Yes, but there's a point here. As I look around the American political system, the thing that really worries me the most isn't money in politics after Citizens United, or the dysfunctional Senate, or partisan jockeying over redistricting. No, the thing that really worries me is that I believe that the Republican Party now has stumbled into a situation in which there are strong incentives to lose elections. When Democrats win, as they did in 1992 and 2008, apparently the first reaction of a lot of people is to become very, very easy marks for "conservative" scam artists. So ratings for talk shows skyrocket, and the best-seller lists fill up with anti-Obama and anti-Clinton and anti-liberal books. There's a lot of money to be made! At least, there's a lot of money to be made if you're willing to traffic in wild rumors, apocalyptic comparisons, and extremism of all varieties. But extremism (yes, including in 1994 and 2010) doesn't help politicians get elected.I was amazed at how quickly people became obsessed with the idea of Obama as a Socialist, even before the election, but also immediately after. I love the "I want my country back" idea also. Guess what, you don't always get to run it, deal with it. After 8 years of Bush, we needed to punish the GOP. On the other hand, I would not try to recall the senators in Wisconsin, or Governor Walker. They seem to be making a lot of enemies as it is. The Republicans won in 2010, but not by a really wide margin, and with much of the Democratic base sitting at home. If they continue to side with big business in the class war against the middle class, they will be told to hit the road, and we might actually be able to begin to reverse over 30 years of policy favoring rich people and big business.
The problem, of course, is that to the extent that politicians are self-interested, they face a major incentive to join in the gravy train and cash in by appealing to those easy marks rather than try to appeal to a majority of the electorate. That breaks, or at least threatens to break, the fundamental logic that makes representative democracy work: politicians try hard to govern well because their careers depend on election. When, instead, the road to career success involves making a lot of noise, pleasing the fringe, and retiring to a comfortable gig on Fox News, then financial self-interest is going to work against satisfying constituents.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Perverse Incentives for Republican politicians
Jonathon Bernstein on the anti-Democrat fervor in the Republican base (via the Dish):
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I don't think I've every heard you be that optimistic; reversing 30 years of financial inequity seems impossible.
ReplyDeleteI once read that the men fighting for the South in the Civil War were predominately poor, non-slave owners. These poor fools fought for the hope that they could buy some slaves, build a plantation and become part of the 10% landed wealthy population. The number of people moving between the economic castes was very small (probably like the number of people who make NBA, NFL, or MLB teams)but the dream persisted. Supporters of the Republicans or Tea Party are as deluded as the poor Southern farmers fighting the Civil War. The belief is that if we protect the wealthy and the corporations then we may become one of the fabulously rich.
Bringing back the pre-1987 top marginal tax rate of 50% would be a start. That is still lower than the 70% in 1980. Even the Clinton era 39.6% would be a move in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteGetting rid of the dividend and capital gains tax cuts would also be an improvement. Reversing 30 years of inequality starts with baby steps. Raising revenue so as to minimize spending cuts would be a step in the right direction.