Let’s put a stop, once and for all, to the partisan political clown show in the United States!
The Plan is to institute Federally determined State’s Rights! Depending on the issue, let the Red states be Red and the Blue states be Blue. Instead of lamenting that we are divided along mythical and mystical political fault lines, we should embrace and use our differences.
The proposal is possible and easily attained.
Proposed:
Let the Republicans and the Democrats in the United States Congress caucus separately to write legislation. Legislators would then be arguing with each other and not across the aisle. This is not a change, since all legislation is currently initiated and debated through the separate party ranks. Both parties would have to endorse legislation as a whole by majority vote. The temptation to grandstand in opposition to the other party would be removed.
Let Congress pass both bills on to the President and let the President sign both into law with the provisos that neither bill becomes law until ratified by a state and that all states must ratify one or the other.
On the most intractable issues, let the Red states be Red and the Blue states be Blue.
In theory and practice, all states are governed by the citizenry. States would vote Red on some issues and Blue on others. Therefore, let the legislation come up for renewal every four years at the state level to account for changing demographics.
Using this Plan, we would discover the true identity of the American voting population, fake animosity would be put aside, and Red and Blue would blend into a pleasing shade of Purple.
Let’s have meaningful compromise! Compromise is way better than the alternative!
End political disagreement once and for all, or just the clown show aspect, or both? I can name countries that have achieved the first with a horror show.
Political fault lines are real policy differences with serious consequences. Just one of many examples: President Biden and his party try to force taxpayers to pay off student loans, teaching young adult recipients to depend on government while further enraging others. The other party opposes this new loot, bribe, divide and conquer scam.
Yes, conquer—the Democrat faction of the political class is conquering the productive class with increasing trillions of dollars in debt, more dependency, new pages of regulation, and promises of big tax hikes in 2025. Fundamental transformation is no magical mystery fault line.
The vast majority of what gets enacted are compromises except in those rare times when one party has both houses, a filibuster-proof Senate, and the presidency. Our elected representatives compromised our republic into its current form.
Your proposal somehow removes the temptation to grandstand? Politicians like to get re-elected and getting attention is a major tool.
That all states must ratify a new federal law is an interesting and radical transfer of power from the federal legislature to the states. A single state would have veto power. Could this pass the Constitutional Amendment process?
I didn’t think so either and neither would my preference: sunset all laws and spending, make Congress vote on any reauthorizations. Abolish “mandatory non-discretionary” spending. Abolish subsidies. Tax spending, not earnings.
Emancipate taxpayers, present and future.
Richard, you said, “End political disagreement once and for all, or just the clown show aspect, or both? I can name countries that have achieved the first with a horror show.”
We are not going to end political disagreement any time soon. It will be the Optimists and the Pessimists going at each other like the WWE until the end of time apparently. But yes, I’d like to put an end to the divisive clown show.
Richard, you mention the student loan issue. Good one! In principle, of course, you are right. It makes no sense to spend our money in that way, and, as you pointed out, doing so would have seriously negative consequences. Now under the Plan, instead of having both sides push the issue to the extreme in a vain attempt to Win some ideological free-for-all all, we could have both sides write some meaningful legislation which would (Inevitably!) be very much closer to that sweet, sweet spot, the Middle.
Richard, you said, “The vast majority of what gets enacted are compromises”
They are compromises of legislation that starts off ludicrously skewed to one side or the other because of the Clown Show. Of course they are compromises because they start off being practically insane, and they never get anywhere near good.
You asked, “Your proposal somehow removes the temptation to grandstand?” Politicians will always put themselves in the best light possible until we stop making them rich and influential. They do want the job! But we can get rid of the finger pointing across the aisle which is pointless!
You brilliantly said that when “… all states must ratify a new federal law” it would be “an interesting and radical transfer of power from the federal legislature to the states.”
Thank you for mentioning the underlying implications of the Plan. Yes, but it would be a restrictive and limiting transfer of power since each state would be given a choice between two pieces of Federal legislation.
You ask if that could pass the Constitutional Amendment process? If We the People say so, I believe it would!