Month: March 2009

Federalist No. 57

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Federalist No. 57 contains a statement describing the proper goals of any constitution boiled down to two simple points:

The aim of every political constitution is, or ought to be, first to obtain for rulers men who possess most wisdom to discern, and most virtue to pursue, the common good of the society; and in the next place, to take the most effectual precautions for keeping them virtuous whilst they continue to hold their public trust.

In defending the provisions in the proposed Constitution the following defense was sound in theory but two centuries of growing experience has led to a Congress that is masterful at the art of public obfuscation:

the House of Representatives is so constituted as to support in the members an habitual recollection of their dependence on the people. Before the sentiments impressed on their minds by the mode of their elevation can be effaced by the exercise of power, they will be compelled to anticipate the moment when their power is to cease, when their exercise of it is to be reviewed,

The members of the House are always aware of their impending re-election bids so they carefully craft the perception of what they are doing by hiding legislation and casting votes in a way that makes them look good back home even when they are working for the opposite results on some issues when the cameras are not around.

Next I find our present society perfectly captured:

what is to restrain the House of Representatives . . . above all, the vigilant and manly spirit which actuates the people of America, a spirit which nourishes freedom, and in return is nourished by it. If this spirit shall ever be so far debased as to tolerate a law not obligatory on the legislature, as well as on the people, the people will be prepared to tolerate any thing but liberty.

(emphasis added)

The numbers in the latter part of this paper regarding the number of people electing a member of congress are almost comical today. In 1788 we might have trusted that two members of congress would feel connected and answerable to 60 Thousand constituents but there is little doubt today that one member of congress may easily feel little connection with 600 Thousand constituents (a small district).

Tags change congress, documents, federalist, history, house

General

How Do We Maximize Political Power

Post author By David
Post date March 18, 2009
No Comments on How Do We Maximize Political Power

This is a question – not a dissertation. I would like to get more perspectives and experience than I have on the question of how citizens can have the most political influence. Suggestions must be activities that all citizens can participate – in other words, holding office does nto count because if I hold an office you can’t hold that office. Things like voting in general elections, primaries, caucus meetings, or party organizing conventions as well as activities such as writing to the newspaper or your elected representative are what I aam looking for – in other words activities where my action on an issue does not take away your chances of partaking in the same activity.

I’d like to know which activities are the most effective at bringing about the changes that citizens might be seeking and why. I’ll be sharing my own experience and the input I receive in a future post.

Tags civic participation, questions

National

I Missed An Option

When I listed the options yesterday for how to deal with the AIG bonuses I obviously missed one. One member of the house thought up the idea that we could tax AIG bonuses at 100 percent. The beauty of his bill is that it is written to apply to large bonuses at any company receiving TARP funds. I like the concept because it leaves private businesses (meaning those not being propped up by Uncle Sam) free from any new restrictions in compensation and id does not affect the people getting small bonuses (the ones least responsible for the problems). The biggest change I would have made to this idea would be to lower the threshold from $100,000 to $25,000 or less.

Tags bailout, legislation, money, taxes

culture National

“Our Hands Are Tied”

Despite rumors to the contrary, this country is still based on the rule of law – especially when the law favors a guy who has a "bonus" in excess of $6 Million dollars coming to him. By now almost everybody has certainly heard about the $165 Million of bonuses being paid to AIG execs. In a discussion on NPR this morning Renée Montagne asked why the government could not cancel the payments considering that they own 80% of AIG through their $170 Billion in bailouts. The answer was that the government can’t just rip up an existing contract because this is a country ruled by law. That is a nice answer that is true on the surface so long as you only give it a passing glance in near total darkness. Just since the beginning of this year Congress has passed a law allowing judges to rewrite the terms of an existing, legal mortgage contract. (I use that example not because it is better or worse than nullifying the payments of bonuses stipulated in a legal employment contract but because it is so similar to what we are saying can’t be done because we are a country ruled by law.)

The question remains, what does all this mean. We do not actually want to become a country where the government can come alter a private, legal agreement anytime they decide it would be a good idea to do so. Let’s see what we can learn from some of the options that have been proposed.

Tear Up the Contracts

If we want to admit that we are not a country that follows our own laws this would be the best course of action. That’s not going to happen because it runs contrary to our sensibilities as a nation. We may break our own laws, but we won’t admit it openly like this. A "bonus" that is guaranteed is no bonus, it’s a salary – one that these executives have proven they don’t deserve. A company that would offer or even accept an employee on such compensation terms should not be receiving a government bailout – in fact it should not even be in business.

Executives Voluntarily Forgo Their "Bonuses"

This would be the morally correct course of action for those who stand to receive their bonuses. This won’t happen because those who will receive the bonuses know that having AIG on their resume for 2008 may make them virtually unemployable for a while if they ever need another job. They also know that AIG is not financially sound even with the government money it has received so they can’t be assured that their current jobs won’t evaporate. They are going to take what they can get legally for as long as they can so that they can ride whatever storms may come their way.

