A new nation, conceived in Liberty

A list of things that the Democrats ought to do in the next four years, even though some may not be in their own best interests:

1. Pass the minority bill of rights for Congress. Pelosi pushed this in 2005 when the Republicans were in charge but it was (rightly) regarded as little more than a political ploy. However, if they actually implemented this from a position of power, it would do a lot to cement the proper functioning of the legislative branch and would create a powerful norm requiring future Congresses (whichever party is in charge) to operate the same way.

2. Replace Joe Lieberman as Chair of the Homeland Security Committee with an actual Republican. I’m all for punishing Lieberman, but I think Sandy Levinson is correct that government really runs into trouble when the oversight capacity of the legislative branch is completely subsumed by party loyalty. In fact, it ought to be standard practice for the opposition party to hold one seat which grants them an oversight role.

3. Reform the Electoral College. No need to do this on a national level. Just get states to pass National Popular Vote bills. Every one that does builds momentum for others to join. And once states worth 270 Electoral Votes get on board, the bills kick and it becomes very easy to get everyone on board for an actual amendment to settle this once and for all. I mean, seriously, electoral votes? C’mon America.

4. Fix Election Day. It’s preposterous that we vote on a Tuesday. It should either be on the weekend, or Election Day should be declared a national holiday. Voting on Tuesday is an anachronism from an agrarian society.

5. Fix the lengthy lame duck period between the election and inaguration. Quoting Sandy Levinson again: “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if President-Elect Obama appointed a commission to study whether the US can any longer afford the “mere” 2-1/2 months of transition and to pledge to support an amendment, should the commission so suggest, that might actually reduce his term from a full four years to, say, 3 year, 10 months (if the next inauguration is on November 20, 2012)?” This is another tradition lost in time. Campaigns last two years these days. No one is elected without intense and thorough examination of all relevant details. Obviously there is classified information they have to digest, and various other details that prevent the president-elect from taking office the day after the election. That said, two to three weeks should be sufficient. A month at most. Things move quickly these days. We don’t operate based on the Pony Express any more. Three months without a leader is a LONG time.

6. Close Guantanamo and everything like it. Walk back the expansions of executive power implemented by Bush. I never got that worked up about FISA and wiretapping but neither do I think it’s sound policy to support stuff like that. I’m willing to concede that dealing with terrorism may require some flexibility in reconceptualizing executive power. The world changes and government must change to deal with it. But that absolutely cannot become a free license to do anything and everything, like it was with Bush and Cheney.

The basic premise is that government ought to be more responsive to the will of the people. It should be transparent and fair. And the process of governing ought to be about doing what is right more than it is about doing what is personally beneficial.

Look, I am as firm a partisan as you’re going to find. But I’m a partisan because I believe in progressive ideals, not because I support the Blue Team like a sports franchise. If we’re going to be serious about improving this country we have to hold ourselves up to the principles that we claim to stand for. Lincoln famously identified the great task before us: “that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” The Democrats in charge would do well to remember that, and to remember that they are merely the caretakers of a government that operates in the name of the people, not their own interests.

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