US Politics: Something I've Been Worrying About...

[dewline]

...got another kick in the pants to keep it moving:

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/wisconsin-lawmakers-endorse-radical-constitutional-idea

Dominionists on the move, I fear.

Comments

[mmcirvin]

It's important to keep in mind that, constitutionally, such a convention would still need to have its amendments ratified by three-fourths of the states, which is 38. That's actually a much harder lift even than 34--you'd need hardline Republican control starting to encroach into some seriously blue states. Having a moderate Republican governor would not be enough.

The 2017 election results also suggest that the long wave of Republican gains in state government has crested and could be reversed in the next couple of election cycles. Extreme gerrymandering keeps it going to some degree, but a strong enough wave can overcome that. 2020 is a census/redistricting year, and there's been a new set of court challenges to gerrymandering that has had some positive results already.

[thewayne]

I think your second paragraph is the most telling as to why this is unlikely to happen. While I think the Constitution could stand some tweaking and fixes, there is such incredible danger of wrecking the whole thing if a constitutional convention is ever held that I hope it never happens. I think the 38 state requirement would prevent that, but a lot might depend on how long of an expiration date they put on passing the rewrite.

Amendments are a perfectly reasonable way to fix things: that's what they're there for. And while the idea of a balanced budget amendment is admirable, considering that Bill Clinton was the last president to balance the budget I just can't see it happening.

I am concerned about the 2020 census and the way that the current administration is mucking up that agency. At least, as you point out, a lot of current court battles are being lost that try to uphold gerrymandering.

There's too much money in politics, too many vested interests. There was a documentary filmmaker that went to a Tea Party gathering on the Jersey Shore shortly after Katrina hit. She went asking people: should we eliminate Education: NO! The Veteran's Administration? NO! State Department? NO! Aid to Foreign Countries? NO! Social Security? NO! Medicare? NO! And the list went on.

"Everybody" wants smaller government, but everybody has their favorite departments that shouldn't get cut. Makes for a very difficult balancing act.

[mmcirvin]

The balanced-budget amendment is a terrible idea. At the very least, the government needs to be capable of using deficit spending in a recession. Nor are the people pushing it ever actually serious about producing a balanced budget; they're all about tax cuts over everything.

[thewayne]

I absolutely agree, the Feds need the flexibility to add debt during down times.  It's just like it's prudent for people to maintain lines of credit and credit cards for when they're needed, but they should also try to live within their means.  The problem is that it seems to be rare that the Republicans want to live within their means when they're in charge, and when they're not in charge, they like screaming that the deficit and debt are the worst things known to mankind. I really hate the duplicity of politics.  I guess that's why most Congresscritters are attorneys: it makes it easier for them to talk out of both sides of their mouth.  And it's tax cuts for the top brackets, of which they're usually a part of.  Never mind the long-term consequences or the increased burden on the lower classes.

[mmcirvin]

...It appears that Republicans may hang onto control of the Virginia House of Delegates 51-49, though some races are still too close to call and going into recounts. That despite the fact that the Democrats led the popular vote by a significant margin; Virginia HoD is pretty heavily gerrymandered for the Republicans.

I am also worried that the 2020 census may be so bungled that we can't even trust it, possibly deliberately. If a lot of states have a large chunk of their Hispanic population just disappear, we'll know what probably happened.

[dewline]

Shades of what Harper did to the Canadian census of 2011...

[thewayne]

It's sad that so many states have the popular vote won by the Dems yet are still controlled by the Republicans.  The RNC did an amazing job in 2000 and 2010 with what they did, and it's going to take a long time to unwind it.  And unless they put laws and possibly state constitutional amendments in to place to prevent repeats, there's little to discourage the RNC from trying it again some time. I saw some pretty positive stories from Virginia about felons getting to vote.  That might have made a big difference in this and future elections, at least in that state.  I wonder how many countries continue to crush the civil rights of offenders who have completed their 'debt to society' like we do.  I know there is a movement in some states to remove the check box from job applications indicating that you have previous criminal convictions, I believe at least one state has passed such a bill.

[dewline]

...there is such incredible danger of wrecking the whole thing if a constitutional convention is ever held that I hope it never happens.

If I understand the situation at present, "wrecking the whole thing" by turning it into a petro-theocracy is the whole point of the Dominionists' exercise.

Maybe I've read and listened to too much of Chris Hedges. Maybe I haven't read and listened to enough. Not sure yet.