Crisis Governance: The New Normal

Gentle readers, have a great Halloween. You might consider going as the scariest thing out there, the Federal Health Insurance Website. I find it interesting that the House Republicans are expending a great deal of energy being upset at what they didn't want to work because it doesn't work.

 

            Is governing by crisis the new business as usual? Can we look forward to a sanctimonious soap opera and knife fight every six months? Probably. Bear in mind that the Tea Party declared a cease fire, not a surrender.

            There are four elements contributing to this new normal. The first is ideological entrenchment, i.e. your belief is right. and their belief is wrong.  Ideological entrenchment is not new in American history.

            The second is viewing the opposition as the enemy rather than as fellow Americans. This is relatively new in American history. The only other time this occurred was around the Civil War. Throughout most of American history, the opposition was viewed as concerned patriotic fellow Americans who had their heads up their butt.

            The third factor contributing to crisis governance is an appalling lack of leadership, mainly from the President. Obama has always adopted an aloof stance with Congress, even during his first term when the Dems ran Congress. He has failed to build relationships even within his own Party. Leadership is grounded in trust, relationship, persuasion, a perceived respect. Without development of these elements by the White House, there is little chance of compromise and leverage. It will be up to Congressional coalitions to moderate extremist elements.

            Some gentle readers may disagree that Obama has abdicated his influence on policy creation. It is easy to blame one guy for the failures of the System, but not accurate. I remind you that even when the Dems ruled the roost, Obama requested very few pieces of legislation, and received nothing that he personally crafted. The Affordable Care Act derisively bears his name, but Obama only requested two policy points in the Bill, and received neither when the Law was passed. Contrast this to relational Presidents such as Johnson, who were intimately involved in crafting legislation. So blaming the President for orchestrating Congressional outcomes is based in fantasy, in my view. He doesn't have the power, and apparently never wanted the power to do so.  

            The fourth factor of the new normal goes to the heart of the matter. Legislators want to keep their jobs. Big Money enables them to keep their jobs. Super-PACs, corporations as persons, and no caps on "free speech" by such corporate persons has created a new political landscape and options for keeping jobs. Think about it. If you had to spend forty to sixty hours of your week begging for money just to keep your job, what would you do? No wonder these guys aren't working on legislation.

            While it's true that the Tea Party shutdown pissed off Republican traditionalists and business folk, but with Super-PAC dinero, Tea Party members can say screw you and access the money to keep their jobs. See, even Tea Party people aren't crazy enough to give up their jobs. There's gold in them there halls.

            The nature and definition of "Republican", "conservative", and "freedom" is being rewritten and redefined by unelected special interest groups with millions of donated dollars. Such redefining is seen in the vote of the rank and file Republicans facing re-election primaries. 64% of House Republicans voted against re-opening the Government and paying our national bills. Leaders within their own Party are gutless to stand up to this handful of bullies. 

            The conjuncture of the four factors above appears to me to make crisis governance inevitable. Change from this model will require either a new President who can actually lead and build relationships, or a new Congressional mix and dynamics.

            Also at the heart of crisis governance is the distinction between politics and governance. The differences may appear subtle but are important. Politics essentially is "our side wins". Governance is about sustaining and directing public institutions and policy for the common good. The shutdown represents a perspective that blurs the line between the two and lacks both prudence and calibration. It also lacks a higher historical perspective. The late House Speaker Tom Foley once described himself as a steward of institutions which transcend generations. Creating a framework for governance was the focus of the Founders and Constitution. Madison may well have predicted the current legislative mess when he wrote "sometimes deliberative wisdom will be conspicuously absent when it is most needed."

            How are politics and governance walked out? The Democrats could test the willingness of the Reality Caucus to follow the Tea Party into oblivion by going full tilt on immigration. Immigration reform is very popular in the country and very needed for the survival of the Republican Party. If the Reality Caucus passes a reform bill similar to the Senate's, the Democrats win a substantial governance victory. If the Tea Party intimidates their colleagues and immigration reform is not passed, the Tea Party marginalizes themselves even more with the American People and the Democrats win a substantial political victory.  

            For over two hundred years, politics has permeated civic life. Only recently, a nihilistic anti-governance ideology has taken root in Congress. This trend is probably another iteration of the nihilistic revolutionary ideology of the 1960s, echoed expressions of an obsolete social legacy.

