People everywhere are mad at their politicians
Is there a world-wide “people power” revolt under way? Daniel Henninger at The Wall Street Journal argues that there is, though he notes the considerable obstacles that people long disengaged from politics and activism — Marx, he notes, called them the lumpenproletariat — face in booting out our lumpen “bureaucratariat.”
It is indeed a sign of real change when single-party rule ends in Japan after 54 years and, several years ago, in Mexico after seven decades. As Henninger notes, German voters also appear ready to throw the bums out. How this kind of change could take shape in the U.S., however, is unclear. Certainly, it’s what tens of millions of voters thought they were getting when they elected Barack Obama last November. But the tea parties, the town-hall protests and the opinion polls suggest that Americans are getting less than they had “hoped” for.
Another shift back to the Republicans, so soon after they lost their majority position, hardly seems like the answer. Then again, neither does letting the Democrats continue to govern with every bit as much partisanship as they accused the GOP of doing.
Henninger attributes the lumpenproletariat’s sudden rise from its lumpenness to the staggering increases in public debt virtually around the globe over just this decade. Certainly that’s a big, disgusting part of it. I’m more convinced, though, by his references to the power of incumbency.
The overreach by Obama and the congressional Democrats, and the corresponding reaction by the public, isn’t just a sign that the Democratic Party has fallen out of favor. I’m not sure that any one party could spark the kind of outcry we’ve seen over the past month. It’s more likely a combination of the Bush and Obama eras that has people seething. The bottom fell out when, amid a recession caused by both private-sector and government fecklessness, the governing Democrats’ only answer has been to make government even more powerful.
Only people who have been in Congress for 22 years, 28 years, 34 years, or even longer could think that more government power is really the answer. The longest-serving politicians in Washington these days may tend to be Democrats, but public anger is aimed at career politicians of all stripes. As I wrote yesterday about recent polling numbers, both parties ignore this aspect of the public’s dissatisfaction at their peril.
For more on Germany, by the way, read my former WSJE colleague Daniel Schwammenthal’s commentary on that country’s coming elections.
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26 comments Add your comment
Davo
September 3rd, 2009
10:46 am
It’s hard enough trying to figure out American politics. Who really cares what Japan or Germany do to run their pissant societies?
Please stick to matters we can relate to…and be a conservative as you claim; not a republican apologist. How about a nice article on how Ron Paul will save our country?
kwingfield
September 3rd, 2009
11:00 am
Davo, I might be new at this but I’m not sure how my saying that giving Republicans power “hardly seems like the answer,” that it’s “a combination of the Bush and Obama eras that has people seething,” and that “public anger is aimed at career politicians of all stripes” qualifies me as a “republican apologist.”
Ron Paul, by the way, is a Republican.
3rd Party Guy
September 3rd, 2009
11:29 am
“Who really cares what Japan or Germany do to run their pissant societies?”
Davo, I’m not one to say these countries have everything figured out, but that comment reeks of willful ignorance. No country in the world has a perfect system, but there are things that other countries do better than the good ol’ USA.
Kyle, I think a rapid swing back to Republicans is highly likely now due to the current congressional leadership’s general corruption and ineptitude. Of course, that will just mean we will have another “mandate” for loss of freedom and corporate executive greed.
jconservative
September 3rd, 2009
11:30 am
John Adams, Ben Franklin & Thomas Jefferson would call it “incumbency”.
That’s the habit of people to vote over & over for the same old tired retreads. And, as I say over & over, the enemy is not Republicans, the enemy is not Democrats, the enemy is Incumbents. And, my fellow citizens, what has “incumbency” brought you these past 50 years?
The national debt – $290.5 billion in 1960 — $11.6 trillion in 2009.
This was brought to you by the Incumbents you continue to return to office year after year. Congratulations.
jconservative
September 3rd, 2009
11:32 am
And you can add Britain to the list as they are about to dump the LIberal Party for the Conservative Party.
Jessica
September 3rd, 2009
11:33 am
I think we need two things to get our country headed in the right directions.
The first is NEW Republicans in office. I think the Republican party needs to go find some real, competent conservatives from state and local government and send them to Washington. I think a lot of voters agree with conservative ideas, but they are angry because the Republicans they elected in the past decade or so didn’t govern by those principles. Instead, they turned out to be power-hungry sellouts.