Give Them Another Bailout

This one won’t sound popular on the surface – and it won’t happen either – but I have to throw it in here. This was an early idea of mine. The government should offer AIG another bailout that would be structured like so – The government gives AIG another $135 Million in bailout money on the condition that all those who stand to receive bonuses sign a contract that nullifies their bonuses – thus the company receive the benefit of an extra $300 Million while the taxpayers only foot another $135 Million of the bill. If AIG refuses the offer (which they would) it would prove that they don’t need the money as much as we were told to believe they were – just like the stories on NPR this morning about all the banks who are opting out of the TARP funds because of the "excessive" restrictions that Congress has written into the TARP legislation (plus those who want to opt out, but aren’t sure they can). The fact is that many of the businesses that are taking our government funny money are doing so because it’s being offered more than because they need it. (Why put yourself at a competitive disadvantage if you can stomach the attached strings?) I hope that Congress continues to make these funds more and more restrictive.

Reduce Their Salaries to $1 for 2009

I wish (but doubt) that the nation is not foolish enough to fall for this ploy. This is the most likely course of action because it is the one that AIG has proposed. Most of the people getting these bonuses should not even be employed based on their past performance. Reducing their salaries would be a generous act even if we were to also strip their bonuses. Besides, they may take a salary of $1 for the year, but they will also take a new bonuses next year after our outrage has died down (and they’ll weather our new outrage again if need be). Most of them are receiving bonuses that exceed the annual income of the majority of American households. They can live on the $1 salary comfortably if they want to because of the bonuses that that "punishment" would allow them to take.

Tags bailout, Constitution, laws, money, NPR

State

End of the Session

When the legislative session started in January my representative, Becky Edwards, promised to blog each day of the session. Now that the session has ended I want to thank her for keeping that promise as well as the rest of her efforts to keep her constituents informed of what she was doing to represent us including publishing her votes each day for the last half of the session (every day since she got the vote tracking tool to record her votes – a total of more than 300 votes before yesterday).

I hope that she slept in today as much as she deserved – and then I’d love to see a list of the votes she cast yesterday. (It’s probably a huge list.)

Tags 2009, House 20, legislature

State

Senate Session Wrap Up

The legislative process has been compared to sausage making and we are often told that we don’t want to see the process. At the blogger meeting in the Senate President’s office yesterday what we got among all the talk about various bills was a peek at the sausage making process. Personally I found the insight fascinating because what we may be aware of in the process may not be representative of the reality. I think the best thing that I could do with that is to share some of the notes I took at the time – here they are as I wrote them (with links added later):

Before the meeting started I heard a very telling comment between a couple of interns – they said that nobody could possibly have any idea of what actually happens at the State Capital by reading/listening to the news.

Glen Warchol just showed up and the tone of the meeting immediately changed to be more confrontational. He’s complaining about the ethics bill and the rule about legislators turning lobbyist. Specifically we have Senator Stephenson who is a lobbyist by trade. It seems to me that the people have the choice to elect a lobbyist if they choose. Electing someone and then having them become a lobbyist is a different issue.

Look at the Voter Registration bill – SB25

Glen just left – I’m betting that the rest of the meeting will be more congenial from here on out.

The idea of VMT in place of (or addition to) gas tax is not happening now. I had suggested on a comment once that we could use our odometer readings rather than GPS tracking. Sen Killpack (majority leader) made the observation that out of state trips would be taxed by that method.

Ric Cantrell "If citizens abdicate their responsibility there’s nobody to pick up the slack."

Tags 2009, legislation, legislature, Utah

General

A False Dichotomy

I have never been a fan of Rush Limbaugh or Governor Huntsman which makes the false dichotomy presented here all the more ironic for me.

Rush Limbaugh told a recent gathering of conservatives that the party needed to return to its conservative roots to start winning again.

But Huntsman has been attracting national attention as a moderate, thanks to his support of climate change and civil unions and condemnation of his party’s lack of alternatives to the Democrat’s federal stimulus package.

"The poll shows a majority of Americans are in line with the governor’s belief that we need solution-oriented leaders," Huntsman spokeswoman Lisa Roskelley said, . . . "the governor feels it’s important to look at the party in a more inclusive way."

The suggestion that the Republican party must be more conservative or more inclusive perpetuates the myth of the single axis political grid. The truth is that Rush represents a certain brand of conservatism and pushing that single brand to be more prominent in the party is what makes the party less inclusive. Whatever disagreements I may have with my governor, Huntsman is absolutely right that we need to focus on finding solution oriented leaders in the GOP. That does not mean that we have to abandon our principles.

To be fair, it is the article and not necessarily the governor that is suggesting that a solution oriented approach is incompatible with an adherance to conservative principles.

Tags Deseret News, Jon Huntsman, media, parties, political figures, Republican

General

International Hazing/Initiation

Post author By David
Post date March 10, 2009
No Comments on International Hazing/Initiation

Yesterday there was a very short story on NPR that caught my attention. Apparently a number of Chinese military ships came very close to an unarmed American military ship in international waters. Close was specified to be under 20 feet at one point which is very close in nautical terms. The suggestion by the reporter was that this was a test of the Obama administration by the Chinese government similar to the capture of an American spy plane by the Chinese very early in the Bush administration.