            Tonight I was listening to a forum of average Joe and Jane Tea Party people discussing the recent shutdown. Don't ask me why I continue to do such things. They enthusiastically supported the shutdown and believed their side "won" because we sent "a message". We need to strengthen our economy. I note that our economy lost $24.1 billion from the shutdown.

            We are sending a message for Government to spend less money. Ok, now their "logic" has got me riled up. Let's break this down logically, shall we?

            We have three branches of government. Who exactly is spending too much money? I think we could all agree that the judicial branch (the Supreme Court) isn't throwing a lot of wild parties and overspending, although those robes look expensive. So we have the President and we have Congress left, right?

            Presidents don't spend money. Civics 101. Presidents are given money by Congress to spend and may indeed spend their given money unwisely. But....Presidents don't spend money, regardless of what is heard on Fox News, the radio, or public opinion. Barak Obama has not raised any debt or spent any actual money. No Presidents ever do. The debt incurred under a Presidential administration is simply a figure of speech. Congress is always the branch of government that spends money and  creates debt. But Presidents don't ever spend money. Hope that spoiler alert repetition gets the point across and provides the answer. When Congress votes not to pay our national bills, they're the people that created the bills in the first place.    

            Ok, so Congress passes laws and spends money. It's kind of in the Constitution. So let's keep going. Congress is composed of the House and the Senate. Who specifically is overspending, Tea Party people? Is the Republican House overspending? If yes, then why? You have no control over the reaction of another person. You always have control over your own reactions or responses. Your own reactions and choices determine what type of world you create. So if yes, get your own House in order.

            If no, we are great and our spending is great, the way it's supposed to be....you must be saying the Democratic Senate is the naughty group of people overspending, right? You do realize that the Senate alone can't create laws and spending bills? The Senate can't be the only ones overspending. Government doesn't work that way. Civics 101. So YOU, Tea Party people in the House, are directly responsible for any overspending which may be occurring. To fail to take responsibility and create reforms is hypocritical. To blame another group in Congress is hypocritical. To blame the President, who can only spend the money Congress gives him, is the height of obfuscation and hypocrisy. Do I believe that Congress overspends, you bet. Do I believe that YOU, Tea Party people, are directly responsible for that spending, you bet.

            What pisses me off, Tea Party extremists, is that you won't step up to make things right. Fight your own bloated pig of a Party to reduce spending. Don't just vote for budgets cutting benefits of the poor and middle class. Go after the REAL money. Fight for serious structural reforms such as closing the corporate welfare loopholes in the tax laws and make it flatter and fairer for all Americans. Fight for fast tracking business entrepreneurship and streamlining conflicting and miring regulations. Fight the predatory practices of Wall Street ($13 billion dollar penalty on a bank yesterday) which is undermining the faith, confidence, and trust of the American People.

            If you are different and want to fight for the interests of We the People over the interests of keeping your job, take on the huge Big Money interests that keep the whole machine running. Fight against corporate welfare and demand accountability for "national security" spending. These expenditures and potential savings/ revenues are far larger than "entitlements" to the needy. Don't like ObmaCare? Put an alternative health care bill on the table. Fight for what you believe, Tea Party people. If you're serious about taking the country down a different course, finding common ground to cut waste and spending across ALL of government is a good start. Washington gets paid if THEY DO NOTHING. They keep their jobs when business as usual goes on. You're just providing the entertainment, Tea Party people, in a system designed not to change.              Are you willing to take on the Big Money breaks and welfare that keeps your colleagues in their jobs? If yes, then you have my support. If no, you are simply incompetent fools, perpetuating the system running the show. You are the campus radicals occupying the ROTC building and thinking you can stop the War. You can't get there from here.  

            Tea Party people, I want you to be focused channels of effective change, but what I'm seeing is a very loud and unpredictable crowd not grounded in reality, and not likely to accomplish anything related to the word effective. In both politics and governance, it is crucial to be realistic in goals and actions. There is no realistic way to accomplish an objective such as defunding an existing law. Why don't you get off your ass and propose alternative legislation to what's not working or what you don't like? Proposing actual alternatives is the foundation of both politics and governance.