The second is term limits in one house of Congress (probably the House of Representatives). That way, there will always be fresh new legislators in Washington. The reason I think it should be one house and not both is that we still need seasoned statesmen in our government. I think this would create a good blend of experience and new ideas.
Davo
September 3rd, 2009
11:36 am
‘Obama eras’
Has his administration been in power that long as to be refered to as an ‘era’? Cop to the fact that W deserves the brunt of the blame for our miserable state of affairs and I’ll cut you some slack. We all know what to expect from the democrats…since when do we let the GOP off the hook for betraying their core principles (limited govt, personal responsibilty etc)
RP is a republican in name only and has said so himself. If there was a true conservative, constitutional party out there he would most likely be leading it. I would hope as a 30-something conservative you would be blogging about this aspect of politics rather than re-hashing tired, us vs them 2 party BS. There’s a market for that, Kyle…I’d like to see you embrace it.
Davo
September 3rd, 2009
11:55 am
“…but that comment reeks of willful ignorance.”
Ah, no. I think it reeks of willful clarity. I won’t deny that there is much to be learned from other countries (that would be ignorant). My point comes from the fact that practically every other country in the world has it easy when governing the masses. Why? Because 99% of the people in Japan are…ethnically Japanese. Probably 90% of Germany is populated by…Germans (with the remainder being our WW2 occupation force). This country doesn’t have that luxury…we’re the melting pot. While it may be nice to think that everyone can sit back and sing kumbaya in unison, the fact is we’re fractured along many ethnic and societal lines and bringing them all under one roof is tough.
This guy makes this point better than I if you care to explore this further.
Creatures of Habit
by Jack Hunter on September 01, 2009
http://www.takimag.com/article/creatures_of_habit/
“Usually by accident of geography, ethnicity or both, people share cuisine, art, technology, architecture and gods particular to their little corner of the world….While we might find value in ourselves as individuals it can’t be underestimated how much self-worth we derive from being part of a larger human continuum.”
Hillbilly Deluxe
September 3rd, 2009
12:07 pm
The one thing Democratic and Republican office holders have in common is that they will do anything to see that current system that benefits incumbents stays in place. It’s been said that the Senate is the world’s most exclusive private club and I think you could expand that to the current Federal Government in general. Both sides will give lip service to change, always through a prism that benefits them, but the fact is they like things the way they are and will work to keep it the way it is. They’ll talk a little reform now and then when their feet are to the fire but that’s about it.
jt
September 3rd, 2009
12:09 pm
Who is John Galt?
Stannie
September 3rd, 2009
1:20 pm
Incumbancy is the real problem. Term limits are the solution. Most Americans know this, but still vote based upon pols lies. Lets start the change today. Call your reps and tell them to get ready to leave office. Since they are not doing the countries business as we have been told!
oldtimer
September 3rd, 2009
1:34 pm
I hope to God we see a turnaround in the near future.
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
September 3rd, 2009
2:13 pm
Well, I’m with the rest of the godly Conservatives here. I’m for term limits. Until the godly Republicans get in the majority again. Then I’ll argue about how important it is to keep people in office that know what’s going on and how things work.
Have a good p.m. everybody.
@@
September 3rd, 2009
2:39 pm
Alright…so I linked to some nekkid leftists at Zombietime, Kyle. Is that why my comment is held up in moderation? Folks don’t have to look unless they want a good laugh.
They’re U.C. Berkeley folk.
kwingfield
September 3rd, 2009
4:14 pm
Sorry, @@, but even laughably nekkid leftists don’t work for a family-friendly Web site. Feel free to re-post that comment without the links.
JF McNamara
September 3rd, 2009
4:59 pm
“Certainly, it’s what tens of millions of voters thought they were getting when they elected Barack Obama last November. But the tea parties, the town-hall protests and the opinion polls suggest that Americans are getting less than they had “hoped” for.”
Kyle, I’m not sure this statement is true as the Obama administration hasn’t really undertaken their agenda. They put in the stimulus (with some pork but mostly tax cuts and need items) and banking fixes which helped salvage the economy. Obama really hasn’t done anything else as Healthcare reform is his first major issue.
