Friday, December 11, 2009

What is He Suggesting?

Consider this from Matthew Yglesias:

We’re suffering from an incoherent institutional set-up in the senate. You can have a system in which a defeated minority still gets a share of governing authority and participates constructively in the victorious majority’s governing agenda, shaping policy around the margins in ways more to their liking. Or you can have a system in which a defeated minority rejects the majority’s governing agenda out of hand, seeks opening for attack, and hopes that failure on the part of the majority will bring them to power. But right now we have both simultaneously. It’s a system in which the minority benefits if the government fails, and the minority has the power to ensure failure. It’s insane, and it needs to be changed. (emphasis added)

How does Yglesias suggest that it be changed? I would remind Yglesias that the Democrats have the White House, the Senate and the House. They can do any damn thing they want and there is not a whole lot the Republicans can do about it. The Left's problem has nothing to do with "the minority"; their problem is that even Democrats face re-election and as such, some of them, and occasionally enough of them, balk at backing a far Left agenda. So unless Yglesias is suggesting that the entire election process be chucked and instead hand-picked Leftist are permanently installed in the halls of power I would suggest that he adjust to the messy mechanisms of democracy.

Update:

American Power has an incredible post on this. Donald makes the point that the majority, in this case "progressives", who care care about the poor, down trodden minority when it suits their agenda.

2 comments:

yukio ngaby said...

Yglesias seems to be laboring under the mistaken idea that Democrats and the Left are a single unified bunch. It's kinda funny to watch him and others blame the Republicans for their current unpopularity and now apparent schisms.

I, too, am wondering what Yglesias would suggest to fix the problems inherent our form of democracy. How about if maybe somebody should just dictate what everybody should do for their own good... Or is he suggesting the US should form a two-party Parliament? That would show those Republicans...

Carol said...

Or is he suggesting the US should form a two-party Parliament?

Yeah, they could be the Democrats and The Other Democrats.