I had an interesting conversation the other day with a gentleman. He was a nice guy, and he asked me what I did for a living. I said I worked for a cattle ranch, and I was also a lawyer with clients who had dealings with state executive branch agencies and considered by the State Legislature. His next question floored me: “What’s a Legislature?” He followed that by asking what I meant by agencies. I gave him a Civics 101 introduction. He confessed he had no knowledge of our government and how things worked. He was also surprised at how consequential decisions by agencies and legislatures could be to the average citizen. He seemed intelligent and curious which led me to wonder why there was this gap in his basic knowledge of government.
I must confess to being at least as surprised as my new acquaintance was. This brief exchange made me think about so many other things. Mostly however, I wondered how many other people were not only unaware of our government but how its decisions can impact them.
For instance, are they aware of the implications of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine, the current middle east turmoil because of the Hamas/ Israeli war, the impasse in Congress from the failure of Republicans to find a new Speaker of the House of Representatives, or the failure of Nevada Republicans to reach a consensus related to the 2024 Presidential primary?
These instances and many more have real world implications for the average citizens of the United States and indeed for citizens of every country in the world if specific to that country. The question remains, especially in the democracies of the world where citizens at least can speak out on issues, do most of the people in these countries realize how impacted their daily lives are by the decisions of their political leaders? And, have they taken the time to learn about the institutions which can impact their lives and livelihood by the decisions being made every day?
Normally, I do not let these many questions occupy my mind. I am content to let events unfold and where I can exercise some influence, even in a small way, I will become involved. Now however, there is so much happening with very little constructive solution discussion, I just can’t keep my impressions to myself. Here are a few examples of recent incidents that frustrate me.
The House of Representatives certainly has problems acting like a mature adult organization. As I write this Congressman Jordan of Ohio was removed by his caucus from contention for the Speaker position by a secret ballot. Now, the House has the weekend to come up with candidates who are willing to run for the leadership position. These folks will make their case to the Republican Caucus on Monday evening, October 23. The Caucus will then vote on Tuesday October 24th. I am certainly not confident there will be a Speaker of the House on Wednesday.
My view of this circus is there are a few members of the Republican House majority who are more interested in pushing their pet agenda and not compromising to accomplish something. From my point of view, I believe they have plenty to do, not least of which is to make sure our national defense has the resources it needs to be effective.
These members would rather have a stalemate, throw the House into chaos, and get nothing rather than achieve a consensus and get part of what they want. Politics is the art of the possible and compromise is one of the tools that must be used sometimes to be successful and deliver on promises made to an electorate. In my experience, relating to controversial issues, it is rare that a member of a legislative body gets everything they desire to achieve. Even in life we must make compromises.
Right now, a few members of the House are making progress impossible by blocking any attempts at seeking solutions. There are two things not happening which could impact agriculture in a negative way – passage of a Farm Bill and avoiding a government shutdown. If the government shuts down, vital services such as USDA meat inspectors at processing plants who, prevented from working, will back up and clog our meat supply chain.
Here at home in Nevada, the State Republican party is proposing to hold a caucus with selected candidates two days after the legislatively created primary which will be the third in the nation behind New Hampshire and Iowa. The republicans supporting this caucus say the person chosen by this method will be the only one carrying Nevada delegates to the National Convention next year, even if a candidate running in the primary has an overwhelming number of votes. The other rule is a candidate must choose the caucus or the primary but cannot choose both. For example, former President Trump and Governor Chris Christie are on the caucus ballot and former Vice-President Mike Pence and Ambassador Nikki Haley are on the Primary ballot. If Haley received 90% of the votes from participants in both systems, she could not use Nevada’s Delegates at the National Convention.
Are you confused yet? The Secretary of State in Nevada, Francisco Aguilar, has admitted it will take a huge educational outreach to help voters sort through the confusion caused by the conflicting primary and caucus events. Of course, all this will be settled ancient history by the time you read this. Or will it? Remember we have a former President and people like Jim Jordan still claiming the last Presidential election was stolen by President Biden, despite evidence to the contrary. So, it remains to be seen what claims will result from Nevada’s Presidential Primary/Caucus results.
Let’s go back to my discussion with the gentleman the other day and the questions that raised in my mind. Given the above musings and many more resulting from these chaotic times, is it any wonder that my new acquaintance, and others across our vast country actually choose to tune out information about our government, politics, and public policy discourse even as we know, it affects them directly in so many ways.
I’ll see you soon.