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The Muser
The Principle of Minority Power The Last
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We Need a Third Party Think Tank… On January 4th, we'll have a new congress, the 111th since our Constitution was adopted. The 110th House of Representatives had 236 Democrats and 199 Republicans. The 111th House will have at least 255 Democrats. The old Senate had 49 Democrats, 49 Republicans, and two quasi-independents who voted with the Democratic Caucus. The new Senate will have at least 56 Democrats, plus the two independents. The House will still be led by Nancy Pelosi, and the Senate by Harry Reid, who together were able to pass virtually no significant legislation in the almost universally disrespected 110th Congress. So, what will be different? Not much. There is a possibility that Democrats will hold 60 Senate seats, counting the two independents, which theoretically would enable them to end filibusters—that is, to close debate on specific bills, and move them to floor vote, over Republican opposition. And, even if they end up with only 58 or 59 Senate seats, they will surely be able to close debate far more successfully than in the last Congress. In reality, one of the greatest benefits of that may be that we'll all get relief from Nancy Pelosi's whining that she couldn't do anything because the Senate wouldn't pass any of her legislation. The new Congress probably will pass a lot more legislation than the old, though. There are numerous reasons for that. Certainly, having the Presidency and both houses of Congress controlled by one party will make a big difference. We also have urgent issues: finances and the economy, energy and the environment, health care, etc., that have become crises due to the inaction of the Bush administration and the 110th Congress. Those critical issues will demand timely action. And some issues, like health care, Social Security, and the environment have simply matured; we've been wrestling with them until we're weary and ready to find solutions. But I don't expect the new Congress to be fundamentally better than the old. Rather than finding the best solutions to our problems, I still expect them to settle for barely adequate patches and fixes that leave the root causes of our difficulties untouched. I'm still pessimistic about Congress because Congress has not really changed. We still have the same partisan divide that has hobbled our legislative branch of government for more than two centuries. Not only does that divide result in stalemate and deadlock most of the time, not only has it created for both houses of Congress a set of operational rules that usually prevent effective action, but the partisan divide doesn't reflect the makeup of the nation it governs, so it cannot find solutions that serve our needs. A February, 2008 Pew study reported that 34% of Americans identify as independents, and another 8% belong to a minor party. A total of 42% of voters are not allied with either major political party. The Senate is 2% independent (that's zero percent of the House, and four-tenths of one percent of the full Congress), and none identify as members of a minor party.
Of course, there are other differences between Americans and our Congress: we are 51% female; they are 17% female. We are 32% non-white; they are 15% non-white (6% in the Senate). How can they represent us? How can they even know who we are? How can we change this? That answer is simple. We begin to elect a Congress that reflects who we are. We start by electing independents and minor-party candidates. (Many of those should surely be female and/or non-white.) We don't have to elect 42% Non-Democrat and Non-Republican to change things. If we just elect enough that neither of the major parties holds a majority in either house of Congress, we can begin to change everything. Think about it. If you're fed up with both parties, why should you ever again have to vote for one of them to represent you? Are you ready for some change you can not only believe in, but can actually see and count? Please Speak Up…
…Send it along to: partyiii@greatreality.com |
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The political saga of the past several years has brought many changes, across the polical spectrum. It has not, however, changed the fundamental principles expressed on these pages. A major revision of these pages is needed, to add content, and to update specific references to parties, events, etc. While that revision proceeds, please read the information posted here for its fundamental ideas and principles. As always, your comments are welcome: partyiii@greatreality.com |
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copyright © 2010, J. C. Adamson | ||||||||||||
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