As you can see by the dates mentioned this is quite old. The text is mine although based on the link. If you want to read that link copy and paste into your browser
Maybe it is time for a change. Our government just does not work in today's environment. I think we ought to look to a complete rewrite of the constitution.
In a parliamentary system the majority gets to govern and they get the credit or the blame. They get re elected or kicked out on the merits of their programs. Not so in this country.
Our present situation is the prime example. Obama and damn near a super majority of democrats are elected in 2008. Are they allowed to govern? No! Our dear old antiquated senate allows the opposition to obstruct via the filibuster. There are other obstructive rules but the filibuster is prime. Two years go by and not much is done.
In 2010, the public, angry because nothing is done, elects a majority of republicans in the house but retains a slim democratic majority in the senate. This effectively blocks any meaningful legislation. The GOP has been rewarded for essentially blocking progress.
Now it is 2012 and the GOP is again campaigning on the premise that nothing has been done. Again they are the primary reason that this is the case.
The public is too damn stupid to figure it out.
Then there is the supreme court. Nowhere, NOWHERE does the constitution grant the supreme court the power to nullify laws passed by congress. Our constitutional scholars simply ignore this small discrepancy. Precedent rules, much as in the case of corporations being people.
(I am not so sure of this. At the time of writing I obviously thought I was sure. If I am/was wrong please correct me)
End result? We have a Supreme court that is totally ideological. Totally political and the welfare of the population may rest on the decision of one judge who is in reality nothing more than a political hack. Obamacare was decided by one vote. The outcry was not about Justice Roberts culling of the law but all about a conservative deserting the fold.
I can't think of any other country in the world where this could happen.
Maybe before Reagan and the complete ideological conversion of the GOP we could stumble along. No more. When either or both parties become simple voting blocks a divided government structured as ours faces gridlock. No matter how serious the problem if there is no give on either side and the country wil simply rot away of it's own inertia.
Our constitution is well worth revering, not for what it says but the ideas behind it. That idea being self rule by the people. It worked fairly well for a rural, isolationist country of two centuries ago. It doesn't work anymore.
The idea of a 21st century superpower trying to pick the minds of the long dead and out of touch founders about modern problems is just ludicrous. We can look to them for basic ideas, for broad philosophical outlines but not for particular answers to particular problems. Doing so is like asking an 18th century carriage maker to approve the design of a 747.
http://www.minnpost.com/eric-black-ink/2012/10/if-you-re-sick-gridlock-blame-constitution
Maybe it is time for a change. Our government just does not work in today's environment. I think we ought to look to a complete rewrite of the constitution.
In a parliamentary system the majority gets to govern and they get the credit or the blame. They get re elected or kicked out on the merits of their programs. Not so in this country.
Our present situation is the prime example. Obama and damn near a super majority of democrats are elected in 2008. Are they allowed to govern? No! Our dear old antiquated senate allows the opposition to obstruct via the filibuster. There are other obstructive rules but the filibuster is prime. Two years go by and not much is done.
In 2010, the public, angry because nothing is done, elects a majority of republicans in the house but retains a slim democratic majority in the senate. This effectively blocks any meaningful legislation. The GOP has been rewarded for essentially blocking progress.
Now it is 2012 and the GOP is again campaigning on the premise that nothing has been done. Again they are the primary reason that this is the case.
The public is too damn stupid to figure it out.
Then there is the supreme court. Nowhere, NOWHERE does the constitution grant the supreme court the power to nullify laws passed by congress. Our constitutional scholars simply ignore this small discrepancy. Precedent rules, much as in the case of corporations being people.
(I am not so sure of this. At the time of writing I obviously thought I was sure. If I am/was wrong please correct me)
End result? We have a Supreme court that is totally ideological. Totally political and the welfare of the population may rest on the decision of one judge who is in reality nothing more than a political hack. Obamacare was decided by one vote. The outcry was not about Justice Roberts culling of the law but all about a conservative deserting the fold.
I can't think of any other country in the world where this could happen.
Maybe before Reagan and the complete ideological conversion of the GOP we could stumble along. No more. When either or both parties become simple voting blocks a divided government structured as ours faces gridlock. No matter how serious the problem if there is no give on either side and the country wil simply rot away of it's own inertia.
Our constitution is well worth revering, not for what it says but the ideas behind it. That idea being self rule by the people. It worked fairly well for a rural, isolationist country of two centuries ago. It doesn't work anymore.
The idea of a 21st century superpower trying to pick the minds of the long dead and out of touch founders about modern problems is just ludicrous. We can look to them for basic ideas, for broad philosophical outlines but not for particular answers to particular problems. Doing so is like asking an 18th century carriage maker to approve the design of a 747.
http://www.minnpost.com/eric-black-ink/2012/10/if-you-re-sick-gridlock-blame-constitution
