<begin mini-rant>
Folks, THIS is why “big structural change” is more than just a slogan. It’s a goddamn necessity.
The entire administrative state has been wrecked. That predates Trump, and was exacerbated by Trump. The project of repairing it has to be CENTRAL.
Folks, THIS is why “big structural change” is more than just a slogan. It’s a goddamn necessity.
The entire administrative state has been wrecked. That predates Trump, and was exacerbated by Trump. The project of repairing it has to be CENTRAL.
I remember when the ACA passed.
I was, like, YOUNG then. It was before I started my first job as a professor.
The ACA was a kludgy compromise -- better than the existing system/not nearly good enough. It should have been better (Public Option!), but there were two problems...
I was, like, YOUNG then. It was before I started my first job as a professor.
The ACA was a kludgy compromise -- better than the existing system/not nearly good enough. It should have been better (Public Option!), but there were two problems...
First: Obama believed that if he put the time into listening to moderate Republican concerns, then he could make the legislation bipartisan. He behaved as though Senate Republicans were acting in good faith. They weren't.
Second: Joe Lieberman was a world-historic asshole.
Second: Joe Lieberman was a world-historic asshole.
Still, the legislation passed. But the interference and obstruction never ended.
There was the government shutdown aimed at defunding the ACA. There were the dozens of House bills aimed at defunding the ACA (it was basically the only legislation they would take up). And..
There was the government shutdown aimed at defunding the ACA. There were the dozens of House bills aimed at defunding the ACA (it was basically the only legislation they would take up). And..
...There were the lawsuits. Oh so many lawsuits. Each one more laughable than the last. Each one ridiculed by the legal establishment. Each one venue-shopped to a judge that would take it seriously.
And those lawsuits haven't stopped a DECADE later.
And those lawsuits haven't stopped a DECADE later.
During that decade, we have also filled the judiciary with Trump goons -- many of them labeled "unqualified" by the American Bar Associations.
And we have also emptied out every government agency. EVERY. DAMN. ONE.
And we have also emptied out every government agency. EVERY. DAMN. ONE.
None of that will be fixed overnight. All of it will be long, arduous, pain-in-the-ass-with-no-glowing-headlines-and-no-champagne-victories work.
Most of the work of the next administration will be focused on getting the government back into the habit of governing, and (...)
Most of the work of the next administration will be focused on getting the government back into the habit of governing, and (...)
(...) getting the regulatory state back into the habit of regulating, and pressuring the judiciary to stop nullifying all legislation that don't fit the narrative arc of Ayn Rand fan fiction.
That's going to be really fucking hard work. We need a President with a plan for it.
That's going to be really fucking hard work. We need a President with a plan for it.
so that brings me to my (admittedly very rant-y) problems with the two leading candidates right now.
Joe Biden's candidacy is premised on a return to Obama-era normalcy. That's reasonably good if its just messaging. But I'm really worried that he BELIEVES it!
Joe Biden's candidacy is premised on a return to Obama-era normalcy. That's reasonably good if its just messaging. But I'm really worried that he BELIEVES it!
The bad-faith Republican obstruction didn't begin with Trump!
Biden knows this, because he saw it firsthand.
If you treat the Trump years as an aberration and assume Senate Rs will negotiate in good faith, then you're never gonna fix the damn administrative state.
Biden knows this, because he saw it firsthand.
If you treat the Trump years as an aberration and assume Senate Rs will negotiate in good faith, then you're never gonna fix the damn administrative state.
Bernie, on the other hand, knows that Senate Republicans are not going to negotiate in good faith. But his answer to every "how are you going to get it done" question is, effectively "well, you see, I'll have a movement. The movement will change politics."
Again, if that's just messaging, that's fine. But I REALLY worry that he really believes it.
How is Bernie gonna deal with the next Joe Lieberman-like recalcitrant asshole in the Senate? How is he going to reign in the courts? How is he going to rebuild the regulatory state?
How is Bernie gonna deal with the next Joe Lieberman-like recalcitrant asshole in the Senate? How is he going to reign in the courts? How is he going to rebuild the regulatory state?
Even if he SOMEHOW got the Green New Deal and Medicare For All passed (without filibuster reform, which for no-clear-reason he has decided he doesn't need), the decimated regulatory state will have trouble enacting them.
And then a Trump judge will nullify them on the basis of a freshly-invented technicality.
It'll be 2031 and we still won't have functional programs because we didn't rebuild governance and regulatory capacity or change the structural incentives that have scuttled government.
It'll be 2031 and we still won't have functional programs because we didn't rebuild governance and regulatory capacity or change the structural incentives that have scuttled government.
So, yeah, that's why I'm still a hardcore Elizabeth Warren supporter.
Warren has a clear-eyed commitment to the hard work of fixing government -- both the problems created by Trump and the ones that predate Trump.
Warren has a clear-eyed commitment to the hard work of fixing government -- both the problems created by Trump and the ones that predate Trump.
Setting aside which candidate is most likely to win in November, I have zero doubt that Elizabeth Warren is best equipped to BE PRESIDENT at this moment in history.
And winning in November is necessary but not sufficient. We need a President who can fix this mess of a government
And winning in November is necessary but not sufficient. We need a President who can fix this mess of a government
Warren is unappealing to some because she focuses on "plans" and gets too into the weeds. She's a technocrat.
But Republican officials have been on the verge of erasing Obama's signature legislation for a decade. You ignore technocratic details at your peril.
<end rant>
But Republican officials have been on the verge of erasing Obama's signature legislation for a decade. You ignore technocratic details at your peril.
<end rant>
