Tired of Winning Yet?

We heard it a hundred times on the campaign trail.

“I am a winner”

“I am the only person who can fix things”

“I can make the deal”

“Nobody knows more about taxes than me”

We were promised a tsunami of legislation, a rollback of every legislative achievement made by the Democrats in the previous administration. As we reach the end of Trump’s first year in office, we are slowly coming to the realization that he lied about his abilities – ALL of them. His wave of Republican bills was a fantasy, and he seems to have as much interest in the details of legislation as he does reading the Constitution, essentially none.

Meanwhile, his GOP sycophants have been busily at work, dismantling the government piece by piece. Shredding the regulations that protect us. Selling off public lands to the highest bidder. Firing career civil servants on a mass scale. Censoring government research.

But their big LEGISLATIVE “win” has yet to appear. Despite having total control of all three branches of government, they have been unable to achieve ANY legislative accomplishments. They seem to be on the verge of a vote that they will certainly claim as a “victory” but most Americans know better.

For one thing, they had to destroy Democracy to do it.

They didn’t ask permission. They just did it. Right in front of us.

Congress, despite being a public body, still operates with a certain level of secrecy. Other than C-SPAN junkies like me, few Americans know, or even care, about how bills make their way through Congress. Essentially, the process is described by the Constitution, but the actual nitty gritty about how to actually achieve effective legislation involves what has become called “regular order.”

We have sadly learned over the years that involving BOTH parties in major legislation is a necessity. This is, of course, how Democracy works. Competing ideas and policies are advocated for, and then voted on. The appropriate committees in each branch are selected to gather input on proposed legislation. They then schedule hearings, markups and public testimony to craft a bill that is acceptable.  Both parties can make amendments to the process and, if there is enough support, have them voted on. Once each house passes a bill, a conference committee is held where, once again, there are opportunities for both sides to craft something that can get enough votes.

Note that my description of regular order assumes BOTH parties are actively involved with working out the final bill. That was NOT the case with the GOP attempt to gut the Affordable Care Act, and it is certainly not the case with their proposed tax break for billionaires.

Republicans complained very loudly after passing of the ACA that it had been rammed down the throats of legislators. They loved to joke using the line “We have to vote on it, to see what is in it.”

It was all a LIE.

The process leading up to the ACA’s passage involved dozens of hearings. Republicans were allowed to add HUNDREDS of amendments to the final product. They knew EXACTLY what was in it.

They now seem totally blind to the hypocrisy we are all now seeing. First of all, the Republicans are doing all of this monetary juggling of the tax code under special rules. Because the tax bill is technically not a budget bill, they are allowed to pass it with only a simple majority of votes, instead of the usual 60.

The entire bill was being re-written right up until the time it was voted on in each house, so NOBODY had a chance to fully read the provisions.

NO Democratic participation was allowed.

NO hearings were held.

NO public testimony was sought.

The final conference bill was written behind closed doors by a couple of rich white Republicans and released just before the vote to make sure nobody has time to read it. If ever there was a bill that was “crammed” down anybody’s throat – this is it.

Whatever respect I had for John McCain disappeared when he announced he would certainly support this tax bill because it had been done in “regular order.”

So, I will laugh out loud at the Republicans when they strut about, crowing about their huge “victory.” What a joke! 

Even with the deck stacked entirely in their favor and given every possible advantage,  they are struggling to come up with something they can all agree on. The legislation they are about to vote on already is opposed by a majority of Americans, for obvious reasons.

 I did take some political science in college and I learned that there is a name for a country with one-party rule – a DICTATORSHIP. I fear we are rapidly becoming one and this silent coup d’etat has eliminated the one safeguard we have against tyranny, an open and honest debate about our country’s future. It’s hard to have a debate when only one side is represented.

Requiem For America

I never thought I would see the day.

