Transcript First thoughts about U.S. Government

A baker’s dozen lessons on U.S.
government and politics
2015-2016
13. On Government
The supreme source of
authority for the government
of the United States is . . . .
12. On Democracy
“No one pretends that democracy
is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has
been said that democracy is the
worst form of Government . . .
. . . except all those others that have been tried
from time to time.”
Winston Churchill
11. More on Government
Government is not the enemy
(according to Thomas Hobbes,
life in the state of nature is
“solitary, poor, nasty, brutish
and short”).
But government’s power is
subject to abuse. So, . . .
. . . it does need to be watched . . .
all the time.
10. On Liberty
“Those who would give up
essential liberty to purchase a little
temporary safety . . .
. . . deserve neither liberty
nor safety.”
Ben Franklin
9. On Voting
The right answer to every question about voting is . . .
Young people don’t vote.
So, “Vote or die.”
P. Diddy, aka Sean Combs
8. On Corporations
“I see in the near future a crisis approaching that
unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of
my country.... Corporations have been enthroned and
an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the
money power of the country will endeavor to prolong
its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people
until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the
Republic is destroyed.”
Abraham Lincoln
7. On Money and Politics
 “Money not only determines who is elected,
it determines who runs for office.
Ultimately, it determines what government
accomplishes—or fails to accomplish. …
Real reform of democracy, reform as radical
as those of the Progressive era and deep
enough to get government moving again,
must begin by completely breaking the
connection between money and politics.”
U.S. senator Bill Bradley, 1996
Money raised in the 2008 election
 Barack Obama: $141,000,000
 Hillary Clinton: $138,000,000
 John Edwards: $44,000,000
 Mitt Romney: $90,000,000
 John McCain: $54,000,000
 Rudy Giuliani: $62,000,000
Citizens United v. FEC
 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission,
(2010), holds that corporate funding of independent
political broadcasts in candidate elections cannot be
limited—because of the First Amendment.
6. The United States of America is the
greatest country in the world
 It is most the most enduring republic in the history of
the world (1789-2011).
 It is the world’s most powerful economy and the
world’s greatest military power.
… or is it?
 We incarcerate a larger percentage of our population than
any other western democracy. Worse, we have more people
in prison than any other country in the world, including
China, which has four times as many people as we do.
 More than one in every one hundred Americans is now
in prison.
 Forty-six million Americans do not have adequate health
insurance.* (All western Europeans have adequate health
coverage.)
*Before passage of the Affordable Healthcare Act (2010)
 In recent decades the typical child starting out in
poverty in continental Europe (or in Canada) has
had a better chance at prosperity than a child
starting out in poverty in the United States. “The
U.S. and Britain appear to stand out as the least
mobile societies among the rich countries
studied." France and Germany are somewhat more
mobile than the U.S.; Canada and the Nordic
countries are much more so.
 22% of children in the United States live below the
poverty line – the highest percentage of any
Western democratic nation.
5. We are only 3% of the world’s
population, but
 we emit 25% of the world’s pollution
 we have 25% of the world’s prison population, and
 since 1893 we have overthrown the governments of 14 countries—
including at least five democratically elected governments—far more
than any other country in the world has done, and for the most part in
order to ensure that we have access to foreign markets and foreign
resources.
 Hawaii (1893), Cuba (1898), Philippines (1898), Puerto Rico (1898),
Nicaragua (1910), Honduras (1911), Iran (1953), Guatemala (1954), South
Vietnam(1963), Chile (1973), Granada (1983), Panama (1989),
Afghanistan (2001), Iraq (2003)
4. More on Politics
 “Politics is a profession; a serious,
complicated and, in its true sense, a
noble one. . . . [It] ought to be the parttime profession of every citizen who
would protect the rights and privileges
of free people and who would preserve
what is good and fruitful in our
national heritage.”
Dwight David Eisenhower
General of the Army and Supreme Commander of Allied
Expeditionary Forces in WW II
34th President of the United States
3. The major problems we have to confront both
domestically and internationally, including





Global climate change
Health care
War
Nuclear proliferation
Income inequality
are not primarily scientific or military or
economic in nature.
They are political.
2. “Well, Dr. Franklin, what have you given
us?”
“A republic—if you can keep it.”
So, in June 2016, it’s over to you.
But remember. . .
1. Never, never mess with
Social Security or Medicare,
lest you run afoul of . . .