In future generations it might be seen as a great irony that the break-down of American Democracy that led to the complete takeover of right-wing corporate interests occured during a time when the most socially-minded Democratic president in years was in office, with an erstwhile filibuster-proof Democratic majority in the Senate. By my ìSchoolhouse Rock” understanding of our government and its systems of checks and balances, I would have expected that having all the power would enable us to get something, somehow, to go our way.† It hasnít.
Why hasnít it? Because the right wing and the corporate interests theyíre in bed with have been very shrewd during their eight-year reign of terror, and have managed to mangle our government to the point where the majority party in the legislature is no longer the party in power. As weíve seen these past months in the Senate, the minority party can now deadlock the legislature by abusing the filibuster.
When the filibuster was first introduced it was used very seldom (in fact, the first filibuster didnít occur until nearly 50 years after the measure was voted into the Senateís rules). Part of the reason is that the filibuster, as initially conceived, required actually holding the floor until either cloture (a 3/5 vote) was achieved or the majority party cancelled the motion.
Senators would have to speak continuously for that time, trading off in order to sleep or use the bathroom. At some point the Senate revised these rules to create a filibuster that can be conducted with no work at all on the part of the minority party.
When the spirit of fair play and compromise disappears from our legislature, it yields what has happened with the health care bill ó the minority party has unlimited veto power (a power formerly reserved for the president) which they can use continuously for, say, four years ó at which point a disenfranchised public will conclude that the majority party just ìisnít getting things done” and decide to ìgive the other guys a chance.”
However, in terms of breaking our democracy, the filibuster is nothing compared to the Jan. 21 decision handed down by John Robertsís supreme court, another legacy of the past eight years. The 5-4 decision struck down as unconstitutional any attempt to ban or limit corporate spending in federal elections, up to and including spending by foreign corporations. This bill has the power to do nothing short of destroying American democracy as we know it.
To put it briefly, no one in America can compete with corporations when it comes to raising money. Not unions, not independently wealthy individuals and certainly not common people and grassroots movements. With this precedent in place, officials wonít get elected or re-elected by working for the people ó theyíll do it simply by working for the people who can buy the peopleís votes. And Iím not talking about the relatively few scrupulous corporations with a sense of fair play and corporate responsibility ó for whatever reason, those never seem to be the rich ones.
Weíre living in a country where the once functional system of checks and balances has broken down. The legislative branch is powerless. The judicial branch is overpowered. The executive branch is all we have left and it is currently home to the president we once saw as the last and best hope for democracy. He is our last chance to keep our government out of the hands of the corporations, a group that the founding fathers never expected to become as powerful and politically invested as they are.
Jonah Comstock is an editor in chief for the Voice. He can be reached for comment at JComstock10@wooster.edu.