Senate Republicans have proposed an even worse version of a House provision that will require citizens suing the government to post enormous sums in bonds
"If you are certain that your “side” will forever be in power, and will do no constitutional wrong, maybe this is a good idea."
Don't Republicans have pretty good reason to think that they *will* be forever in power? They have a pretty potent combination of the organic popularity of right-wing cultural values plus the Trump Administration's willingness to abuse state prosecutorial and military power against their opponents. The GOP pretty clearly aspires to an Orban-like hammerlock on power, and they are quite likely to win at least the next few national elections (after which the outcomes of national elections may no longer be in doubt).
The unpopularity of the Democratic opposition is a key backdrop to all of this and a key feature that enables Trump's abuses. There are a handful of Democratic policies - mainly around protecting social insurance programs - that are at least potentially appealing to swing voters. But as things currently stand, we are getting routed on a bunch of 80-20 cultural issues and that swamps everything else. Swing voters will not even *consider* voting Dem as long as we are tainted by the radioactive unpopularity of, well, people like me - college-educated technical experts with liberal social values. Or (as the median voter would call me) - libtards.
Trump can do whatever he wants because we are not an opposition he fears losing to. We need our party to look and sound a lot more like MGP and Jared Golden and Ruben Gallego, and a lot less like me, if we will ever change this. Protecting the Article III powers is important, but the only constraint Trump will ultimately respect is political.
One can say that it is easier to abolish rule of law and democracy than to create it. To many official right-wingers are inspired by authoritarian developments as in Hungary.
Thank you so much for this information ... I have shared it on my FB and have #indivisible ... I get there is a lot going on this weekend, but I am really hoping that people will start to hear about this coming Monday. This is not okay, and I view it as a significant blow to democracy, really the beginning of the end if it is not removed from the bill. This is unconscionable.
Thank you for the excellent analysis and material for nightmares for years to come.
To restate the obvious this turns the entire Constitution on its head. Protecting the government from the people was not on the drawing board of the founders and certainly not why the Bill of Rights was amended to it.
There was a time I would have believed the Supreme Court would overturn such a draconian measure, and I hope they still would, but I no longer am confident of that.
Hey, why not go full Grimm's Brothers and demand those suing the government for redress provide their first-born as a security deposit. Who are these people?!? Surely not the Republicans carrying a mini-Constitution in their suit pockets.....
"If you are certain that your “side” will forever be in power, and will do no constitutional wrong, maybe this is a good idea."
Don't Republicans have pretty good reason to think that they *will* be forever in power? They have a pretty potent combination of the organic popularity of right-wing cultural values plus the Trump Administration's willingness to abuse state prosecutorial and military power against their opponents. The GOP pretty clearly aspires to an Orban-like hammerlock on power, and they are quite likely to win at least the next few national elections (after which the outcomes of national elections may no longer be in doubt).
The unpopularity of the Democratic opposition is a key backdrop to all of this and a key feature that enables Trump's abuses. There are a handful of Democratic policies - mainly around protecting social insurance programs - that are at least potentially appealing to swing voters. But as things currently stand, we are getting routed on a bunch of 80-20 cultural issues and that swamps everything else. Swing voters will not even *consider* voting Dem as long as we are tainted by the radioactive unpopularity of, well, people like me - college-educated technical experts with liberal social values. Or (as the median voter would call me) - libtards.
Trump can do whatever he wants because we are not an opposition he fears losing to. We need our party to look and sound a lot more like MGP and Jared Golden and Ruben Gallego, and a lot less like me, if we will ever change this. Protecting the Article III powers is important, but the only constraint Trump will ultimately respect is political.
One can say that it is easier to abolish rule of law and democracy than to create it. To many official right-wingers are inspired by authoritarian developments as in Hungary.
Thank you so much for this information ... I have shared it on my FB and have #indivisible ... I get there is a lot going on this weekend, but I am really hoping that people will start to hear about this coming Monday. This is not okay, and I view it as a significant blow to democracy, really the beginning of the end if it is not removed from the bill. This is unconscionable.
Yikes! Thanks for writing this, Clint.
Thank you for the excellent analysis and material for nightmares for years to come.
To restate the obvious this turns the entire Constitution on its head. Protecting the government from the people was not on the drawing board of the founders and certainly not why the Bill of Rights was amended to it.
There was a time I would have believed the Supreme Court would overturn such a draconian measure, and I hope they still would, but I no longer am confident of that.
It is a terrible law but remember that the courts can and will declare these things unconstitutional.
Thanks for standing up, Boss!
Let’s investigate WHO wrote this measure into the bill. I’ll bring the tar, you bring the feathers!
Hey, why not go full Grimm's Brothers and demand those suing the government for redress provide their first-born as a security deposit. Who are these people?!? Surely not the Republicans carrying a mini-Constitution in their suit pockets.....
Great article! Thank you
This is decidedly Not A Good Thing™.