[Andrew Mandelbaum]

I have people on this, Brian. Here is their work so far:

https://www.cnet.com/news/bad-lip-re...-donald-trump/

[Max Goodman]

Though slow to start, the Dems do seem to have figured this out. And though their boycotting of confirmation hearings may not seem to to be accomplishing anything, the next time they're in the majority (which is more likely than it was when they were voting to confirm) the Republicans will have no argument that their concerns must be taken into account.

[Richard Meyer]

Isn't this a major problem with the dysfunctional, gridlocked, myopic two party system? The party in power changes the rules to suit itself so as to stick it to the other party, and when the minority party assumes the majority, it does the same to its opponents. It's this sort of bullshit that helped to elect Trump. I'm almost to the point where I'd prefer anarchy over what has been the status quo. Screw all those witless, self-serving, ideological politicians.

Richard

[Max Goodman]

You're right, Richard, but you've been misled if you think both parties are equally responsible. (Your post doesn't say so, but leaves the possibility open.) Bipartisan cooperation was jettisoned by the Republicans. The only time I'm aware of the Democrats having "change[d] the rules" was their weakening of the filibuster in the face of the unprecedented Republican determination to bring the government to a halt by obstructing anything President Obama and his party tried to do. The Democrats have governed as though a lot of voters, feeling as you do, would kick out the obstructionists when they got the chance, but voters have blamed the situation on both parties equally, so the Dems must fire up their base the way Republicans have been firing up theirs. I hope the Dems have finally figured that out.

[Richard Meyer]

Hello Max:

Just to be clear, my griping at the system of government should not in any way be construed as support of or sympathy for Trump or the Republicans. I’ve never voted for a Republican, and this current batch is especially disconcerting. My main irritation is with entrenched political ideology, power politics taking precedence over sensible compromise, and an increasingly dysfunctional political system.

Here are excerpts from two newspaper reports illustrating my point that the party with the greater power changes the rules to suit itself and stick it to the other party.


from The Atlantic: 20 January 2017

In November 2013, at the urging of Majority Leader Harry Reid, Democrats voted along strict party lines to change the rules of the Senate, deploying what had become known in Washington as “the nuclear option.” Under the new rules, presidential nominees for all executive-branch positions—including the Cabinet—and judicial vacancies below the Supreme Court could advance with a simple majority of 51 votes. The rules for legislation were untouched, but the 60-vote threshold for overcoming a filibuster on nearly all nominations was dead.

Trump may win Senate confirmation of his entire Cabinet, and while Democrats will oppose many of his nominees, it was their vote in November 2013 that helped pave the way for their success.

The Washington Times: January 7, 2009

Engineered by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Democrats, who hold a 257-178 majority, pushed through a package of rule changes Tuesday that the furious Republican minority said trampled their traditional rights to affect legislation. House Democrats said the changes were needed to end what they said was an “abuse” of the previous rules by the minority, to torpedo bills likely to pass.

Unlike in the Senate, where the threat of a filibuster gives the minority strong bargaining leverage, the minority party in the House has relatively few tools to challenge the majority’s will.

Richard

[Max Goodman]

Yes, Richard. The media is responsible for this ludicrous bothsiderism. When the Republican Party vowed to obstruct anything a popularly elected president tried to do, the Democrats changed the rules so the government could continue to function? Well, then why shouldn't Republicans change the rules so the next President can seat a cabinet hostile to the functions of the departments they will lead. Same thing.

I had forgotten that the House, too, changed rules to deal with the obstructionism.