadowy character from a 1950's noir detective story? He's not "Bogey," he's Today.
Am I the only one who gets really nervous when I read something like "With Democrats seemingly poised to take back control of Congress in next month’s midterm elections, it’s time to start looking at the next question: What will they do with it?"
My PTSD from "With Hillary Clinton poised to take the presidency....." has never gone away and will perhaps never go away. I was doing "radio commentary" for the campus streaming station at the community college where I teach political science that night. Everyone could see early on that things were going monumentally badly, though I managed to hold out hope of a late turnaround until Florida was called.
Can't we just wait to talk about "what to do with it" until "it" happens?
There was an internal debate about how much certainly we should place on the “poised.” (I am more optimistic.) But I do think we have to start thinking about it now, because if we don’t, we won’t be ready when something good happens. And I don’t think we should let being bruised by bad experiences like 2024 keep us from thinking ahead.
I find it both unsurprising and highly hypocritical how both sides want to curb executive power and praise Article 1 whenever they are out of power. I do not remember any outcry from liberals and D’s when first Obama and then Biden (or his puppet masters so incredibly abused the powers of the Executive branch, and Biden continued even when rebuked by the courts. But , of course, that was okay because those presidents did it in the service of the “common good” , while it appears they believe that all Trump’s actions are pure evil. The cumulating of often unchecked power in the executive branch is terribly unfortunate, but often stems from a deadlocked Congress which is apparently no longer able to to act outside the realms of totally mundane matters about which either the public does not care or there is broad agreement.
Sorry, but what trump is doing is different. Sure, anyone can make the argument that "presidential power has been expanding for decades," and "Obama and Biden did some things I didn't like and that I think were power grabs." But to pretend that what trump is doing is somehow just "more of the same" is disingenuous at best. It's not just more of the same. It's entirely different. Even setting aside the enormous monstrous personal self-enriching corruption like never thought we would ever see, trump's actions are different and extreme.
Yes, Biden worked to find a workaround on student debt after his first attempt was held to be unconstitutional. But at no point did Obama or Biden ever simply ignore judicial decisions, as the trump "administration" does almost daily. When the court threw out DAPA, did Obama say "Too bad, court, we're doing it anyway?" Nope. When the court says "Turn the planes around. You are lawlessly deporting people to a foreign gulag," did trump say "Too bad, court, we're doing it anyway?" Yep.
Are all trump's actions pure evil? Not all, perhaps. But almost all. I approve of making it harder for institutional investors to buy up huge tracts of single family houses. I approve of how he hasn't backed off from Biden's CHIPs Act, or from Bush, Obama, Biden efforts to reduce importation of illicit Chinese opioids. There may be a few other things he's done that are not evil. But most of what he's done and is doing *is* evil.
But then, you talk about Biden's "puppet masters." So we know where you're coming from. And it's not a place of objective thought and debate.
So I got this objection when I was doing the Executive Watch for The UnPopulist: Where were you when Obama and Biden tried to stretch executive power? I was there criticizing them—but, like, twice a year. With Trump, it’s five impeachable offenses every week. It’s so great a difference in degree that it becomes a difference in kind.
"After all, some Democrats are not averse to using the ring of power for good." hyperlink leads to Lord of the Rings, specifically to Boromir's speech on the use of the One Ring. Didn't know you guys in the US had the son of Gondor among Democrats, but hell yeah! Just don't give him the ring, of course
Is Ossoff Boromir?
I expect president Ossoff to veto legislation limiting executive power, just like Biden did.
Cynical, yes, but can you blame me?
A must have constitutional amendment that is absolutely imperative is one that limits the flow of individual or corporate money, seen and hidden that is allowed to corrupt the election process since the Supreme Court allowed that in 2019. Starving the beast of political money 💰 is must have priority above everything else when the new Congress takes hold in 2027.
I need to see an off the cuff version of Ossoff though because at times he seems to manicured to me! High hopes
I suspect many voters would like to see Congress taking a more active role, in theory. However, even when Congress is functioning relatively well and trying to get things done, it is still a messy and long process. So, it seems much easier to just have the president ignore Congress.
People say constitutional amendments are impossible in this polarized electorate, but I just absolutely reject that. I'd like to see more candidates advocating for amendments.
