[teejers1]

And so Rome burns while Nero fiddles...with a blue bird app on his phone.

I think Jerome Powell put it best: this lack of stimulus is going to have "economically tragic consequences."

He goes by Jay Powell.  And he's right, BTW.  Without an additional stimulus, there will be seriously negative consequences.  But Trump and the Repubs won't sign a bill that is loaded with Democratic pork.  And that's that.

Oh and, uh...COVID.

---

Looking at the Presidency as the core of governmental frustration, be it Bush, Obama, or Trump, is just wrong, wrong, wrong. The real Constitutional crisis is the utter inability of Congress to act as a deliberative body. If you say the Democrats or Republicans are the responsibles, you're part of the problem. It's both, e.g, if you're inveighing against McConnell for blocking the Garland nomination in 2016, you might consider the obstructions the Democrats put up to Bush nominees between 2005 to 2008, filibustering five of them in a row, who had votes enough to confirm, but not for cloture. It's a mess.

Here’s my amendment idea:
1) Make the president elected by popular vote
2) Require only majority+5 to break a Senate filibuster
3) Every even year, a federal election to elect 10 federal senators not from any state (so, 130 senators)

This would give newly elected presidents a lot more power to enact their agendas if there is broad support. My guess is that Trump would’ve gotten funding for his wall, but Bush would not have been able to privatize Social Security. A federal ban on assault weapons and a carbon tax would have probably passed by now.

I like this idea with the caveat that a national initiative system be implemented, similar to the California initiative system.  If we're going to elect representatives based solely upon popular vote, I want the same for important issues.

Heaven help us all if Trump were to defy all the prognostications and get re-elected.
But heaven particularly help the following folks:  OF, Farm93, Snorlax, Burger (fare thee well), and I'm sure a few others whose heads might actually explode - akin to Oberyn Martell's head explosion by The Mountain in GoT - if Trump were to somehow get re-elected.

Fortunately, Covid should assure that won't happen . . . 

(see what I did there, Mick?).

[teejers1]

And so Rome burns while Nero fiddles...with a blue bird app on his phone.

I think Jerome Powell put it best: this lack of stimulus is going to have "economically tragic consequences."

He goes by Jay Powell.  And he's right, BTW.  Without an additional stimulus, there will be seriously negative consequences.  But Trump and the Repubs won't sign a bill that is loaded with Democratic pork.  And that's that.

Oh and, uh...COVID.

---

Looking at the Presidency as the core of governmental frustration, be it Bush, Obama, or Trump, is just wrong, wrong, wrong. The real Constitutional crisis is the utter inability of Congress to act as a deliberative body. If you say the Democrats or Republicans are the responsibles, you're part of the problem. It's both, e.g, if you're inveighing against McConnell for blocking the Garland nomination in 2016, you might consider the obstructions the Democrats put up to Bush nominees between 2005 to 2008, filibustering five of them in a row, who had votes enough to confirm, but not for cloture. It's a mess.

Here’s my amendment idea:
1) Make the president elected by popular vote
2) Require only majority+5 to break a Senate filibuster
3) Every even year, a federal election to elect 10 federal senators not from any state (so, 130 senators)

This would give newly elected presidents a lot more power to enact their agendas if there is broad support. My guess is that Trump would’ve gotten funding for his wall, but Bush would not have been able to privatize Social Security. A federal ban on assault weapons and a carbon tax would have probably passed by now.

I like this idea with the caveat that a national initiative system be implemented, similar to the California initiative system.  If we're going to elect representatives based solely upon popular vote, I want the same for important issues.

Heaven help us all if Trump were to defy all the prognostications and get re-elected.
But heaven particularly help the following folks:  OF, Farm93, Snorlax, Burger (fare thee well), and I'm sure a few others whose heads might actually explode - akin to Oberyn Martell's head explosion by The Mountain in GoT - if Trump were to somehow get re-elected.

Fortunately, Covid should assure that won't happen . . . 

(see what I did there, Mick?).