Time To De-Democratize America
SCROLL DOWN FOR UPDATE.
Thanks to Drudge, here are two ideas, both generated and published just today by prominent politicians from the American political left, that should raise red flags around every office water cooler in the nation:
1) Writing in The New Republic, Barack Obama’s former Director of the Office of Budget and Management, Peter Orszag, stated that perhaps there is just too much democracy at work in the United States. He thinks that it might be a good idea and more efficient if some of the “institutions” of governance were to be made “less democratic.” Well, yes, Peter. Actually, the most efficient form of governance is a dictatorship or a monarchy. As an example of our big democracy problem, Orszag cited the recent debt ceiling limit battle, which pitted the leftist Democrat forces calling for higher taxes, a larger national debt and more government spending against the new Tea Party members of Congress who want to limit taxes and eliminate the deficit spending.
In other words, Orszag would like very much for Obama to be permitted his unfettered way and not be bothered with any silly partisan arguing over his fiscal policies. Those who speak out against what the Obama national debt, taxation and free spending ideas have done to our bankrupt nation are simply paralytic obstructionists, and the best method for their elimination is to de-politicize certain commissions and put “automatic policies” into place. Here’s a part of Orszag’s piece:
In an 1814 letter to John Taylor, John Adams wrote that “there never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” That may read today like an overstatement, but it is certainly true that our democracy finds itself facing a deep challenge: During my recent stint in the Obama administration as director of the Office of Management and Budget, it was clear to me that the country’s political polarization was growing worse—harming Washington’s ability to do the basic, necessary work of governing. If you need confirmation of this, look no further than the recent debt-limit debacle, which clearly showed that we are becoming two nations governed by a single Congress—and that paralyzing gridlock is the result.
So what to do? To solve the serious problems facing our country, we need to minimize the harm from legislative inertia by relying more on automatic policies and depoliticized commissions for certain policy decisions. In other words, radical as it sounds, we need to counter the gridlock of our political institutions by making them a bit less democratic.
2) North Carolina’s Democrat Governor Bev Perdue gave a speech to the Cary Rotary Club today, during which she suggested that perhaps the 2012 elections should be suspended, so that Congress can get some things done without worrying about their political futures. It’s all this obstructionism, don’t you see, that’s getting in the way. Her spokesman spirinted to a microphone later in the day and assured everyone that she was just kidding about suspending the elections.
UPDATE: Here’s a link to the audio, with thanks to Drudge and Matthew Boyle at The Daily Caller. She wasn’t kidding a bit, folks.
Now, I don’t know if these two incidents are just pure coincidence or if they are actually psychological “trial balloons”, floated out there to put the idea into our heads that maybe there’s something big coming down the road prior to November of 2012. Time will tell us. Meanwhile, from the NewsObserver.com, here’s the story on Perdue’s election-suspension brainstorm:
Speaking to a Cary Rotary Club today, N.C. Gov. Bev Perdue suggested suspending Congressional elections for two years so that Congress can focus on economic recovery and not the next election.
“I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won’t hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover. I really hope that someone can agree with me on that,” Perdue said. “You want people who don’t worry about the next election.”
The comment — which came during a discussion of the economy — perked more than a few ears. It’s unclear whether Perdue, a Democrat, is serious — but her tone was level and she asked others to support her on the idea. (Read her full remarks below.)
Later Tuesday afternoon, Perdue’s office clarified the remarks: ”Come on,” said spokeswoman Chris Mackey in a statement. “Gov. Perdue was obviously using hyperbole to highlight what we can all agree is a serious problem: Washington politicians who focus on their own election instead of what’s best for the people they serve.”
The Republicans sure are taking it seriously as they look to score political points. Here’s a statement from GOP spokesman Rob Lockwood:
“Now is a time when politicians need to be held accountable more than ever. To suspend an election would be removing the surest mechanism that people have to hold politicians accountable: the right to vote. Does the Governor not believe that people of North Carolina have the ability to think for themselves about whether or not the actions of elected officials are working?”
UPDATED: GOP House candidate Paul Coble didn’t think much of Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue’s idea that congressional elections be suspended for two years so Congress can concentrate on the economy.
“That’s a proposal that only the politicians that have worsened our economic mess could appreciate,” said Coble, who is chairman of the Wake County commissioners. “Governor Perdue and the politicians in Washington may fear the message voters send next November.”
Perdue’s full statement:
“You have to have more ability from Congress, I think, to work together and to get over the partisan bickering and focus on fixing things. I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won’t hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover. I really hope that someone can agree with me on that. The one good thing about Raleigh is that for so many years we worked across party lines. It’s a little bit more contentious now but it’s not impossible to try to do what’s right in this state. You want people who don’t worry about the next election.”
Uh huh. And the most efficient way to do that would be to just suspend the Constitution and grant absolute dictatorial powers to Barack Hussein Obama. That would surely eliminate all of this obstructionist bickering, Bev.
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