For 241 years, our experiment with democracy has persevered against revolts, depressions, panics and even a Civil War. Although certainly not perfect, the original documents drawn up to form our Union have given us a framework that could accommodate differing beliefs, regulate public affairs and protect us from foreign intervention. How sad to see it all end……

The one-party Oligarchy now in control of our nation bears no resemblance whatsoever to American Democracy.

The coup happened slowly. There were no tanks in the streets. The TV stations were not seized. There were no widespread roundups of political opponents. Instead, the process of destroying America took decades, and happened right in front of our eyes. We were too blind to see it, and now it may be too late.

Like everyone my age, I took “Civics” classes, starting in Junior High. I actually learned a few things. I found out how our Founding fathers figured out a way to create PUBLIC power to counteract the growing influence of the mercantile Class and the fading power of Kings and the Pope. I learned the advantages of a tripartite government and the importance of checks and balances. I admired the attempts to improve the original Constitution by adding important protections and regulations through the Amendment process. I learned how laws are made.

Apparently, there are a lot of people in Congress who skipped that class….

I am currently watching C-SPANs coverage of the GOPs latest attempt to achieve some type of legislative “victory,” No matter what the cost to society. They claim to be creating a tax “reform” but are actually trying to increase the money going to rich people.

 
The hypocrisy is off the charts.

For 8 years, Republicans angrily decried President Obama’s dictatorial health care that was “rammed down their throats.” Oh, the outrage! Oh the hand-wringing.

None of this was true. The process of passing the Affordable Care Act included a multitude of hearings, hours of expert testimony and the GOP were allowed over a hundred amendments. It took almost 2 years to get the bill passed, and even then it wasn’t safe. The House voted to repeal or amend it more than 50 times since it was originally voted on.

The process we are witnessing today is the EXACT OPPOSITE.

There were NO hearings.

There were NO expert witnesses.

There were NO amendments allowed by the opposing party.

The bill was hammered out in a closed-door room, kept secret, and only unveiled 4 days before the vote, guaranteeing there would be no time to get an accurate CBO score.

The Republicans have abandoned all democratic pretenses, and are using their hold on power to force through damaging legislation that will affect 100% of the American people. The audacity of it is astounding.

They are so desperate to achieve any sort of legislative “win,” that they are willing to allow 13 million people to be “free” to not have health care. They have no apparent compunction about using money from America’s safety net to give wealthy people more wealth.

That quaint democracy I read about in my Civics book no longer exists. That cute diagram showing how laws are made is a silly anachronism. The forces of authoritarianism are in control now and political expediency rules the day. 

The Oligarch calling himself President seems apparently clueless about his role in bringing about the downfall of America. The only way he was able to achieve an Electoral College victory was by widespread voter suppression, highly-partisan gerrymandering, and with the help of the entire Russian propaganda apparatus.

So far, his ONLY accomplishment after a year in power is the appointment of Neil Gursuch to the Supreme Court – a seat that was unconstitutionally seized by the GOP. Now that he leads the party, he has expressed strong desires to interfere with the Federal Judiciary and only appoint judges favorable to himself.  Trump has also surrounded himself with tycoons, generals and family members – a dead giveaway of a despot.

Sadly, the GOP dystopia we now face is disheartening. Despite conservative claims that we have the best economic system in the World, everywhere I look there is a shortage of wealth, and it's pretty clear it is because we have given it all to the wealthy.

The GOP has found ever more effective ways to funnel wealth upwards into the hands of the .000000000001%. This latest attempt will do nothing but increase the vast disparity in wealth that already exists today.

So, I guess we had a good run….. Fortunately, I was born during a period where Democrats were the ones shaping our society. Full employment, good health care, and high wages were the goals of the Democrats, and, until Ronald Reagan came on the scene, things were good.

I already miss America and wish we could go back to a time when it still existed. My only hope is that the situation will become so horrible that Americans will demand that we bring it back. We have already seen inklings of a major shift in political thinking and, with any luck, it will sweep away the fascists, racists sexists and bigots that now claim to speak for us. I will never stop speaking about it, and I will be able to say I was a patriot to the end.