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Re:Strengthening Congressional Independence from Corporate L... by atoav on Friday September 27, 2019 @12:03PM (#21093413)
I know “I don’t trust the government” is a very popular trope in the US, but I am a bit curious how the solution to this lack of trust is always diminsishing government power instead of say trying to figure out how to properly compartmentalize or divide it?

As somebody who grew up in the german language area (Central Europe) and dealt with Nazi history and extremism for half his life, I am quite sure that a too strong government without proper division of forces is equally dangerous to a weak government that can be taken over too easily by political movements like Germany was in the late 20s.

The whole history of how the Nazis came into power is really something people should study, because I am convinced similar things could easily happen today in multiple democratic nations.

Power is after all fluid and if you weaken your elected government just enough it will flow somewhere else. And if you are unlucky that somewhere else is even more out of the control of the citizen than a government would be.

Re:Strengthening Congressional Independence from Corporate L... by s3r3nity on Friday September 27, 2019 @05:07PM (#21096306)
Well we do have methods to enable division / compartmentalizing it - the biggest two concepts are:

1) The three branches of the federal government & the checks / balances system, each with their own sub-divisions (e.g. legislative having the Senate + House)

2) States Rights - whatever powers not dictated by the Constitution to the federal government are guaranteed to the States.

Re:Strengthening Congressional Independence from Corporate L... by scottlocklin on Friday September 27, 2019 @01:10PM (#21094031)
> I am a bit curious how the solution to this lack of trust is always diminsishing government power instead of say trying to figure out how to properly compartmentalize or divide it?

If we had a German civil service system instead of the orcs we're actually afflicted with, that would seem like a reasonable thing to do. When an American with historical sense looks at government regulation, we see Tammany Hall, defense contractors, the Clinton family's net worth (a considerable fortune made entirely from political graft) and guys like former SF Mayor Willie Brown wearing $40,000 suits when his job as Mayor pays him $35k a year: overt graft at the highest levels is as part of the fabric of society as Mom and Apple Pie. Usually reducing regulation is wanted by people who are not plugged into the power structure but would like to get their way.

FWIIW I think the OTA was a pretty good government agency, and though I am pretty right wing, Newt Gingrich was an evil jackass and almost everything he did was horrible for the country. I'm guessing they got the axe because they made the mistake of dabbling in policy rather than sticking with their mission, but it's just a guess. Bob Park would know. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_L._Park

Re:Strengthening Congressional Independence from Corporate L... by skinnymuch on Friday September 27, 2019 @01:17PM (#21094110)
Why the Clinton’s specifically being mentioned? Yes they are very wealthy and in my opinion, unfairly so, but isn’t every senator a millionaire?
Re:Strengthening Congressional Independence from Corporate L... by birdyrooster on Friday September 27, 2019 @12:16PM (#21093546)
The people who talk about reducing government are the same types who enjoy the status quo and don’t want wealth redistribution even though this nation, unlike Germany, has still yet to pay reparations for its greatest sins.

Your comment above is quite rare and I agree we must find a middle ground where we can distrust government but still empower it enough to resolve what is best for the nation. The status quo is not what is best for the nation and we should empower conservatives to think bigger than they have been. Maybe conservatives don’t need to dismantle government like an anarchist. Perhaps they could be augmenting it so it can be conserved and saved from revolution.