We the People have become We the Background.
The Founding Fathers put a lot of thought into the structure and direction of the nascent Republic. I have seen early writings discussing how the president, the head of the new executive branch, should be addressed. They did not want “your majesty” or “your highness.” And thus was born “Mr. President.”
The three branches of government were created, in part, as a form of checks and balances. And this would mean that things would change slowly but that any change would ideally be reflective of the interests of We the People. That was then. It certainly is not now. Mark Steyn has noted for years that if you watch a CSPAN feed of some senator speaking in the august chamber, it’s a very tight shot. And the reason you only see the standing senator and very little else is that the Senate—like the House—is generally empty. Cory Booker can speak for over 24 hours but there probably were not 24 unique people in the Senate during the entire length of his talk. It seems like the people, however ununited on so many subjects, still seem to agree to a high percentage on many issues. Most Americans do not want dudes in women’s sports or people entering the country illegally. But even for “80/20 issues” the will of the American people is often stymied. There are multiple institutional brakes that generally prevent things getting done as the people wish.
Congress. There was a poll a while back that suggested that many Americans preferred that the Congress be in the hands of the party not heading the White House. The idea was that you couldn’t get another Obamacare that was shoved through with only Democratic votes and a Democratic president’s signature. Though members of Congress periodically tell their constituents that they exist solely to advance their interests, once the elections are over, the voters oftentimes become an afterthought. Americans in higher numbers like the DOGE process of rooting out waste/fraud/theft. Congress is mostly not very interested in cutting huge amounts of money from a budget that is far larger than Treasury income. They like all of that spending, because they personally benefit from some of it and part of the money might find its way to their districts and/or friends. Most of the money spent by Obama and Biden—and approved by Congress—for all things green produced virtually no upside for the American people. So even when Americans clearly want something, Congress—in those rare moments when it actually meets—often acts in a diametrically opposed manner.
District Courts. This really is a new phenomenon. It would be a shock if a president nominated a judge for a life appointment whose political views were opposite those of the nominator. So it is not such a big surprise that judges appointed by the most recent Democratic presidents seem to put a hold on virtually every action undertaken by the present administration. Sure, the ruling is not permanent, but all momentum is lost, and the Department of Justice (DoJ) must spend valuable resources until there is a final ruling of the Supreme Court. Americans want illegal aliens removed from the country; if those aliens have committed additional crimes during their time in the U.S., the rate of support for their removal goes up significantly. But whatever the Trump administration does to facilitate the egress of alien criminals, some district judge will find a way to put a temporary kibosh on the program.
Blue States. The federal system as originally envisioned gave the states great power, with the federal government ostensibly doing only necessary functions like making war or dealing with interstate issues. When Donald Trump was reelected by numbers that made any claim of a stolen election impossible, I wrote that blue states effectively hold a veto on many of his plans. Sanctuary cities that will not help ICE in removal of illegal aliens or southern states that do not patrol their portion of the border—there are many ways that governors and mayors can stymie the will of the American people for political gain. Americans by large majorities want the guys to stick to their sports; even so, several states have made it clear that they will keep the guys in the girls’ locker rooms. While blue states and cities have their own elections and concerns, much of what has been going on during the past decade has been a so-called “resistance” to Donald Trump and the Americans who support him. Minnesota was only too happy to let its state burn to the ground if by doing so Donald Trump would lose the 2020 election. So much for the will and interest of the people.
Corporations. In the past, U.S. corporations tried their best to appear politically neutral. Part of it was good optics, but most of it was good business. Today, corporations like Apple, Nike and Target have decided that they are the corporate wing of the Democratic Party. Even on issues where Americans have expressed their views, these companies will not stray from the official position of the party that is currently polling at 19 percent. The corporations will make or remove products at times not for economic reasons but rather for some type of political calculation. Target likes to show its “pride” collection front and center, even if it offends a majority of its shoppers. Unlike in the past, American multinationals would rather be politically correct than economically profitable.
The Bureaucracy. One inevitable outcome of any governmental system is that its tentacles get bigger. Staffing goes up and more and more regulations and rules are added but not subtracted. We often regale ourselves with stories of the Empire State building having its outer structure built in 13 months or the Hoover Dam coming in under time and under budget. Today, between multiple regulatory agencies, environmental impact studies, inevitable lawsuits by interested parties—you almost can’t get anything accomplished in the U.S. or other Western countries. California needs more dams and reservoirs. These would be good for farmland and the people. Not only is the wholly Democratic leadership opposed to such things, even if such a program was proposed, the grandchildren of the proposers might be the ones to first move dirt on the project.
Elon Musk has expressed his disgust at the present proposed reconciliation package, and unfortunately things have escalated between him and the president. I have not read up enough on details of the bill to have an opinion. But I can understand that an extraordinary entrepreneur who has built multiple successful companies and has revolutionized EV and space businesses would be opposed to a bill that adds lots of debt and shies away from cutting the fat that DOGE has identified, though Trump has separately asked Congress to codify the DOGE cuts through a recissions package. The Western countries have become sclerotic, and many of them have institutional actors whose interests are opposite those of the supposed “citizens.” Several European countries want to reduce farmland acreage and herd size. There is no way that such actions can lead to more plentiful food and lower food prices. In California, the fast train project has gone on for 15 years, burned through $16 billion and has not produced one foot of track. In normal times, people would be fired, jailed or humiliated. Not today.
While electoral maps look 95 percent Republican, the big blue cities make American politics nearly 50:50. Still, on some issues, Americans agree to a very high degree. But often it doesn’t matter. There are so many brakes in the system that oftentimes the will of the people does not get done. And I don’t know how you fix such a fundamental problem.