I’d attribute the anger to the media and fringe Republicans along with the defeat in November. It allowed Hannity, Limbaugh, etc to really rally the listeners and incite the fringe of their party to become vocal. It’s also been helped that they don’t have to meet journalistic standards of integrity so they can use half-truths and misinformation to even make topic more inflammatory. It makes no sense for people who could’ve care less about politics two years ago to be so emotionally invested now unless that is what’s going on. For instance, people are so concerned about the deficit now, but Bush exploded the deficit and kept the war spending hidden and the silence was deafening.
I throw out the town hall results because its just the idiot fringes of both parties. The polls tell a story, but it mostly tells who is winning the propaganda war.
Finally, I don’t think people are that upset at the Obama agenda. In Georgia, it seems like it but that’s because its primarily Republicans and by nature it’ll be contrarian here. He still has a pretty good approval rating overall especially given the amount of propaganda that has been manufactured against him.
jconservative
September 3rd, 2009
7:28 pm
Stannie September 3rd, 2009 1:20 pm
“Incumbancy is the real problem. Term limits are the solution.”
I believe you are wrong. The solution is not term limits. The solution is NOT voting for Incumbents. And it would help if there were a true Conservative Party. Libertarian comes close, but not close enough (although they have certainly gotten a lot of votes from me).
To my mind, Conservative means Political Conservative. Social Conservatives, for example, are Political Liberals because they want the central government to “fix” a lot of problems (whether perceived or real). Political Conservatives, on the other hand, want the central government to keep hands off most everything.
Eric
September 4th, 2009
5:58 am
American workers are getting less compensation and longer hours thanks to unrestrained corporate power. Congress has done little, if any, to protect workers (regardless of one’s view of health care, for example). I am allowed so little time off and work for such cheap wages ($8/hr.) just to survive. So, no, I don’t think my government cares one iota about me, nor do I care anymore about them. Total disconnect/distrust. Little wonder the cynicism!
Michael H. Smith
September 4th, 2009
6:37 am
Jessica, what assurances do the people have that the NEW Republicans will be any different than the OLD Republicans?
The adage of putting lipstick on a pig does comes to mind, as many have too often seen a NEW label put on an OLD product which claims to be NEW and IMPROVED only to dismally provide less efficacy than previously obtained at a higher purchase price.
A fresh face on a rotting carcass does not a pleasant stench produce.
Unquestionably this country is a center-right or right of center nation via citizen self-proclamation, where 40% identify themselves as conservatives and 39% identifying themselves as centrists, clearly liberalism at only a mere 21% is out of keeping with the mainstream ideologies of the national heart and soul of America. At the moment, excuse the overuse of parlance, but the tail is wagging the dog!
In truth it would be a far easier task to reform a political party than to reform the entire body of politic in this country. Unfortunately time has come that “We the People” may well have to do exactly that risky and untenable, as some may rightly question it, the unthinkable thing.
In review of the present and past administrations far too much power has been centralized at the Federal level, even have powers been unduly conceded to executive branch meant to forever remain in the domain of the legislative branch, same said in regards to the judicial branch when law is legislated from the bench, all contrary to our founder’s foundation of governance as laid out in the simple though effective concept of Federalism: The checks and balances thereof have all but been unchecked and meant to serve an imbalance.
To correctly address the Constitutional misgivings that have evolved over time, even to arguably best approach the change of terms served in limiting the years of service of a Representative in the House the several States should call for a Constitutional Convention.
Do not take this as a personal attack or anything in any manner of speaking as an effort to demean you, Jessica. Quite to the contrary, you have only made me think and re-think my challenged positions that I’ve long held against the use of Constitutional Convention where I’ve resisted it in the times past knowing the risk involved that might lead to an undoing of the Union.
John Adams, Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson never held to the beliefs of Lincoln and Eisenhower of an indestructible union, as they held it would likely not endure the span of their own lifetimes. Ben Franklin was asked upon exiting the Constitutional Convention of 1787, “Well, Doctor, what have we got: A republic or a monarchy?” With no hesitation whatsoever, Franklin responded, “A republic, if you can keep it.”
