tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post7210935539141372104..comments2024-03-28T21:41:32.110-04:00Comments on Grim's Hall: What Do [Those People] Want?Grimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07543082562999855432noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post-41212233204167392222011-10-05T03:58:12.152-04:002011-10-05T03:58:12.152-04:00Not all the levers- we still have a vote, and if o...Not all the levers- we still have a vote, and if one movement (or the other, God forbid) gets big enough to where it persuades the voters to vote based on these principals, instead of the usual 'congress stinks- except my congressman because he brings home some token bacon' reasoning, we start pulling the levers. The one thing congressmen want more than to hang out with lobbyists, is to keep their jobs.<br /><br />I think the Tea Party movement has started to do that.douglasnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post-21842510769728119372011-10-04T11:52:34.442-04:002011-10-04T11:52:34.442-04:00I agree with you this far: it is clear that there...I agree with you this far: it is clear that there is a real populism swelling on both the right and the left. That populism is furious at the way that the bailouts and the new regulations have been structured to put all the weight of the recession on the People, to the benefit of big banks and corporations that have lobbyist ties.<br /><br />The problem for this new movement, in terms of fixing the complaint, is nevertheless the one cited: there is no clear plan for addressing the issue that has broad support. The TEA Party movement is broadly collected around a set of plans to reduce the power of the government, restore the 10th Amendment, and so forth; and to me, that seems like the right approach.<br /><br />The Left-populism is coalescing around what is really the opposite position: to increase government's regulatory role, so that government can punish the corporations and banks (and other associated rich people). It's unclear to me why they think this can work, given that their initial complaint is that the government is already completely in bed with these groups.<br /><br />But the bigger problem is this: what's the middle ground that can allow these two populist strains to work together? There may be some small-scale agreement on this issue or that one, but is there an overall approach that can allow us to leverage the whole populism to reform the government? If not, the crony capitalists are going to win, because they control all the levers of power both in and out of government.Grimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07543082562999855432noreply@blogger.com