            I'll tell you why you don't. Because you're not grounded in reality, tactically or strategically. I actually do listen to alternative views and have been hearing about doomsday scenarios and predictions since Obama took office. No concentration camps, national Sharia law, death panels, or other dire predictions have come true. So now I'm not interested when you repeat what you just heard on Fox News or the radio. I'm not interested in your clarion call warnings about what you're afraid of and are "certain" will happen, but never does. Your future is as grounded in fear and fantasy as your politics. And you refuse to actually govern. Why are you here?

            Whether touting a doomsday liberal future or mooning misty-eyed over mythic bygone days, it is clear that the Tea Party finds the reality of our diverse, evolving, messy democracy distasteful, a reality existent for over a half century. But...you can't love America in theory and hate America in fact.

            I don't care what you think will happen in the future. I don't want to hear that tense from you. I care about what actions you are currently taking on our current problems. If action (rather than obstruction) and the here and now become part of your mindset, we'll talk again.      

 

 

The Devil Made Me Do It

            So what is the price for the House's current political course? The answer is proving surprising. As State resources are cut off, numerous State services are going offline. An you thought trickle down economics didn't work.

            So who is being trickled down upon? Certainly the 9 million women and children receiving medical and food care. Less obvious is every home buyer. Dodd-Frank requires that income be verified by the IRS, which is closed.

            So one could argue that the "slimdown" is affecting very few people and causing little overall pain. If the "burn baby burn" crowd had their way and pulled the plug on Government, it might illuminate the reality that pretty much every American is a taker. Whether "assistance" is received in the form of health care or other personal "entitlements", or whether in the form of tax breaks and the jobs programs of corporate welfare. Cut off these funds, and you'll hear some real screaming. It won't just hurt "those other people". We're pretty much all addicted to some degree to the Government dole. [A Micro-Rant: I note that Verizon raked in $20 billion in profit but paid zero dollars in taxes last year. Strippers pay more taxes....and they get paid in cash...in the dark...but I regress] The bottom line is that Americans want much more government than they are willing to pay for.

            Stretching the social fabric of the nation seems to be brining out some new irrationalities, as evidenced by last weeks polls. They show that more than half of Republicans are Ted Cruz haters, the fellow that got them into this fine mess. The polls also show what they're calling a boomerang effect, i.e. whatever the Tea Party extremists are against, the rest of the country is now taking a shine to...like Big Government, and ObamaCare. So the Tea Party is turning out to be the ultimate beer goggles. They make everything look better.

            As an aside, I'm not clear why the ObamaCare rollout was deemed a failure by Fox News. The servers crashed when 8.7 million people tried to access them in for first 12 hours. When Apple rolls out a product and can't handle the flood of orders, that rollout is called a success. Moving on...

            The Values Voter Convention held last week featured Ted Cruz, Michele Bachmann, Glenn Beck, and Rick Santorum. Cruz was heckled by some in the crowd during his speech. Cruz accused them of being "paid political operatives helping President Obama." Ted doesn't yet realize that he is a paid political operative helping President Obama.

            I point out that the reason sane Republicans are acting nuts because of a few dozen extremists is why other organizations such as the NRA take extremist positions is there is a very loud and aggressive lunatic fringe to the right of the Tea Party waiting to overturn the established order. Look for the verb "primaried", as in "you just got primaried, you surrendering Tea Party scum."

            On the other side of the reactionary coin, there is a group of legislators, your elected officials, who call themselves debt limit deniers. For them, it would be wise to not pay our national bills. That's what voters get for electing someone without a background in law, economics, or history.

            For example, Florida Representative Ted Yoho, a former large animal vet, stated "It would increase the stability of international markets if we defaulted." And you know this how?

            When asked why he would adopt a position contrary to every domestic and international economist in his advocacy of default, Iowa Representative Steve King (the scarier Stephen King) replied that he didn't believe in international and domestic economists. I guess they're kind of like Santa Claus. When asked how he estimated the global economic impact of a default, he stated "Hey, I raised a family." Defense rests...

            Political extremists don't want to cut deals because those who don't think like them are the "enemy". They don't share our "values".

            This last week Values Voter Michele Bachmann advocated shipping arms to Syria. When asked if she was concerned they would fall into the hands of extremists. She replied that would simply hasten the end times and the return of the Lord Jesus.

            A similar mental conflating was apparently also practiced by Justice Antonin Scalia during an interview. Scalia called the devil a person and wondered why we don't see him all that much anymore. I point out that a corporation is also a person. Many people would regard Bachmann's views as loony but consider Scalia a serious intellectual. Not seeing much difference.

