People keep asking me why I don’t jump on the Trump impeachment bandwagon, why instead I’m so fixated on regime change in Congress 2018.
It’s very simple . . . ASYMMETRY.
What do I mean by asymmetry? In a nutshell . . .
Congress can impeach a president but a president can’t impeach Congress.
Less snappy but more incisive and revealing . . .
Congress can contravene a president’s actions but a president cannot contravene what Congress does.
Yes, a president can veto bills. But if there are 67 senators and 290 members of the House who want to pass a law, there is nothing a president can do but honor the will of Congress.
When I talk about regime change in Congress, I’m certainly talking about such numbers. My recent articles call for replacing all 33 senators and at least 400 of the 435 running for the House of Representatives in the 2018 election. No . . . I’m not joking.
And you should be taking this very seriously too.
Whether you call the resulting legislature a progressive Congress, a people’s Congress, a populist Congress — the label really isn’t important — it would decisively include elected representatives who will actually represent the voters who elected them to office.
This means we can be assured it will do many of the critical things the current batch of self-serving, elitist, corrupt, morally bankrupt, duplicitous, lying thieves won’t ever do. Things that in poll after poll, the American people say they want done.
This current Congress — Republicans and Democrats alike — simply refuses to:
- Protect Social Security and Medicare, making them effective and fiscally sound.
- Make the minimum wage commensurate with a living wage, at least $12.50 per hour.
- Provide affordable universal health care, probably built around a single-payer system.
- Make the rich pay their fair share, returning to the tax rates of the 60s and 70s.
- Make corporations also pay their fair share, plus eliminate corporate welfare.
- End the senseless, self-sabotaging wars and advance a sensible DOD budget.
- Actually rebuild our nation’s crumbling infrastructure, not just talk about it.
- End the democracy-destroying impact of the Citizens United decision, and get serious about getting money out of politics.
Asymmetry. If a veto-proof Congress passed any of the above, it wouldn’t matter if Darth Vader was president, there’s nothing he could do. And if he dragged his feet implementing and enforcing such laws, then if worse comes to worse, we’re back to impeachment.
At the same time, if a president like Trump tried to pull any of the stuff he’s pulling right now with a truly representative Congress in place, there would be a serious shit storm of blow back.
Build a wall? Pass a law forbidding use of any government funds or resources for it.
Start a war with Iran? Repeal the Defense Authorization Acts and any related laws which allow discretionary use of military power by the president, then pass legislation forbidding any hostile military, economic, or cyber acts without explicit permission of Congress.
Abolish the Department of Education or EPA? Pass a law reinstating them and take away all discretion over the budgets for those departments from the executive branch.
You get the idea. Let me offer my opening shot again for it to sink in.
Congress can impeach the president but the president can’t impeach Congress.
Let’s backtrack here a bit, as I inject some harsh reality into this discussion.
As long as the orange autocrat stays on his present course, this Congress isn’t going to impeach him. Trump is an ADHD imbecile but in terms of pushing the domestic agenda of the far right — the sinister core principles of the current mutant Republican Party — he is Paul Ryan’s wet dream. As far as foreign policy goes, maybe John McCain and Bonnie Watson Coleman need to bitch slap Trump a bit to get him on board with the annihilate Russia program, but the Trumpster has been a godsend for the war hawks. The sabers are rattling across the Middle East, intimidation of Iran and the Chinese is being cranked up to fever pitch, the administration is threatening North Korea with pre-emptive military strikes, and Trump has proposed an unprecedented 10% increase in the defense budget.
What else could the Rethugs possibly want of their ornery Tweeter of a leader?
But if they did impeach him, in Mike Pence we are looking at more of the same at double the speed with twice the intelligence. The Republican establishment loves him. It’ll be a group hug that’ll make Ann Coulter tear up like a Betsy Wetsy doll.
So let’s stop wasting time and energy on something that in all probability won’t happen and even if it did won’t eliminate the nightmare that Donald Trump represents. As I indicated in my previous article, their bench is deep. Until we remove all these monsters from the power centers of our government — starting with Congress — they’ll continue to be a plague on our nation.
Trump will do a lot of damage but this Congress will do more. The president is powerful but Congress can isolate and immobilize even the most belligerent president.
Asymmetry. The president is not a king. Asymmetry is fundamental to the relationship between the executive and legislative branches of government.
Let’s use it to our advantage. Let’s focus on where the real power is. Time to target the corrupt, pay-for-play puppet show at the east end of the National Mall.
Let’s put our energies into making a difference that will make a difference.
Regime change in Congress 2018!
Warren Buffett or Jimmy Buffett?
Here’s an URGENT APPEAL I received the other day on Facebook:
This is an idea that should be passed around. The BUFFETT Rule! Let’s see if these idiots understand what people pressure is all about.
