Category: Saving Democracy – Intro

Securing Democracy: A Citizens Action Guide – Introduction

On May 22, 2020

In Civic Virtue, Civil Discourse, Common Good, Democracy, Economy, Local Politics, Public Interest, Saving Democracy - Intro

(Note: this is a continuing series of key topics to build the foundation of a reboot to our democracy to create an economy that works for all not just the top 1%)

The COVID-19 crisis is causing deep psychological shock combining panic, depression and recession. It is a new type of crisis or ‘panipression’. To create this new word we combined three word stems: pan for all and Greek word for their god of terror in the word panic, press a state of pressing down and sion for state or quality of something. People are stressed, not sleeping well, and worried about their families as in other recessions butnow health is added to their worries. It is a sense of falling, that doesn’t seem to stop. This worldwide virus contagion is incredibly pervasive going right to the heart, soul and experience of every American. The social fabric of our society has been shredded. Now, we are trying to stitch our social fabric back together. Everyday our way of living is turned upside down. The previous ways of doing things have disappeared, instead social interaction has shifted to digital networks. Yet, we are social beings we need to be hugged, touched and feel close together.

The coronavirus pandemic has ‘uncloaked’ the vast gap between the top 1 % in wealth and their safety net versus the free fall of the working class. Our first responders, nurses, doctors, delivery people, grocery store clerks, restaurant attendants, farm workers, meat packing employees and others are putting themselves at risk for us and many of them only make a minimum wage or less with no sick leave. While Wall Street investment banks get low interest loans, or even have the Federal Reserve buy their speculative debt, workers are left with one-time $1200 checks, temporary sick leave and unemployment bonus of $600 ending in eight weeks. Over 31M small business owners of which only 40% are profitable are applying for temporary loans which may be converted into grants if they keep employees on payroll for eight weeks. The virus panipression has stunned consumers to the point where they will be nervous and anxious about going out to stores to shop. Businesses will not rehire workers until they see renewed demand. What happens to the 36M on unemployment assistance when the eight week bonus stops and they are on 60% of their hourly wage for 26 weeks?

So, what is the path ahead? There is in embedded in this crisis an opportunity to transform our democracy into a more secure, resilient society where the economy works for all. What will get us through the convulsions of these times? The foundation of change in our nation has been the American Spirit has served us well through the Civil War, both World Wars, Civil Rights Reform, Vietnam War, and The Great Recession. It is time to renew that spirit and move ahead using it as a compass to navigate our future path in rebuilding our government, economy, education, and society – a reboot to version – P 2.0 (People). Below is a diagram of the key institutions that sustain our democratic values, ideals and functions to serve us:

The American Spirit is the foundation of our democracy. The American Spirit is typified by entrepreneurship, hard work, ingenuity, self-sacrifice, innovation, inclusiveness, equal opportunity, freedom of choice, and caring for others.

The American Spirit supports the creation of the Common Good. The Common Good are those values, things or institutions that support the ability of citizens to pursue their dreams from a common base unfettered by imbalances in what all people need to live. We all need clean air, water, and land to live each day. We need good health, a sense of personal safety and economic security. In common we desire that our families be protected, secured and allowed to grow in any way they desire. Our country was founded by those persecuted for their religious beliefs we need to have our religious beliefs respected, tolerated and protected. Core to a well-functioning democracy of citizens making wise choices is a public education system to ensure that every citizen is well educated to make intelligent choices. A well educated citizenry will make good choices voting for those leaders that will implement laws and policies for the common good and welfare of themselves and their country.

Consent of the governed is a guiding principle for our democracy and protected by the Constitution. This consent is carried out by voting, Voting is a right guaranteed in the Constitution and succeeding amendments to all people regardless of race, wealth, religion, or nationality. We will explore how voting has changed in America and future alternatives for safeguarding this core act of democracy.

There are three branches of federal government that sustain our democracy: Supreme Court, Congress, and Executive. Congress has become quite distant from the Will of the People, as well as the objectivity of the Supreme Court. The Executive branch has become a power center all unto itself with limited checks on it power. We will look at ideas for reform that ensure they are focused yet again on the People and the Common Good. Two other institutions are crucial to our democracy. The Press and Education. The Press acts to point a light into the darkness with facts, investigative journalism into the actions of our leaders and ongoing education of our government on our lives. Our educational institutions ensure that we continue to learn, grow and understand our world, ourselves and the universe in a way to build of society and live happier lives. We will look at how to strengthen these institutions and make them more accessible to all and how to support a more civil dialog.