            Scalia went on to say, "the devil is all over the New Testament. What happened to him? He got wilier." There's a lot to be said for self-improvement.

            Scalia stated that people might consider him simple minded for his traditional views. He is "a fool for Christ". Whether one is a fool for Christ or coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs, we might keep them away from shaping public policy....or interpreting laws.

            I don't like this trend of bringing the devil into political discourse. Currently, people holding differing political views are not seen as fellow citizens, fellow Americans, the People. Opponents have become a dehumanized enemy, committed to destroy everything we hold dear. When opponents also become agents of evil, any evil act against them is justified.

Beginning of the End?

            The numbers are in...Gallup, Wall Street Journal and other polls indicated historic low support for the government shutdown and debt ceiling brinksmanship. Currently, only 28% of Americans identify themselves as Republicans. Within the Republican ranks, only a handful of extremists support the current failed course of the Party. The next fight we're likely to see played out is the one between the survivalists and the suicide contingent within the Party.

            A large part of the disconnect of Republicans to the People is that Republican legislators return home to gerrymandered districts with over 80% Republican support. That's fine for keeping your job but lousy for connecting to the big picture. When the people you talk to agree with you, you're likely to think you're right and that many more people agree with you. When you insulate yourself in the current "us and them" framing and only talk to the "us", you're likely to create a lot more "thems".

            The Party extremists, who are there to obstruct rather than actually govern, fail to realize what their job is. Politics forges a way forward for beliefs and policies. The delusional element of the extremists is they never had a path forward, currently don't have a path forward, and really don't care about creating a path forward. Politics involves expressing the passion of your beliefs while exercising the prudence needed to shift of political realities.  

            The polls and public sentiment may mean a tipping point historically for the Republican Party's survival. While the current entrenched and irrational course is meant to impact the functioning of Democrats, it could well trigger the demise of extremism within the Republicans. Prominent Republican billionaires see their empires threatened have ordered a course change. When your billionaires turn against you, you lose guys. Big money runs this game. You can tick off the People, but you will lose if you tick off Big Money.

            One might think that the Democrats would really benefit from this business. They might if people vote against Republicans, but people are not likely to choose to vote for Democrats. With a vacuum of leadership across the board, people have lost their faith in Government and collective action over the last few generations. Government has intruded into every aspect of life without improving the quality of that life. We are more deferential towards institutions and less trusting in general as a society.  The American People are the real losers in this shutdown affair as Government loses its ability to empower upward mobility, promote social justice, and stimulate economic growth.

            In all the talk of ideological "truth", purity, hostages, enemies, and surrender is a lack of talk about progress and national competition. The media shaping political realities is fixated on failure and blame, rather than promoting successes and responsibility. And there are many successes forged by the concerted action of Government. For example, the US has hundreds of land grant colleges. The EPA has removed 95% of lead from the air. We're not likely to hear what has been done well, as that doesn't divide, anger, terrify, or justify, the drivers of political media. Whatever happened to a nation divided against itself?

             

 

O Che Can You See

            I haven't commented much on much as of late. And there is so much to comment about around this newsworthy world. My bad. I guess I hadn't been prodded sufficiently to emerge from my exegetical seclusion. I emerge tonight after a profound poking with the stick of Tea Party polls released a few days ago.

            I have much sympathy for the Republicans during this shutdown, a bit nostalgically as I used to be one. Their Party appear to have lost its course after the reign of Bush the First. Without a compass, or a soul, depending on who you talk to, this Party is always being taken over. Recently it was the Party of corporate shills, K Street incarnate. Remember Tom DeLay? The Neocons had their turn at the helm, until the Party rewrote that sad history. Now, the Tea People, around 34 of them in my reckoning, are scaring the bejezus out of the other two hundred or so House Republicans. Another day, another Party take-over. All the fun of rejecting European-style health care while gaining Italian-style governance.

            So the Republican Party is conquered and the Government is shut down. What do our new overlords want? I'm not quite sure. I don't know if they're quite sure either. It seems to be a bit of a Seinfeld shutdown.

            Indiana Tea Person Martin Stutzman said "We're not going to be disrespected..." Is that what all this is about...respect? You guys realize the economy is losing millions a day. The last government shutdown cost the economy over $2 billion. If you just want respect, we'll  give you a plaque that acknowledges your terrific hair and prolific sexual prowess. Anyway, that's why a lot of guys get sports cars.