“I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed
of any party of men whatever, in religion, in philosophy, in
politics, or in anything else, where I was capable of thinking for
myself. Such an addiction is the last degradation of a free and
moral agent. If I could not go to heaven but with a party, I
would not go there at all.”
–Thomas Jefferson to Francis
Hopkinson, 1789.
“Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every
fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence
of a God; because, if there is one, he must more approve of the
homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear.”
–Thomas Jefferson to Peter Carr, 1787.
“I hope that we have not labored in vain, and that our experiment
will still prove that men can be governed by reason.”
–Thomas Jefferson to George Mason, 1791.
Maxwell Snark
September 4th, 2009
7:20 am
I think you’ve got a point, Mr. Wingfield, that perhaps people are tired of the brainlock of incumbents of both parties, which leads to wrong-headed “solutions” to problems here and elsewhere. Often, even when you get a “new” person in office, it’s someone who has spent years in ideological lockstep with the previous person.
@@
September 4th, 2009
8:06 am
Feel free to re-post that comment without the links.
That wouldn’t be any fun, Kyle! It would require literary descriptions. You know what they say…
a picture’s worth a thousand words.
A THOUSAND WORDS?
J/K hope you enjoyed it at least.
(ISH) Insert smile here. I don’t do silly emoticons.
Ga Values
September 4th, 2009
9:19 am
Which party stands for the voters? The Democrats are owned by the trial lawyers and the Republicans are owned by the Insurance Companies. Does anyone know a single voter who really wanted to vote for Saxby Chambliss but he was reelected. We need TERM LIMITS NOW.
Joan
September 4th, 2009
11:38 am
We need not just lobby for term limits, but we also need to understand that an awful lot “conservatives” are fiscal conservatives and social libertarians. In fact, that may be the majority of the population. We need a new face, and a party receptive to that approach, rather than the all or nothing approach both of the instant parties take. As a conservative, I would love to see a new face, and a bright mind emerge who embraced fiscal responsibility, social live and let live, and was responsive to the populace. Right now Congress and the White House are populated by egomaniacs.
Ga Values
September 4th, 2009
1:16 pm
Joan
September 4th, 2009
11:38 am
Very well put, thanks
ATLPRINCE
September 6th, 2009
7:21 pm
Thank him
No one has talked about the stock market for months, why? Cause it’s UP.
Thank him
American car company’s just posted a huge profit because of “cash 4
clunkers”.
Thank him
The American government just made more than 4 Billion Dollars from the
loans that it made to banks and stands to make a ton more to help pay
down the deficit that was created when the last Administration
sqaundered our surplus and redirected it to their buddies in the war
contracting business.
Thank Him
Americans can now go to more places safely globally now that we as
Americans are looked at differently compared to the last administration.
Thank Him
He is trying to make sure every citizen has access to basic health
care, but you don’t care unless your “social” Medicare is cut.
Thank Him
AND YOU HAVE ENOUGH NERVE TO QUESTION A FORMER HARVARD COLLEGE PROFFESOR ABOUT
TALKING TO YOUR KIDS ABOUT THE VALUE OF STAYING IN SCHOOL! HOW DARE YOU, YOU UNGRATEFUL UNCONCIOUS
BIGOTS!!!!!
YOU SHOULD THANK PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA FOR CARING ABOUT EVEN YOUR
MEAN, SELFISH, NARCACISTIC, UNDERCOVER RACIST, CAUCASION BUTT!!!!
About that GOP momentum | Kyle Wingfield
December 8th, 2009
6:02 am
[...] Some of us have been warning for months now that the small-government, anti-Democrat movement manifested in tea-party protests around the country since April didn’t necessarily represent a mother lode of votes for the GOP to mine. No doubt, many of these voters would prefer not to vote for the party of Obama, Pelosi and Reid. And so would many Americans: Since June 28, Republicans have been leading Democrats on Rasmussen’s weekly “generic ballot” poll (which asks whether you would vote for your congressional district’s Republican candidate or Democratic candidate, without specific candidate names). In recent weeks, that gap has been in the range of 43-44 percent Republican/37-38 percent Democrat. [...]