Our federal government establishes laws and policies that establish the rules of our economy. The evolution of the highest concentration of wealth in the top 1% since 1929 has distorted our economy to the extent that the middle class is dwindling and with it the core strength of our democracy. A strong democracy is typified by a vibrant, robust, thriving middle class. The development of growing middle class has to be a goal of our next version of democracy.

The concentration of capital into a few families has left labor out of the benefits of a growing economy. The pandemic has targeted the consumer in ways we never imagined and now threaten the lives of most workers. Our federal government has scrambled to apply a financial band aid to a financially chronically ill workforce. Labor must have equal economic power with capital for a democracy to thrive and renew itself. We’ll look at how to bring labor into equilibrium with capital.

All Americans want to pursue happiness in their own way, whether it be wealth, family life, religious pursuits or service. Our democracy needs to focus on the core values of the American Spirit and ensure they are represented powerfully thorough the institutions that run the day to day operations of our government.

The ideas presented are founded on facts, so you will see a few charts or data references. Yet, each idea will be explained simply so that you as a citizen can be informed and participate in our democracy to your utmost ability. The 2018 election had 49.3% of the electorate vote the highest for a mid-term election since 1914. We would like to see more citizens participate in our electoral process, run of office and use civil dialog in the pursuit of law and policy making. You may disagree with some ideas presented here to get the dialog rolling toward a Democracy version P 2.0, and that’s great. The idea is to move to participation of everyone, not to be ‘right’ yet to be in tune with the American Spirit of progress for every citizen. You will find a focus on identifying a problem by using facts, and much larger focus on solutions. We need more focus on solutions. The solutions then become larger than the problems and we overcome the obstacles to achieving the positive result.

This is a time of unprecedented events. A virus induced panipression like we have never felt before or know what to do about. Yet, we can have faith that by going back to the American Spirit that binds us and unifies us we can all get through this together. To support our institutions that sustain our rights, due process and justice we need to do our duty. We all must take responsibility for forming a more perfect society. We need to participate in the democratic process with all earnestness. Plus, we must trust and obey our leaders when they formulate policies that promote, ensure and build the common good. We need to balance our rights with the duty to ensure the safety, security and happiness of our fellow citizens. Let’s build consensus across all points of view toward a more perfect union Because, on the other side of this transformation we will have a more equitable, just and prosperous democracy that works for all.

Patrick Hill

Sunnyvale, California

May 29, 2020

Saving Democracy: Economics – Corporate Stock Buybacks Imperil Corporate Viability

By Patrick Hill

On July 30, 2019

In Corporate Debt, Corporate Nation State, Corporate Power, Economy, Saving Democracy - Intro, Stock Buybacks, Uncategorized

Goldman Sachs just completed an analysis of corporate payouts and found that dividend and stock buybacks were 103.8% of their free cash flow. Meaning that they were paying more out in cash than they had on hand! Free cash flow has dropped to – 15 %, while debt is up 8 %.

Sources: Goldman Sachs, Marketwatch – 7/29/19

This squeeze is unprecedented, it is the worst cash flow crisis since 1980, and is unsustainable. Corporate executives have turned to extremely high borrowing levels to keep this financial merry-go-round going. While, turning to stock buybacks to hype the price of their stock and keep earnings per share high to the tune of $1.5 trillion by S & P 500 companies in the last year.

If sales and profits drop due to the trade war and consumer spending declines as it has in the last four months, corporations will default on their debt. A downward economic spiral will be triggered.

Maybe this is another reason the Fed announced a cut in interest rates and shift to an ‘inflation averaging framework’. JPMorgan recently commented to Marketwatch they believe Fed economists are shifting to a position of not worrying about inflation but instead on keeping money flowing to corporations at low interest rates possibly to zero. By keeping rates super low the Fed is enabling executives to waste profits on stock buybacks to hype their pay and stock price. We need strong companies making investments in research, development, innovation, productivity improvements and raising wages for workers. When the economy works for all then democracy is strengthened.