            Representative Stutzman continued, "We have to get something out of this, and I don't even know what that is." That's a truly remarkable negotiating strategy. You know, when my six year old throws a tantrum, at least he is clear that he wants Cocoa Puffs.

            Other overlord spokespeople said they are fighting for "principles". I'm guessing  reducing government spending might be one of these principles. Do they realize the shutdown doesn't reduce spending, but rather increases spending? The government employees are on back pay and the money will be spent when sanity again prevails. However, tariffs, fines, and fees, i.e. revenue, will not be collected during the shutdown, and thus lost. Then again, reducing government spending might not be one of their "principles". In that case, never mind.

            I note they have introduced targeted bills to keep essential services running, like the Border Patrol...fully funded. I also note they don't fund pussy agencies like the EPA or NOAA, the agencies that track hurricanes. It seems we have a hurricane currently forming and heading this way. New Orleans is reverting to traditional storm tracking practices by throwing beads at drunken college girls. At least one can tell if it's cold outside. So I guess one of their "principles" is that it's more important to keep a nanny from crossing the border than a hurricane? Better name the next one Consuela.  

            There is some certainty in the Tea People agenda. The current focus of their ire is ObamaCare. Wouldn't it really piss these guys off if over time people came to actually like this Law and it became knit into the fabric of American life like Medicare? Think about it. What a fantastic tribute these guys paid to Obama by actually calling the Law by his name. We don't have RooseveltCare or JohnsonCare, other Presidents weaving the social safety net. But the Tea Party ensured that generations to come will laud President Barak Obama for their great health coverage. So the Tea Party is fervently praying to Jesus (who is after all a Republican) that this Law crashes and burns. If it doesn't, that's ok guys, somebody else will just take over the Republican Party when you're gone. 

            A major Tea Person objection about ObamaCare concerns the erosion of personal liberty, which is what that naughty Obama likes to do. Nobody should be between you and your doctor. Obama and his regulations are putting the Government between you and your doctor. Hmmm...since the insurance industry wrote the Law and ObamaCare directs you to private insurance coverage, it seems to me that insurance companies are between you and your doctor (which is my major objection to the Law). Tea People, it would be great if you and your doctor could stroll hand in hand and you could actually pay your own health care costs. But....for a hip replacement, the hip costs $350 to make. The company sells it for $13,000, and insurance company bills you $30,000. These numbers are accurate. Have a good stroll. But I digress as my train of consciousness visits many stations.

            Ok, to the point of why I'm writing.....A poll of Tea Person beliefs indicate that about half 44-53% depending on the question believe that (1) Obama wants to usurp the laws of the land and remain in power when his regime is over, (2) believe that armed revolution might be necessary, (3) believe that Obama is foreign born and illegitimate to hold office, and (4) that defaulting on our national debt would be a good thing.

            It seems to me that I have heard these Tea Party beliefs some years ago, espoused by leftist radicals. Let's see....don't trust the Man, conspiratorial, advocating armed revolution, power to the people, crash the corrupt system and the corrupt economy. Yep, it's all in there. A similar message then and now, but the haircuts are shorter these days.      

            Also similar is the uncertainty of what the Tea Party is creating. What does a Tea Party America look like? We know what Marxist radicals were against, In like manner, the Tea Party gives us a good idea what they are against, but what are they for? It seems these new radicals are an obstructionist Party, not interested in governing or reforms, or even cutting deals. They are ideological purists and view opposing ideologies as the enemy. Why obstruct? They believe the government is too big, spends too much money, and is out of control. It is their patriotic duty to obstruct and oppose. The Tea Party folks love to invoke the language of the Constitution. I point out that the authors of that document set the common good as their legislative criteria. The Tea Party takeover moves us all onto uncharted ground within our democratic experiment.  

            The two Parties are using the shutdown and debt limit (again) to gain political capital for the 2014 elections. Democrats are hungry to take the House. Republicans want to survive their civil war. The new radicals are chanting "Burn Baby Burn".

            All of this nonsense spotlights the profound lack of leadership across the board. The Parties are trying to "win", but both sides are fighting on the edge of the cliff. This precarious position may produce unintended and unforeseen consequences. Bygone Marxist radicals could never have imagined how to create the potential economic and political chaos we now face. This situation is a holiday gift brought to us all by our dysfunctional elected officials.