Where's Ned Ray When We Need Him?
Gail Collins over at the New York Times opines on the prospect of President Bush and Dick Cheney handing over the reigns of power sooner, rather than later:
Putting Barack Obama in charge immediately isn’t impossible. Dick Cheney, obviously, would have to quit as well as Bush. In fact, just to be on the safe side, the vice president ought to turn in his resignation first. (We’re desperate, but not crazy.) Then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would become president until Jan. 20. Obviously, she’d defer to her party’s incoming chief executive, and Barack Obama could begin governing.
As a bonus, the Pelosi presidency would put a woman in the White House this year after all. On the downside, a few right-wing talk-show hosts might succumb to apoplexy. That would, of course, be terrible, but I’m afraid we might have to take the risk in the name of a greater good.
Back in 1979 when Ray Blanton was ending his disastrous term as Governor of Tennessee, then Speaker Ned Ray McWherter decided to push the inauguration of Lamar Alexander up a couple days in order to stop Blanton from granting dubious pardons.
Unfortunately, the US Constitution is a bit more specific in when the President of the United States ends his term - Noon on January 20th - so that isn't an option for us here. Which, I think, is one of the serious flaws in the structure of our Government.
The inability to change over the Government when the American people, and Congress, have no faith in the President, is something that seriously endangers our Democracy. We ought to have more flexible dates for elections, similar to Parliamentary style Governments, so that a 2/3rds no confidence vote in the House and Senate could trigger elections sooner, rather than having to wait until the first Tuesday in November.
Granted, this doesn't solve the problem of President Take A Hint Already continuing to maintain his power, but perhaps we could setup future generations for success in the off chance they have a President as God awful as the current one.
3 comments:
Sean,
I agree that the current lame-duck situation with Bush is intolerable and could endanger the nation's well-being. W. has clearly become even more disengaged and more disinterested in governing than ever. Not a good thing at all in a time of severe economic crisis and two foreign wars being waged.
The unnecessarily long wait between election day and January 20 could be fixed elegantly in the future, although it would require a Constitutional amendment or two to do it.
1. Elect the President by popular vote. This would virtually eliminate any possibility of a long drawn out recount to determine the winner as happened in 2000 (and 1876). Popular vote results would be known with certainty within hours, or at most, within a couple of days of the election.
2. Move Inauguration Day and swearing in of the new Congress to the first Monday in December. That's plenty of time for a new President to put a team in place and get his cabinet nominees ready for the new Senate's approval.
It would fix this problem permanently. However. Constitutional amendments are notoriously difficult to enact. Still, this solution would probably be easier than a move to some sort of 'no confidence vote' mechanism as is found in parliamentary democracies.
A few years after all of this happened, I was in Kroger in Bellevue where I lived at the time.
I saw Blanton wandering around in one of those work coverall suits looking very confused.
It was very odd indeed.
I get so sick of those who suggest that the election of the united states should be by pure popular vote.
Consider the very name of our nation, "The United States of America" and you will understand that this great nation was a unique experiment.
We are a nation of people and a nation of states. We have "the People's House" of government in the House and we have the "State's House" of government in the Senate.
Our federal government represents both the people and the states. That is how we divide power in this nation. That was a great accomplishment and a great structure that helps to prevent some of the totalitarianism we saw across the world in the 20th century where political power was not well dispersed in those governments.
The fact is the electoral college works. It allows the states a form of representation in the selection of the president as well as the people. Unfortunately, those that advocate against it do so for purely partisan reasons without any good understanding of proper governmental structure.
"Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
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