The Long View

I really don't like it when some professional pontificator in the paper tries to boost his B of P rating with one of those lame "big think pieces". Usually their big idea is a really really bad one, but hey, at least they are being bold and thinking outside the box. Its a true sign of intelligence to think the unthinkable, even though the unthinkable is has more often then not been thought of and rejected ages ago as foolish and the parties responsible punished for their crimes in brutal and humiliating ceremonies...but I digress. I'd like to take this opportunity to pen the sort of piece I hate so very much and put forward a far reaching reform that will revolutionize American politics, world history, human civilization and stuff.

A recent post by atrios got me thinking about lifer after 2004, after a Democratic victory. In his post, Atrios speculated that the United States wouldn't be able to get its fiscal house in order even if the Democrats one because the Republicans would still control congress. Not only that, but members of the Elite Republican Guard like Tom DeLay would be running the show. This is indeed, a serious problem. Though Clinton was able to manage a Republican controlled congress, his most important piece of legislation (the '93 budget deal, which raised taxes on wealthy Americans) was passed very narrowly by a Democratic Congress and would most likely not have made it had the Republicans been in power. While I'm not going to complain about obstructionism, because the views of the minorty party ought to be take into consideration, I think something should be done to moderate the congressional leadership. If the next President is a Democrat, not matter how large his margin of victory is, the legislative branch will be controlled by an ultra-conservative former exterminator who only has to answer to other pesticide huffing wingnuts in his home district. You don't have to be a Democratic Stalwart to see there could be a problem here. So, what is to be done? Well, I think we ought to have the congressional leadership elected nationally. Rather than having to appeal only to some backwater exteremists of the Right or Left, those responsible for running congress would need to win the support on a national level. Such a change in constinuencies could help but moderate the men and women who oversee the machinery of government. As a safeguard against the complete annexation of Congress by the executive branch, these elections (at least for the Senate) should take place during mid-terms, so one party doesn't come to control the entire government by some fluke. This plan is totally impractical, but at least I'll get credit for my vision or something.