Put Your Money Where Your Principles Are

This article first appeared on my website Civil Notion. Subscriptions are free and you won’t miss a commentary.

Getting the attention of billionaires hacking away at the federal executive branch until there are only “little tidbits” left isn’t easy. Should you be a Democrat — Blue Dog conservative or raging progressive — don’t bother even trying. It wouldn’t end well. However, there are alternatives.

The Party of Trump (POT) is engaged in a bloodlust brought on by having won the popular vote by 1.47 percent. The Council on Foreign Relations notes that Trump’s victory margin was “the fifth smallest of the thirty-two presidential races held since 1900.”

We shouldn’t be surprised by Trumpian talk stretching a few million votes out of 150 million or more into a mandate. Nor should we spend time arguing about it with him. What we should be is horrified about the way the president and Mr. Trump are going about executive branch reform.

After decades in Washington, I’ll be the first to say that there is fraud, waste, and abuse that could and should be addressed. It’s gone on for decades. Congress deserves a fair portion of the responsibility.

It seems everyone wants an airport in their district or some other way to feather their political beds. However, members might think about…