The courts are currently set up in such a way as to thwart any attempts at working on Covid or the economy.
If the courts do not play political games, then sure, leave them be.
If they, as I suspect they will, use their power to harm the American people and blame it on the democrats, then something needs to be done about them.
It isn’t really like it is that hard to do. They just need to pass and sign a bill, and it’s done. If dems control both houses and he presidency, they can have it done by early afternoon on January 21st. If they don’t control both houses, then it’s a non-starter, just not gonna happen.
Well, there’s no point in even talking about what the Dems will do in 2021 if they aren’t willing to get rid of the filibuster. They’re going to be handcuffed by their own choice, and then when the 2022 midterms come along, their marginal voters won’t be any better off than they are now, and will stay home. Just like in 2010 and 1994. Kaboom.
I try not to think too much about this looming disaster. But it’s coming. You’d think the Dems would learn, having been through this very same cycle twice already.
Constitutional norms don’t work when only one side’s playing by those rules. The Republicans used procedural warfare and the absence of explicit rules to make up their own game. The Democrats will have to fight back somehow without the appearance of going overboard.
Side note: Whoa! I had forgotten I wrote this without posting it a few weeks ago, came back here today, and there it was. Cool…
I understand what you are saying, but is “trust” the right word here? It seems to me that when you put your trust in someone, it’s because that person has asked you to do so. Like every bullshit politician who has ever come down the pike. But Roberts, to my knowledge, has never asked anyone to trust that he will rule on cases the way they might want him to.
On another general note, I understand that McConnell has appointed a lot of judges. But I’m always a bit annoyed that people say things like, “McConnell has now shaped the judiciary in this country for a generation.” What, judges don’t die or retire?
From the White House, “The average age of circuit judges appointed by President Trump is less than 50 years old – a full 10 years younger than the average age of President Obama’s circuit nominees.”
Depending on how you define a “generation”, many of these judges will serve that long.
I usually think of a generation as having 20 years, but I see from a quick Google that 20-30 years is a decent range. And your point is taken. But it did inspire me to look up the data on our circuit court judges, and from it I see that 52 out of 323 (I did this a bit quickly, I might be off by 1 or 2) were appointed by Trump. And hell, 45 were appointed by Reagan, and like all of us, they ain’t getting any younger. And given that as least as of now, Biden seems to be a shoo-in, McConnell is getting way to much credit for such shaping.