The financial music will stop when sales and profits decline, an already desperate cash flow position becomes untenable putting company viability in doubt. Looking out a year or two, we expect the Fed to come to the rescue after possible zero interest rates have panned out. Last March, former Fed Chair, Janet Yellen recommended that the Fed be authorized to purchase corporate stock and bonds to keep the economy going if a recession hits.

Saving Democracy: Elect the President by Popular Vote

By Patrick Hill

On May 22, 2019

In Civic Virtue, Civil Discourse, Common Good, Democracy, Duty, Electoral College Fix, Saving Democracy - Intro, Uncategorized

(Saving Democracy Series: this post focuses on how unfair, and undemocratic the minority vote of a President can be. Two ideas are summarized on how to reform the Electoral College which are most often proposed by scholars and political leaders, electors allocated by congressional districts or, The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact)

With the kickoff of 2020 presidential campaigns by 23 democratic candidates and one GOP president, we are reminded of how our democracy failed to elect the popularly voted candidate, Hillary Clinton in the last presidency contest. The 2016 presidential election results were: Donald Trump receiving 290 electoral votes to Hillary Clinton’s 228, yet she won the popular vote by almost 3 million votes. That event continues to cause protests, fear, anxiety and sense of injustice across the country. The Electoral College was developed by the foundering fathers as a way to make the Office of the President a powerful branch of government, not beholding to the majority of representatives in Congress. They developed a state based election system where presidential electors were allocated by state for each senator and congressional representative. Including the 2016 election, there has been 6 times in U.S. history that a president was elected who did not receive the most popular votes. A minority elected president is viewed by many people as illegitimate. While the minority candidate has been constitutionally elected, the candidate does not have the majority mandate necessary to execute the responsibilities of the office outlined in the Constitution.

This author asked his mother when he turned 18 years old, ‘how do you vote for President?’ she replied, ‘I think of the President like a child with a hammer, how much damage can he do, so I vote for the least damage.” Our POTUS 45 must have listened to her as he is hammering away at a variety of democratic institutions, alliances and principles.

Why do we have the Electoral College anyway? The founding fathers had just come from a monarchy based government, so they did not want to repeat a system of a proclaimed leader (everyone wanted George Washington to be President at the time) with the leader appointing the next in succession. Another approach under consideration was to have a national leader based on representational majority in Parliament. Yet, they believed in balancing the powers of Congress and the Executive branch. Plus, the founders were looking for a way to motivate the President for good behavior by allowing a second term. If the President were elected by Congress it would have to be for one term, or he would become a tool of the majority in Congress. They did not want a direct popular vote because they were concerned that a national constituency could not be developed with so many regions and states likely to have favorite son candidates. James Madison, Constitution Convention recorder and leader, was looking for a compromise because southern states felt they would lose out in a national constituency with blacks being 3/5 of a citizen to vote. So, a compromise was established to have a set of electors voted on by the people in each state based on popular vote. These electors that would then vote in a separate Electoral College vote in December with ballots read in a session of Congress. If there was a tie 269 – 269 of electors between candidates, then Congress would vote on who would become President. In our history there have been 5 Presidents who have not won the popular vote but have won by electors.

Why is this a problem? The popular will of the people is thwarted. A major issue is that the Electoral College is not one person – one vote as identified in our Constitution for a representative democracy. A vote in California with 55 electoral votes and 8,458,000 citizen votes means that one electoral vote represents 153,781 citizens. In Wyoming, with 3 electoral votes and 230,197 citizen votes means that one electoral vote equals 76,732 citizen votes. A voter in Wyoming enjoys twice as powerful citizen/electoral vote than a citizen in California. The balance of power in the Electoral College swings to mostly sparsely populated inland states deciding who our president will be. In the 2016 election inequitable voting power certainly is evident looking at an electoral map (right click on image to enlarge):

Voting power inequity creates great frustration and anger. In the days after the November 2016 election, there were protests in 37 cities across the country against the president elect due to the injustice of the non-popular vote. All our representative government functions are based on majority vote from local city councils to state legislatures and the US Congress. It only makes sense to have a popular vote for president in the modern era. With growing economic inequality and divisive politics particularly between inland and coastal people a fair vote for president would go a long way toward building a united country.

