I warned y’all this was coming.
The time has arrived to move the merch.
I’ve done my part; now it’s up to you.
Of course, I’m referring to the much-anticipated, pending release of “535 Not 1” – the hottest geezer memoir going, and, if I may say so, the first and last word on best governance practices in a Democratic Republic. It is co-authored by former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt, and, well, yours truly. Its formal release date is June 3rd, but the enterprising among you can certainly pre-order it now.
I’m not asking a great deal here; only that you buy it and review it favorably on Amazon. I’ll make this even easier for you and direct you to the following link:
I co-wrote it — in the sense that I took Congressman Gephardt’s story – as conveyed to me in audio files — and converted it into a more readable format. The process unfolded over > 4 years, with a pandemic-driven break in the middle. I enjoyed the work. I didn’t design the cover (had I done so, I probably would’ve awarded myself a slightly larger font size), but think it’s pretty cool too:
Yes, it’s a memoir – the story of a man of humble origins’ rise to the highest echelons of public power — and his of experiences on this pantheon. I like these kinds of tales, of wistfully short supply these days — in a political landscape dominated by trustafarians like that fat ass Pritzker, real estate moguls-turned television personalities-turned leaders of the free world, and other shady, sketchy characters.
But the story also unfolds in such a way as to offer a ringside seat to legislative battles of the day, ranging from Public Health to Crime to International Terrorism to Inflation to chronic Budget Deficits to Impeachment.
As I laid all of this out, I was nigh astonished at the similarity of the challenges faced across the 12 Gephardt Congressional Terms – spanning the last generation of the 20th Century – and those which dominate our agita today.
Congressman Gephardt is a Democrat exemplary of that age. Son of a union man, risen through a St. Louis political environment dominated by that party. Political scion of such Congressional Lions as Tip O’Neill.
I, by contrast, am not. A Democrat, that is. And, while I can’t quite bear to self-designate as a Republican, an honest accounting would confirm that this is where I am philosophically positioned, where my sympathies lie. Congressman Gephardt passionately believes in the ability of government to devise and implement solutions to problems. I am passionately convinced that governments, though necessary, very rarely optimize outcomes, and, often as not, bitch things up entirely.
But we found an enormous track of common ground in our unwavering belief in the magnificent processes gifted to us by our Founders, and as embodied in the holy United States Constitution. Three branches of government – one to pass laws, another to execute them, and a third to interpret them. Each providing ballast against the other two. Ideas only become law if legislative representatives can agree on their content AND the President signs off. They only remain law if they are consistent with the overall constitutional framework. It’s messy as hell. It is perpetually threatened by the seekers of power and special interest. But it leads to the best available outcomes.
And it must be defended at all costs.
The co-authors both believe this with a deep conviction, and both are beyond concerned at the current threats to its viability. It was ever so threatened, and it is difficult to definitively determine if the hazards it currently faces are as great or greater than those manifested in, say, 1968 – when America was coming apart at the seams, torn by a senseless war, racial and social tensions, etc.
Yes, the jury’s still out on that one, but this much is certain: 55 years ago, the music was better.
While it is plainly the case that the political parties are at a multi-generational low ebb in terms of collegiality or even decorum, we saw a glimmer of hope in the past week — insofar as the big warring chieftains have made at least a show of sitting down to hammer out a debt ceiling deal. Jacobins on both sides of the spectrum (but particularly on the left) are up in arms about this, believing, as is their wont, that any demonstration of commonality with their political opposite numbers is tantamount to treason (consequences of remaining at odds on all points notwithstanding). But the two sides are talking constructively, and I believe there is merit in that.
The subject matter, however, is infantile. If you read our book, you will stumble across something called the Gephardt Rule. Passed in 1979, it stipulated, with laudable Missouri common sense, that if Congress passed an appropriation in amounts more than those allowed by the prevailing debt ceiling, the latter would be increased unilaterally to reflect the discrepancy. One might view this as being almost too logical to be practicable, and, in a political sense, one would be right. The Republican controlled House repealed it in 1995.
So, now, we are compelled to endure a periodic psychodrama wherein we white knuckle our debt right up to the limit, risk a freeze on the borrowings that we somehow think can: a) rise to infinity; and b) turbo-charge us to incremental prosperity, and bring the global capital market to the brink of the world’s most historically reliable financial product entering into the condition of default.
The very notion of our doing so – simply because the aggregate level of borrowings reaches an arbitrarily rendered limit — is positively Felini-esque. For better or worse, our righteous political processes have guided us to a point where galactic financial obligations – now at levels that will plague many future generations – is the rule of law. To pause here because of debt ceiling constraints is absurd. It won’t happen. We will indeed increase our borrowing capacity. And pay the consequences at a later date.
The markets are, in the meanwhile, laser-focused on these tidings (and little else). They rallied all week on hopes emanating from the latter-day Yalta Conference between Biden and McCarthy, and sold off Friday when the two parties entered into a rather pissy pause.
I hear tell that they’re back talking again. Which is both fitting and proper. The system specifies that the debt ceiling cannot be modified absent Congressional approval and Presidential sign-off.
It these two branches try to pull a fast one, the courts are there to set things aright.
Just like the Founders laid it all out. Just like the Congressman and I describe in “535 Not 1”.
I ain’t got much more to lay on y’all this week. I read that Starbucks is changing its recipe for ice, and – not gonna lie – that makes me very nervous.
Other than that, not much to chew upon across the capital markets spectrum. Other than the abovementioned Washingtonian showdown, I anticipate incremental quiet as the week unfolds, and many of y’all bounce for Memorial Day festivities.
I take this as an additional blessing, because, when seeking to move the merch, the fewer distractions to contend with the better.
Hope to see you here:
And, in the meantime…
TIMSHEL