How Did We Get Here?

     Many Americans bemoan the current state of the union. People on the right yearn for a smaller, less bureaucratic government with fewer regulations, less enforcement of regulations that do exist, and a stronger executive. Those on the left have a diametrically opposed view of how things should be – a government that works for and supports the people, regulations that protect the people and our environment, and a president who serves the people (not the other way around). There is little overlap in the positions of the two camps, and ruefully, little conversation between the people espousing them. 
     How did we get here? There are as many answers as there are interested parties. As for me, I contend that the responsibility primarily lays at the feet of three people: Newt Gingrich, Grover Norquist, and Mitch McConnell. 
     In the 1990's, Newt Gingrich ascended the ranks to become Speaker of the House of Representatives. A former teacher of history, social studies, and civics, he was prepared to take on a popular president, Bill Clinton. He did so by drafting a campaign plan for the election of 1994 and an agenda for upcoming congressional actions. Gingrich called this plan the “Contract with America.” Its goal was to streamline congress and the government and to mandate fiscal responsibility. The goal was to require a balanced budget that included tax cuts and increased military expenditures. The consequence would be to weaken, reduce, or eliminate the social safety net. Subsequent Speakers of the House have built upon Gingrich’s intransigence and imposed the Hastert Rule whereby proposed legislation will not be put a bill before the body unless the speaker can count on the majority of his party for support. This is directly in opposition with the concept of a representative democracy promoting debate to find compromise. 
     A co-author of the “Contract” was Grover Norquist. He and his organization, “Americans for Tax Reform,” demanded that Republican candidates for Congress sign a pledge that s/he would “oppose any and all efforts to increase the marginal income tax rates for individuals and/or businesses; and oppose any net reduction or elimination of deductions and credits, unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing tax rates.” The outcomes of this litmus test were (and continue to be) profound. 
     (1) The Republican Party consolidated. That increased the ability of the party to navigate legislation. 
     (2) Rank and file Republicans were in lock-step with the leadership. They would be compelled to kill any programs which contained a provision that increased taxes regardless of whether it was in the best interest of their constituents. In other words, because of signing the pledge, a Republican member of Congress sacrificed his/her conscience and ability to represent the needs of their constituents. One might even argue that the pledge forced each signee to violate his/her pledge to the Constitution. 
     (3) The result was an intransigent attitude of “my way or the highway” and a sequence of government shutdowns regardless of the damage to American constituents. For Republican members of Congress to abide by their pledge to Grover Norquist’s political action committee, “Americans for Tax Reform,” they must stand against subsidies for the Affordable Care Act (i.e., Obamacare) even knowing that this stance is not in the best interest of their constituents. By honoring an extracurricular pledge, they are causing undue pain, suffering, and death among the people on whose behalf they took an oath to serve “without any mental reservations or purpose of evasion.” 
     As Leader of the Senate, Mitch McConnell oversaw the nominations of candidates to the Supreme Court. Three occurred since 2016. After conservative Justice Antonin Scalia died, McConnell effectively nullified Barack Obama’s selection of moderate Merrick Garland. McConnell argued that the nomination should go to the next president ten months in the future. This delay without precedent resulted in the selection of the conservative Judge Neil Gorsuch. Four years later, after the liberal icon, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, died merely three months before the next election, McConnell fast-tracked Donald Trump’s nomination of conservative Amy Coney Barrett. In the middle, McConnell shepherded the nomination of conservative Judge Brett Kavanaugh to fill the vacancy made by the retirement of swing, independent Anthony Kennedy. The advice and consent by the Senate re Kavanaugh was thwarted by intensely partisan testimony, allegations of sexual misconduct, a limited investigation by the FBI in which they did not follow credible leads and did not provide a written report to the Senate Judiciary Committee, withholding of documents on the candidate’s record during his service to the Bush presidency, as well as the judicial controversy and temperament of the candidate. Further, McConnell has navigated around allegations of ethical and financial misdeeds by conservative justices. The effect of McConnell’s re/fashioning the rules to fit his agenda is that the ideological balance on the Supreme Court was seriously skewed. Despite nominees’ declarations of supporting stare decisis during their Senate reviews, after they were confirmed, the new justices discarded decades’ long precedents and undermined the foundations of the Court – stability, integrity, and credibility. In the process, the executive attained authority condemned by the Founding Fathers. 
     This Halloween and fall, we are living in the dystopian world of the three-headed monster of Newt-Grover-Mitch. Our Founding Fathers reviled the concept of party politics. The arcane, self-serving manipulations by these three people as well as others in their wake, have brought us to a hyper-polarized world where an autocrat serving a dedicated minority is trampling our traditions and the rights of the majority, pitting citizens against one another, and discarding previously negotiated solutions.  
     So, how do we get out of the box constructed by Newt, Grover, and Mitch? There is no magical answer. We just have to keep members of Congress from acting in their self-interest. Easier said than done, but not impossible. Here are some thoughts.
     (1) Eliminate members of Congress from financially benefiting from insider information. No emoluments. Such rules should be codified and enforced. 
     (2) Next should be the imposition of term limits on legislators. Interestingly, this is one of the enumerated goals of the “Contract for America.” This would minimize external pressure from the executive, i.e., the threat of a Congressperson being opposed in a primary. Heck, a founding principle of Tea Party members was that they would not run for re-election. Aspirational (and naive) on their part (and on the part of the voters), but power and perquisites have a way of twisting people and corrupting their actions. 
     (3) Along with term limits is the notion of a required retirement age and written code of ethics (with consequences) for supreme court justices. This would put supreme court justices in line with other federal court justices. 
     (4) Finally, there is the issue of eliminating gerrymandering, but that is a kettle of fish to be discussed at another time. 
     Our first effort at giving structure to the United States, the Articles of Confederation, established a weak federal government and did not provide sufficient mechanisms to deal with inter-state disputes. These weaknesses were exacerbated by a lack of an executive or judiciary. A new constitution was drafted and accepted by the thirteen states. This agreement was based on three principles: (a) a balance among three independent branches of government (the legislature, executive, and judiciary), (b) checks that maintain the balance among these branches, and most important, (c) celebrate and reinforce the power of the ultimate deciders – American citizens. After all, the Constitution of the United States begins, “We the people. . .” 
     Given our national constitution is a blueprint for a living, evolving society, let’s pledge to support these core principles. 
     Vote! Contact your members of Congress. Let's get out of here!