Next steps:

Why not just have a direct popular vote? This would be a good solution except that the Constitution needs to be changed in a two-step process by creating an amendment followed by ratification. The US Congress can create an amendment by a two-thirds vote of the House and Senate or two thirds of the state legislatures. The proposed amendment then must be ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures in a time frame approved by Congress. This is a long and difficult process as 11,539 amendments have been introduced in Congress since 1789 and 27 have become part of the US Constitution.

How about apportioning electors by congressional district? We already portion congressional districts by population which is updated each decade by the Census Bureau. The congressional district approach provides some equity for citizen to elector representation – though it will not fix the inequality completely due to the two senate electors. Maine and Nebraska apportion their electors by congressional districts today, with their two senatorial electors representing a statewide vote. The congressional districting approach would be fair and take care of 80 % of the vote inequity issue. Plus, candidates would need to focus their campaigning on congressional districts not the whole state for a winner take all result. For example, California rarely sees presidential candidates from either party for the presidential race because it has gone for the Democratic candidate in the last 6 elections. Candidates would benefit by campaigning in key congressional districts in even majority states to gain support of electors by congressional districts which may not vote with the majority of the voters on many issues or candidates.

The best approach would be to have congressional districts mapped by an independent commission as California does to ensure that the district is open to diverse political viewpoints. By establishing congressional districts as the key representative unit with fair boundaries for inclusion of multiple points of view we might see more dialog at the local level. The increased dialog will induce more consensus building and possibly break the grasp of incumbents who are re-elected 93 % of the time. State legislatures can decide on their manner of apportioning electors – so we could build a national census to have the states enact changes by the 2024 election.

Professors Akhil and Vikram Amar propose a National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. Whereby, states legislatures would agree to vote their electors for the winner of the popular vote. This compact would take effect when at least 270 electoral votes would be in the Compact. To date fifteen state legislatures have ratified this Compact, swing and inland statues are reluctant to make the switch because they may lose some of their power in electing the next president. Yet, an analysis of advantages to either party are even when viewed over elections back to 1880. Both major parties back the Compact with former senators and congressman on a steering committee supporting the legislation in state houses. Both approaches: congressional district electors or the Popular Vote Interstate Compact are fair to both major parties and third party candidates.

A way to get the reform of the Electoral College off of dead inertia would be to file a suit in federal court seeking a finding that the present system violates one man – one vote provision of the Constitution, thereby forcing the states to redistribute their electors by another method preferably by congressional district with independent commission mapping or Compact. Persuading additional states to pass the Compact law where legislation is pending like New Mexico, Arizona, Oregon, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Kansas, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, New Hampshire and Maine would gain the necessary 270 electoral votes for the Compact to take legal effect.

Saving Democracy: Congressional Representative Districts Drawn By Independent Commission

By Patrick Hill

On April 5, 2019

In Democracy, Legislative Redistricting, Saving Democracy - Intro

(Editor Note: This is the third post in a series on renewing the institutions of our federal government and democracy to ensure that it will endure. Looking at trends today with data, analysis of the present situation and recommendations for changes. Todays post focuses congressional districts being set by an independent commission not legislators. )

Sources: North Carolina General Assembly, Kontretykieta.com – NC Redistricting 2016

The next census count of the population of 50 states is to be completed in 2020, with states losing population or gaining population being forced to redistrict their Congressional Representative districts. Southern and Western states like North Carolina, Texas, Florida, Virginia, California, Oregon, Arizona, and Colorado are likely to gain seats. Northeastern and Midwestern states like Pennsylvania, New York, Rhode Island, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and Minnesota plus Alabama and West Virginia are likely to lose seats.

The redistricting process must be completed by the time ballots are printed for the 2022 election. Only 6 states use independent commissions of equal representation of each party and varying numbers of independent non-partisan members. The other 44 states use some form of state legislature approved redistricting. The legislatures are given the power to establish congressional districts by the Constitution.