Back in the '80s and '90s, Republicans frequently campaigned on a balanced budget amendment, which, though a bad idea in principle, was a very good campaign topic.
We already have a serious constitutional amendment moving forward that more than half the states have already given resolutions asking Congress to send to them. This includes deep red states like Idaho and my own home state of Oklahoma.
https://americanpromise.net/
This particular amendment focuses on campaign finance. But in light of the problems of our gerontocracy, I think amendments on term limits for SCOTUS and maximum age would poll very well too.
We shouldn't preemptively concede that an amendment is impossible.
I’ve been thinking—and I’ll write about this—that after November we could have an opportunity. If Republicans figure out that Trumpism is dead and the next president is likely to be a Democrat, they just might decide that it’s time to start limiting executive power, because in a few years, their guy will not be wielding it. I recognize this depends on at least a few prominent Republicans being smart, so it is a longshot.
You get an 'A' for content and a 'D-' for your photo. Why make a young, vigorous and handsome young candidate look like a shadowy character from a 1950's noir detective story? He's not "Bogey," he's Today.
Am I the only one who gets really nervous when I read something like "With Democrats seemingly poised to take back control of Congress in next month’s midterm elections, it’s time to start looking at the next question: What will they do with it?"
My PTSD from "With Hillary Clinton poised to take the presidency....." has never gone away and will perhaps never go away. I was doing "radio commentary" for the campus streaming station at the community college where I teach political science that night. Everyone could see early on that things were going monumentally badly, though I managed to hold out hope of a late turnaround until Florida was called.
Can't we just wait to talk about "what to do with it" until "it" happens?
There was an internal debate about how much certainly we should place on the “poised.” (I am more optimistic.) But I do think we have to start thinking about it now, because if we don’t, we won’t be ready when something good happens. And I don’t think we should let being bruised by bad experiences like 2024 keep us from thinking ahead.
Thanks for the reply. I just fear losing focus. But I guess it's hard to argue against your desire to be prepared.
Yeah. Have had plenty of eggs that didn't hatch.
I find it both unsurprising and highly hypocritical how both sides want to curb executive power and praise Article 1 whenever they are out of power. I do not remember any outcry from liberals and D’s when first Obama and then Biden (or his puppet masters so incredibly abused the powers of the Executive branch, and Biden continued even when rebuked by the courts. But , of course, that was okay because those presidents did it in the service of the “common good” , while it appears they believe that all Trump’s actions are pure evil. The cumulating of often unchecked power in the executive branch is terribly unfortunate, but often stems from a deadlocked Congress which is apparently no longer able to to act outside the realms of totally mundane matters about which either the public does not care or there is broad agreement.
Sorry, but what trump is doing is different. Sure, anyone can make the argument that "presidential power has been expanding for decades," and "Obama and Biden did some things I didn't like and that I think were power grabs." But to pretend that what trump is doing is somehow just "more of the same" is disingenuous at best. It's not just more of the same. It's entirely different. Even setting aside the enormous monstrous personal self-enriching corruption like never thought we would ever see, trump's actions are different and extreme.
Yes, Biden worked to find a workaround on student debt after his first attempt was held to be unconstitutional. But at no point did Obama or Biden ever simply ignore judicial decisions, as the trump "administration" does almost daily. When the court threw out DAPA, did Obama say "Too bad, court, we're doing it anyway?" Nope. When the court says "Turn the planes around. You are lawlessly deporting people to a foreign gulag," did trump say "Too bad, court, we're doing it anyway?" Yep.
Are all trump's actions pure evil? Not all, perhaps. But almost all. I approve of making it harder for institutional investors to buy up huge tracts of single family houses. I approve of how he hasn't backed off from Biden's CHIPs Act, or from Bush, Obama, Biden efforts to reduce importation of illicit Chinese opioids. There may be a few other things he's done that are not evil. But most of what he's done and is doing *is* evil.
But then, you talk about Biden's "puppet masters." So we know where you're coming from. And it's not a place of objective thought and debate.
So I got this objection when I was doing the Executive Watch for The UnPopulist: Where were you when Obama and Biden tried to stretch executive power? I was there criticizing them—but, like, twice a year. With Trump, it’s five impeachable offenses every week. It’s so great a difference in degree that it becomes a difference in kind.
Right? And most of what isn't evil is corrupt.