Paul Krugman:
The Senate has rules based on the idea that it was a chamber of gentlemen who would find ways to work together. But now, 41 Senators belong to a party that has no interest in a working government, no desire to work with the majority in good faith.
There’s a precedent for all this. In effect, we’ve now become 17th-century Poland:
… with the rise of power held by Polish magnates, the unanimity principle was reinforced with the institution of the nobility’s right of liberum veto (Latin for “I freely forbid”). If the envoys were unable to reach a unanimous decision within six weeks (the time limit of a single session), deliberations were declared null and void. From the mid-17th century onward, any objection to a Sejm resolution — by either an envoy or a senator — automatically caused the rejection of other, previously approved resolutions. This was because all resolutions passed by a given session of the Sejm formed a whole resolution, and, as such, was published as the annual constitution of the Sejm, e.g., Anno Domini 1667. In the 16th century, no single person or small group dared to hold up proceedings, but, from the second half of the 17th century, the liberum veto was used to virtually paralyze the Sejm, and brought the Commonwealth to the brink of collapse...
Hopefully the Senate will be reformed before the United States is carved up by Mexico and Canada.
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COMMENTS (4)
As long as I'm on the Canada side of the carve-up, I say bring it on. I have a Northern accent, and I can sing both of Canada's national anthems (in English, anyway), so I figure I'll escape the worst of our new Canuck overlords' repression. It'll be politeness reeducation camps and hockey lessons for the rest of y'all, but I'll be left in peace to order poutine and root for the Habs.
As long as I'm on the Canada side of the carve-up, I say bring it on. I have a Northern accent, and I can sing both of Canada's national anthems (in English, anyway), so I figure I'll escape the worst of our new Canuck overlords' repression. It'll be politeness reeducation camps and hockey lessons for the rest of y'all, but I'll be left in peace to order poutine and root for the Habs.
Great story. The Polish nobility ("szlachta") were in effect perhaps Europe's first politically effective national middle class. The critical remarks spanned the contemporary spectrum--"Poland stands by anarchy" from the royalists. "One Pole, charming. Two Poles, an argument. Three Poles, a riot." from Voltaire. At the end, various cliques in the Polish Sejm (parliament) sold their votes to the Russian, Prussian, and Hapsburg empires resulting in the absorbtion of Poland by them "for their own good".
Kudos to Krugman for his erudition. But we are not 17th Century Poland, and the Senate is not the Sejm. Somebody needs to channel LBJ here...
Great story. The Polish nobility ("szlachta") were in effect perhaps Europe's first politically effective national middle class. The critical remarks spanned the contemporary spectrum--"Poland stands by anarchy" from the royalists. "One Pole, charming. Two Poles, an argument. Three Poles, a riot." from Voltaire. At the end, various cliques in the Polish Sejm (parliament) sold their votes to the Russian, Prussian, and Hapsburg empires resulting in the absorbtion of Poland by them "for their own good".
Kudos to Krugman for his erudition. But we are not 17th Century Poland, and the Senate is not the Sejm. Somebody needs to channel LBJ here...
I'm down with that. However, think of how European capitals were overrun by exiled Polish aristocrats trying to get into parties and salons. The subsuming of the U.S. by neighboring powers will lead to people putting meaningless titles that once involved some kind of position and authority on their calling cards, as their past glory will be all they have going for them: "Senate Minority Leader," "OMB Director, "Governor of South Carolina," "Chief Justice of the United States," and the like.
I'm down with that. However, think of how European capitals were overrun by exiled Polish aristocrats trying to get into parties and salons. The subsuming of the U.S. by neighboring powers will lead to people putting meaningless titles that once involved some kind of position and authority on their calling cards, as their past glory will be all they have going for them: "Senate Minority Leader," "OMB Director, "Governor of South Carolina," "Chief Justice of the United States," and the like.
I am all for a carve-up of the US that merges the blue coasts with Canada and the south and red middle with Mexico. Or they can stay independent. Who really cares. A society run by flat-earth Republicans where they cut the tax rate to zero would descend past Mexico and end up at Syria in no time. The Mexicans probably wouldn't want it. Let's get the ball rolling by getting rid of Texas.
I am all for a carve-up of the US that merges the blue coasts with Canada and the south and red middle with Mexico. Or they can stay independent. Who really cares. A society run by flat-earth Republicans where they cut the tax rate to zero would descend past Mexico and end up at Syria in no time. The Mexicans probably wouldn't want it. Let's get the ball rolling by getting rid of Texas.