As I heard that the thought came to me that the situation sounds very much like a high school hazing or a fraternity initiation – except that the stakes are much higher. Either the leaders of China are foolishly playing games with their military, or they are making sure of each new administration in case they ever feel the need to becopme belligerent. (Personally I think the safest assumption is to believe the latter option.)

Tags China, government, international, military

National

Federalist Nos. 55 – 56

Federalist No. 55 and Federalist No. 56 explore a subject which has grown increasingly interesting and important to me the more I have studied – that is a consideration of the proper size of the House of Representatives. Here I find, unsurprisingly, that a few assumptions were made which have proven to be critically incorrect.

It will not be thought an extravagant conjecture that the first census will, at the rate of one for every thirty thousand, raise the number of representatives to at least one hundred. . . At the expiration of twenty-five years, according to the computed rate of increase, the number of representatives will amount to two hundred, and of fifty years, to four hundred. This is a number which, I presume, will put an end to all fears arising from the smallness of the body.

I found it ironic that the projections ended at 400 representatives because we now have 435 voting representatives and we can see that with our current population (exceeding 300 Million) that number is decidedly insufficient – not simply because 435 is not enough, but because 435 is not enough for the expanded (and expanding) role that government has come to take in our nation. The problems that have arisen through a House that is too small to be properly representative could have been prevented by including not only a minimum number which a representative could represent (thirty thousand) but also a maximum number they could represent. The range could even be fairly large (say a maximum of one quarter million active voters per representative – which is over eight times the minimum) to produce a body which could never become fully detached from the people they are meant to represent.

The first wrong assumption was that the ratio would bear some resemblance to the minimum of thirty thousand that had been specified. The second was that we could never have cause for concern with a representative body exceeding four hundred members.

Another wrong assumption is shown in this statement from Federalist No. 56:

It is a sound and important principle that the representative ought to be acquainted with the interests and circumstances of his constituents. But this principle can extend no further than to those circumstances and interests to which the authority and care of the representative relate.

The assumption was that the interests and authority of the representative body in question would remain limited according to the Constitution. Not only does this show a poor assumption but it exposes another avenue for alleviating the problems of our too-small representative body. A reduction in the scope of authority for Congress would also serve to make it possible for a body of 435 to be more faithfully representative of the populous.

A fourth false assumption was:

I am unable to conceive that the people of America, in their present temper, or under any circumstances which can speedily happen, will choose, and every second year repeat the choice of, sixty-five or a hundred men who would be disposed to form and pursue a scheme of tyranny or treachery.

Indeed we live in a time when the people of America choose and repeat the choice of over 400 representatives who consistently pursue some treacherous policies. Whatever changes we do see in the faces of the House it should be noted that attrition takes many more from their seats than being unseated by the vote of the people.

In fairness, our founders were aware of their limitations:

What change of circumstances, time, and a fuller population of our country may produce, requires a prophetic spirit to declare, which makes no part of my pretensions.

They also thought they had addressed the pitfalls before them by allowing for an increase in the number of representatives:

The foresight of the convention has accordingly taken care that the progress of population may be accompanied with a proper increase of the representative branch of the government.

What they missed was that we need to require increases at some point. Whatever their failings of foresight, their conclusion remains true:

a representative for every THIRTY THOUSAND INHABITANTS will render the {inhabitants} both a safe and competent guardian of the interests which will be confided to it.

Today we are in great need to pursue some combination of increasing the size of our representative body or decreasing the scope of authority for that body. There are indications that increasing the size may naturally result in pressures to decrease the authority that rests in the federal government – I would hope that to be the case.

Tags documents, federalist, government, history, house

General Local

Loving America

It’s been a long time since I stumbled across something that belongs in my personal perspectives series, but I could not pass this up when someone I’ve long interacted with describes his love for America (which love I share):

I too love America. I love her for the ideals and principles of liberty upon which she was founded. I love her natural and man-made beauties. I love her for the great amount of good she has accomplished and which ordinary free Americans achieve on their own. Perhaps more than anything else, I love her for the hope she inspires in individuals domestically and throughout the world.

The United States of America is the greatest nation on the face of the earth today. It is a grand place, but it is not a perfect place. While it seems vogue in some circles to see only America’s faults, problems, and failures to live up to her stated ideals, I believe America is wonderful and beautiful even when all of these are considered.

And I do believe that it is very wise to consider America’s flaws. But I also feel that it is wrong to make them the central feature of our individual view of America. To do so is to ignore the greater grandeur of the whole picture.

To me, a true American is one that loves this country with his eyes wide open. A true American feels rapture when the U.S. Flag is raised and when he sings the National Anthem, regardless of which political faction is in control at the moment. A true American stands proudly by America when she is in the right and lovingly works to correct her when she strays.

(emphasis added)

I don’t see how any citizen who has taken the time to learn about our nation, whatever their political leanings, can feel differently about our nation – warts and all.

Tags citizenship, connections, patriotism