But I’m getting ahead of myself. If you haven’t heard, adjudicated rapist Donald Trump is trying to get his face on a $250 bill–which is in clear violation of a federal law, known as the Thayer Amendment, passed in 1866, which prohibits the likeness of living people on U.S. currency.
So why was the Thayer Amendment passed? It’s not entirely clear how this happened, but a treasury official by the name Spencer M. Clark might have used* a loophole in legislation passed to commemorate William Clark, of the explorer duo Lewis and Clark, to get his picture on the ¢5 bill (no, that’s not a typo; a five cent bill) because the legislation did not specific which Clark should be on the ¢5 bill.
But one thing worth noting about this story is that, when Congress found out about this, they passed a law to prevent this from happening ever again relatively quickly. I don’t think that could happen today. Which brings me to this piece by Brian Beutler arguing that Democrats, when they regain power, need to end the filibuster and enact court reform (boldface mine):
If the system was somewhat functional, these problems would be diminished. Democratic administration action wouldn’t be DOA. Democrats might still only be able to legislate with trifectas, but when they came to power with trifectas they could govern much more dynamically. They could pass a bill, then another bill, then another bill, knowing the administration could begin implementing new laws right away, free from bad-faith judicial interference. Advocates could try to get their priorities included in the first bill, but if that didn’t work, they could try again. And again. Then, as implementation challenges mounted, Democrats could refine their agenda with corrective legislation. And voters would see results within single election cycles, because most self-imposed impediments to governing would be removed, allowing benefits to flow and bridges to be built in timely ways.
If a candidate is not talking about ending the filibuster and court reform, then everything they’re saying is just chatter. Regardless of whether you think Bernie Is The Way or you envision an America Filled With Means Tested Programs, neither will happen as long as Republicans (fascist or not) are granted de facto vetoes, even when Democrats supposedly control the government.
*Alternatively, Clark might have fooled his supervisors by using the same excuse without referring to the legislation. While Clark narrowly avoided resignation from this scandal, he ultimately resigned due to a record keeping scandal.
mikethemadbiologist