Election Night Musings

As more and more states' election results are called, you would think this would be a time for me to be happy. After all, the change I felt we so desperately needed has reportedly happened. The Democrats have taken control of the House of Representatives and of what looks to be about 2/3s of the Governorships, with and outside possibility of two tied minorities in the Senate, that tie broken by Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT), which still breaks the Republican death grip on control.

And in truth, a part of my faith has been restored in the system (pending official codification of the results as called by exit polling, something which in 2004 showed a magical ability to swap against all statistical probability). I was honestly beginning to wonder whether we had a Democracy left, or whether the results (at least in electronic voting machine states) were a foregone conclusion. If these results stand, at least it proves that my most terrible nightmares have not come to pass: No one has yet become brazen enough to steal elections in the face of overwhelming evidence that they should lose.

But my goals have not been met, a Democratic win in even some part of the Congress is not and was never the goal, there continues to be work that vitally needs to be done. A short, and by no means complete, list:

1) Serious investigation into Electronic Voting Machines.

Although I'm tentatively ready to admit that it DIDN'T happen (or didn't happen wholesale), these machines are still (by all reports) seriously subject to undetectable voter fraud. I understand the benefits of electronic voting, but there needs to be some form of paper trail.

Perhaps a two-step voting process, whereby the voter casts his or her ballot on the EVT, which then (like an ATM) prints out an official receipt. The voter then compares the receipt to his or her intended vote, ensures that it is correct, and puts the receipt into an old style locked ballot box. In a perfect world, this ballot box would be an optical scan device which again counts the paper ballots (immediate independent vote confirmation) and retains the paper ballots so if someone wants to do a hand count to verify the official tallies, they can do that as well.

In any endeavor as large scale as the U.S. national elections, we'll never find a way to be 100% free of election fraud. Nonetheless, we owe it to ourselves to make it difficult to accomplish. It may still be possible to get dead people registered to vote and stuff ballot boxes, but at least that requires more work than 45 seconds alone with any one of the voting machines for a state.

2) The return of Checks and Balances.

My biggest concern about the Congress since 9/11 is the complete and total lack of any kind of check on Presidential power. I've made no secret of the fact that I consider President Bush's consolidation of executive power and obsessive secrecy to be damaging to the country and possibly unconstitutional, and the biggest reason why I felt we needed a change in control of the Congress is that someone there needs to stand up and say “Hey, wait a second. That's not your prerogative, Mr. President. That's ours here in Congress, and we will not have it taken away.”

In past years, the Congress and the Executive Branch have played a game of tug-of-war even when the same party controlled both. Unified control may have allowed for greater access to one side's agenda or the other, but there was still a strong feeling of “Us” vs “Him” in the Congress, something we need more of in order to preserve the strengths and the greatness of the United States.

Now, whether these checks and balances end up resulting in any kind of censures for the President or impeachment proceedings or whatever, that's really up to the White House, and whether they accept the change in control and begin behaving in the manner prescribed in the Constitution for the Executive Branch, or whether they continue to try to consolidate power, push the bogus “Unitary Executive” theory, and continue to thwart Congressional attempts at Presidential oversight. I have no need to see a second impeachment trial in as many Presidents, I just want to see the fundamental balance of powers restored.

3) The return of bipartisan cooperation.

This may seem at odds with #2, but it is not. To my way of thinking, one of the most detrimental changes to the Congress under Republican control since 1994 has been the fundamental altering of how the Congress does business. According to historians, there was a day when the old traditions were followed, and when the minority party in Congress still had some say and some power. Recognize that majority vs minority generally isn't a matter of huge percentages, and so the power shouldn't be an all-or-nothing proposition either.

The Congress in recent years has moved to consolidate power from the decentralized committees into the hands of the few in leadership positions, and from a somewhat even distribution to a “minority party might as well not even show up” level of first vs second class citizenship. If the percentages now being reported stand, the Democrats will control 55% of the House of Representatives. That shouldn't mean 100% of the power, it should mean 55% of the power.

Decentralize the Congress to the way it used to be, codify some of the old rules in law so that loopholes like the “nuclear option” for ending filibusters on a simple majority are no longer an option, leave the minority party with a level of power befitting the seats that they DO control.

4) The return of Congress actually working.

By all reports, this Congress has been a do-nothing Congress. They have not really accomplished much beyond rubber stamping the President's wishes. They have (if the articles I've read have been correct) set new records for minimum number of days in session, and have apparently institutionalized extremely limited working days. Senator and Congressman used to be jobs, not extremely well paid vacations with the occasional task or two. They work for us. The operative term should be work.

...

I'm sure there's more, and I'll probably blog about it as I think of it. But the important thing here is that Congress (particularly the House of Representatives) was intended to be the voice of the people in Washington, protecting our rights and our interests against those of special interests and power hungry Presidents.

I only pray against any real hope that the Democratic Party will see this win not as a referendum on their own support, but a wake-up call to Congress that we will only tolerate so much corruption, and in return for what corruption we will accept we expect to have our interests well and truly represented.

Good Night.

Liam.