As I have written before, the massive blunder of Obama and the Democrats was to delude themselves into thinking the people had voted for them in the last general election when, in fact, they voted against George Bush and the Republicans. The next scenario to unfold will be for the lifelong political hacks in the Republican party to make the same mistake – to interpret the results of yesterday's vote in Massachusetts as a vote for them, rather than what it was – a vote against the Dems. In fact, 'Re-Elect Nobody" is the driving force these days, and the leadership of both parties should be very, very afraid.
To be sure, the good folks in Massachusetts were only too happy to do their part to kill Obama's health care travesty, with it's absurd back room deals to exempt labor unions from taxes, and to throw hundreds of millions of dollars at Nebraska and Louisiana to buy the support of their unprincipled statesmen. And it did not help the Dems that a guy wearing exploding Jockey shorts skated past the Department of Homeland Security a few weeks before the election, but make no mistake – the vote in Massachusetts was first and foremost about the economy and the policies of the last two administrations – the last five really.
In overwhelming numbers people see the economic collapse as the fault of the career inside-the-beltway politicians and the Wall Street financial community that has so thoroughly bought and paid for them. And they see the actions of Washington to fix the economcy as boondoggles to that same gang that caused the problem, rather than for the benefit of mainstream America. They are fed up with the academic elite who conjured up the philosophies that drive those two power bases and have so completely devastated main street and the American manufacturing base. And in all things economic, for all of their posturing, there has not been an iota's difference between the Republicans and the Democrats for nigh unto 30 years.
I published a piece called "Homozygosity – That's The Problem!" way back in March of last year with this map, showing the schools that have spawned our financial leadership over the last twenty years.
In that post I wrote, "So when a few of these eggheads get the notion that lean is just some factory fad, that outsourcing everything to China is a marvelous thing, that the Dow Jones is the only measure of the economy that matters, and that manufacturing is for the ignorant masses and that service is where the real future lies – in short, they all drink the same 'world is flat kool-aid' – well it really doesn't matter how much common sense to the contrary is coming from the heartland – NO ONE IS LISTENING! If you are in D.C. the only voices you hear are from the guys who sat next to you in the same college lectures, belong to the same tennis club you do, and drink the same brand of scotch you do at the same private club you belong to in Manhattan."
It is that very phenomenon that cost the Dems Massachusetts and Obama his beloved health care takeover. Woe be it unto the Republicans sitting at the next table over at the country club, hanging around with the economic thinkers from the same think tanks as the Dems who read this election – or the recent gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey - as a valdidation of themselves. The irate masses will toss them out as fast as they are tossing Obama Democrats out, and as mercilessly as they tossed the Bush crowd out last year.
The people of the United States want their manufacturing base back. They are fed up with financial services reigning supreme, with absurdly unfair trade policies that slant the table so heavily toward China as to make it near impossible for American companies to succeed, with trade imbalances that have sold our grandchildren down the river, and with a culture of arrogance in Washington that looks down its noses at the people who work for a tough living in America's factories.
It will be an interesting year, to say the least, as the life-long political hacks from both parties so completely out of touch with America fumble and stumble through 2010 trying to cope with the 'Re-elect Nobody' sentiment that is driving American voters. However it ends up, though, it will be good for manufacturing and good for the United States as the business owners, middle managers and production workers take their country back. And it will be amusing to see the over-dressed, over-educated, Washington crowd from both sides of he aisle who only understand America as an entity to be policy-wonked for their own benefit stagger dazed and confused out of office.
Chet Frame says
Bill,
Great post. You could have included the hubris and the sense of entitlement that has permeated both camps and short circuited their ability to see and hear.
Eric Wade says
The winner last night (Scott Brown) is a guy who was seen as having spent some time at the gemba. Has he? I don’t know. But there is no question I believed he had and his style, his solutions, his approach, reminded me of a guy who’s rolled his sleeves up more than once.
Mark Welch says
I think it’s pretty clear that the partisan brand of politics we’ve had for so long is what Americans are fed up with – both parties. Neither of them seem to realize that most Americans are somewhere in the middle – not blinded lemmings following them lock, stock and barrel over a cliff. And as you point out, Bill, neither party gets it. We want them to DO THE RIGHT THING FOR THEIR COUNTRY, but unfortunately, they’re too steeped in their respective party’s agendas and so much on the take from their special interests that they vote their OWN best interest – not America’s. Is there another Ross Perot on the horizon? Will there ever be room for a strong independent party?
Kuwabatake Sanjuro says
I worry that now nothing will get done and simply increase our dissatisfaction.
California’s budget crisis is a lesson on the super-majority and the rule of the minority. California went to issuing IOUs because they couldn’t pass a budget because of the 2/3 majority rules.
By requiring 60 votes to pass anything in essentially now a hung parliament the few willing to do deals have enormous power. The sweetheart deals for Nebraska during the healthcare debate will only shift from “moderate democrats” to “moderate republicans”.
The long debate cycles prevent one piece flow of legislation (even on things nearly all agree on) so batching (omnibus) bills full of backroom deals will get introduced.
Keith says
Thanks for this post, Bill. You are very correct in your assessment that both major political parties are the subject of deep and broad dissatisfaction.
Whipsawing back and forth between Democrat and Republican is not working and there is no real leader on the horizon to supplant the duopoly.
However, those of us who work for a living, who “spend time in gemba”, can demand a level of performance from our government that makes clueless hacks afraid of running for office or exposes them as phonies when they do run. That’s the least we can do for our city, state and country.
Andy Keson says
Bill- great writing. I think your views are spot-on. Hopefully you can get large numbers of Americans to read this and appreciate your great perspective.
You did not directly address the Media and their complicity in conning the American people to believe in institution of Washington government and the appearance of there being a difference in political parties. If more Americans would take the effort to drop the spoon-fed Mainstream media and do their own thinking and analysis of what is going on in the country, we would very quickly correct the economic and political situation that we face.
Jim Fernandez says
I picked out a few questions and problems that this post brings up about our current political situation. I applied the lean principle of the five why’s. The root cause for all of them came down to moral decay in our society.
So I’m thinking about holding a Kaizen event to start work on the root cause. But I’m guessing that no one will show up for the event.
Bryan Redd, CEO, Upstream 21 Corporation says
Bill,
You, and others, hit on what I believe is the core of the problem: Our legislative process has become so corrupted by money, that it is hard to find legislators who are motivated to do what is best for the people and future of the country (a/k/a “the common good”) rather than what’s best for those who give them money. Those motivations are most definitely not compatible!
Also, I differ with your statement that part of the problem is “over-educated” people. Why would we what to send even a hint of a suggestion that education is a bad thing? If indeed education is a bad thing, what’s the only solution—-less education for Americans? How can that be good for our long-term strength?
Cheers,
Bryan
Bill Waddell says
Bryan,
You’re right – “over educated” is probably a poor choice of words. Perhaps ‘narrowly educated’ would be better. My intent was to convey the notion that many of these folks have extensive formal educations, but very limited life experiences causing them to see economics and governance through a theoretical lens, rather than as it actually is in the eyes and mind of the average American who has to live with the reality of their theories.
The sum total of what far too many in Washington know is what they learned in law school and what they have seen and heard inside the beltway – and of course all they see and hear there is that which is profered by everyone else who only knows what the learned in law school and what they have seen and heard inside the beltway.
It is amusing to see folks like multi-millionaire Mitt Romney touted as being attuned to the business world because he ran Bain Capital on Wall Street and chaired the Olympics – as if either of those experiences are remotely similar to the life of the average guy running a machine shop in Tulsa.