Congressional Reform Act of 2017
1. No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman / woman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they’re out of office.
2. Congress (past, present, & future) participates in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.
3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.
4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.
5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.
6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.
7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void effective 3/1/17.
The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen/women. Congress made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and go back to work.
If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people, then it will only take three days for most people in the U.S. to receive the message.
It’s time! THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS! If you agree, pass it on.
There’s a lot of confusion about this initiative.
Moreover, he is not in any way responsible for the “Congressional Reform Act of 2017,” which is just the latest version of the dubious and rather flawed “Congressional Reform Act of 2011”.
Regardless, it absolutely astounds me that no one seems to see the ONE MAJOR DEFECT in this noble attempt to reform Congress. This fatal error happens to apply to most of the ideas I’ve recently encountered, intended to fix America and get our country back on track.
This proposed act has to be passed by Congress.
Which begs the obvious question . . .
Why would they pass it?
What are these folks thinking? Do they actually think that the current crop of corporate pay-for-play lapdogs who sit in their comfy jobs in Washington DC are going to do anything to jeopardize their free ride with the rich and powerful of this country?
I just love it, for example, when people propose progressive constitutional amendments. According to the Article V: “The Constitution provides that an amendment may be proposed either by the Congress with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate or by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the State legislatures.” Apparently, these wild-eyed dreamers haven’t read the newspaper lately. The Republicans own the White House, both chambers of Congress, most governorships, and the majority of state legislatures. Even more shocking, we often see Democrats siding with the extreme right-wing legislative ideologues on a host of key issues — increasing defense spending, perpetuating war, advocating more tax breaks to corporations and the wealthy.
Consider this . . .
It’s impossible to get GMO labeling on food product legislated, something supported by 93% of all Americans, regardless of party affiliation. Do progressive strategists actually believe they can get anything through Congress which genuinely serves the majority of Americans, with the current cutthroat mercenary puppets installed in the seats of power? Here we have something 93% of Americans want and it gets killed by corporate greed and legislators who couldn’t spell ‘representation’ if a gun was pointed at their heads.
I’ve said this over and over. But it bears repeating until folks get it.
There is ONLY ONE SOLUTION!
We have to have a CLEAN SWEEP OF CONGRESS. Regime change in Washington DC!
Let’s stop kidding ourselves.
The people now in positions of power will not do anything for everyday U.S. citizens. NOTHING! They will do the bidding of their deep-pocketed financiers, their mega-rich and powerful masters . . . and that’s it. End of story. So let’s start doing some real work! Let’s begin the daunting but absolutely necessary task of swapping out 33 senators and at least 400 of the traitors who are currently in the House of Representatives in 2018.
I have a method for accomplishing this. It’s summarized in two of my books — Candidate Contracts: Taking Back our Democracy and Fighting For The Democracy We Deserve — and dozens of articles published here and all over the web.
In each congressional district, good decent citizens must choose four or five issues which are critical to them, things which are totally non-negotiable, things they are absolute and unswerving about. For example:
1. Make no changes in Social Security and Medicare.
2. Raise the federal minimum wage to $12.50 per hour.
3. Eliminate corporate welfare and increase taxes on the rich.
4. Reverse by law the Citizens United decision.
5. Cut back on military spending.
The good news is that nationally there is already enormous support for these.
75% of Americans want a federal minimum wage of $12.50 per hour.
76% of voters want a cut back on military spending.
79% of voters want no reductions in Social Security, 70% support expanding it.
79% of voters want no reductions in Medicare.
80% of voters oppose the “Citizens United” U.S. Supreme Court decision.
68% of voters think taxes on the wealthy should be increased.
Next step is to draw up a contract or set of contracts on those issues. Such a contract will look and read like this, one I drew up for raising the minimum wage to $15.00 per hour.
Then we simply put it to the candidates. It’s up to them. Will they sign the contract(s) and guarantee that they will go to Washington DC and hit the ground running, doing exactly what we want them to do? Or not?
If they sign, we vote for them.
If they don’t, we vote for someone who will.
It’s that simple! And it’s that clear. Either they will decisively and unequivocally, with no excuses or double-talk, do the job we vote them in office to do . . .
Or we don’t vote for them!
In the event there is no major party candidate willing to sign the contract — and recognize that is a very distinct possibility — then we turn to a minor party candidate, or put one on the ballot ourselves.
THAT’S how you take back our democracy!
THAT’S how we take the guesswork out of voting!
THAT’S how you make sure the voice of the voice of the people is heard!
THAT’S how you put “people” back in the equation . . . government of the people, by the people, for the people.
It’s either that . . . or drink a lot of tequila and watch our country steadily descend into the sewer of economic medievalism and kleptocratic tyranny.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3HBcgxOWAQ
I like a good time as much as the next guy.
But maybe we should wait until we have good reason to celebrate.