Does it really make sense to have the foxes running the hen house? All states have partisan legislative bodies (except Nebraska), the majority party ensures that they can dominate the next congressional election by gerrymandering the state district map. Legislators should not be deciding who voters vote for, voters should be making that decision. In North Carolina, General Assembly Republican, Rep. David Lewis said, “I think electing Republicans is better than electing Democrats,” of a map plan passed by the legislature in 2016. When voters went to the polls that fall, 10 GOP representatives won seats, while only 3 Democrats were elected yet the GOP only won 53 % of the popular vote Now this redistricting issue is before the Supreme Court to be decided later this year. Other states have been in and out of federal courts including Maryland and Wisconsin for redistricting violations based on party affiliation. State legislatures have a long undemocratic history of creating poll taxes for ethnic groups they didn’t like or discriminating against minorities by placing them in loaded districts away from their logical geographic location.

Let’s safeguard from partisanship the most important of democratic institutions – voting, by ensuring that voters will be located in diverse districts from all political points of view. Congress needs to pass a law requiring all states to institute Independent Commissions to draw congressional district maps. Maybe if we had more representative districts candidates would offer more compromising positions, so when they go to Congress they might just learn to work together and do what’s best for the people not corporations or the Elite.

Saving Democracy: Renewing Our Government Infrastructure v2.0P

By Patrick Hill

On March 8, 2019

In Civil Discourse, Climate Change, Common Good, Democracy, Saving Democracy - Intro, Uncategorized

“We can’t have an economy that works for all if we don’t have a democracy that works for all.” TPE, Editor, Patrick Hill

By returning political power to the people then economic opportunities can be once again be made available to all. Why is this reform and rebuilding effort important? Because the people don’t trust their government. If citizens don’t trust their democratic institutions to do the right things for them, they will turn to demagogues who use hate, fear, divisiveness, pride, and power to weld control over the people to gain wealth and power for themselves. Here is a poll from NPR/Marist on the trust people have in various forms of U.S. government:

Congress comes in dead last of all the major institutions, with the Military first and the Supreme Court second (though as the court becomes more politicized this level of trust may change). The Presidency under our present POTUS has not helped in terms of trust, since he was not elected by the majority of people falling almost 3 million votes short and then proceeded with policies that only appeal to his minority base. People inherently believe the majority person or policy should win. In our 2016 presidency election the majority candidate did not win, so the majority opinions are not represented in the Executive branch. The Executive branch starts out with a lack of support, trust or mandate to govern. Our government by the people for the people and of the people can only survive if people have trust in their government. What is even worse is the level of confidence Americans have in their government to handle international or domestic problems has dropped significantly:

One month after the 9/11 tragedy the American public rallied around their government and leaders to provide protection and bring the perpetrators to justice. Since 2001, the confidence the public has in their government to handle problems has declined to a 18 year low.

One reason trust is so low is the government actually does not represent the people when it comes to passing laws in accordance with citizen opinions, needs and condition. Professors Martin Gilens, at Princeton, and Benjamin Page, at Northwestern examined thousands of opinion poll surveys from 1981 to 2002, and grouped them based on the top 10 % in income versus the bottom 90 %. Then, they reviewed 1779 policy proposals versus the opinion surveys and found the elite saw 76 % of their opinions reflected while the general public only 3%. Special interest groups gained 56 % of their positions reflected in policies. It is little wonder that the general public is frustrated with their federal government.

Democrats, Republicans, and Independents need to step back a moment, or a year and think about our democracy first and their policies second. The most salient aspect of politics since the 1980s is the ascendency of corporations, the wealthy and special interest groups gaining and sustaining power in Washington supported by both major parties. At the same time wages for the working class and 80 % in income have basically stagnated on a real wage basis. Our government needs to work for everyone: conservative, liberal, immigrant, native born, poor or wealthy. We need more government processes focused on building consensus rather than the predominant government, Internet and media processes fanning the flames of division. Division is freezing our ability to move ahead and even look ahead 10, 20 or 30 years to solve problems before they become too immense to solve without great loss of life or economic damage. The fact that we cannot seem to make the right legislative, corporate decisions or encourage environmental sound citizen behaviors to save our planet is evidence enough of the breakdown of our democracy to solve real problems. Are these problems solvable? Yes, but only if we work together bringing the genius of our diverse people to focus in effective ways to solve those existential issues we face. There are so many narratives that are disconnected, people talking past each other. We need to connect the narratives and arrive a one narrative that the majority of Americans can support on each major issue.

Our next post: will focus on voting, the heart of our democracy.