1. Universal voter ID for universal vote-by-mail: Republicans could offer to accept some of Democrats' proposals for universal vote-by-mail, early voting, etc. as a nationwide standard -- if Democrats also accepted universal voter ID, either through photo ID or some other unique personal identification number.
2. A border wall for DACA: Democrats would agree to fund the border wall, in return for Republicans agreeing to give permanent legal residency to anyone brought into the U.S. as a minor before a certain date (it would have to be prior to this administration, though, since Biden is bringing in any and all comers).
3. Permanent residency in exchange for no vote: Republicans could agree to give permanent leal residency to the millions of illegal aliens in the country, on the condition that anyone who willingly entered the country illegally is never able to exercise the right to vote, ever. You can stay/work but you can't govern.
4. A carbon tax in exchange for the elimination of payroll taxes: Republicans could agree to a tax on carbon -- i.e. on the use of fossil fuels for energy of all kinds -- if Democrats agree to drop the payroll tax, which is a tax on work. Discourage waste instead of work. Encourage efficiency, reduce emissions.
5. Reparations in exchange for an end to affirmative action: I'm just playing with the idea here, but what if Congress agreed to some form of reparations payout, no questions asked, on condition that affirmative action be barred by an amendment to the Constitution, much like California's Proposition 209?
There are a lot of these. They don't get done because part of the business of politics as a career is making sure there are still disputes to fight about.
The story of Noah is familiar; the details, less so.
Noah is often seen as an ambivalent figure. He was righteous -- but only for his generation. What was his deficiency?
One answer suggests itself: knowing that the world was about to be flooded, he built an Ark for the animals and for his own family -- but did not try to save anyone else or to convince them to repent and change their ways (the prophet Jonah, later, would share that reluctance).
Abraham, later, would set himself apart by arguing with God -- with the Lord Himself! -- against the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, saying that they should be saved if there were enough righteous people to be found (there were not).
Still, Noah was good enough -- and sometimes, that really is sufficient to save the world. We don't need heroes every time -- just ordinary decency.
Hi all -- as I noted last month, I'm going to be closing down my Locals page, at least for tips and subscriptions -- I may keep the page up and the posts as well, but I'm no longer going to be accepting any kind of payment.
Look for cancelation in the very near future. Thank you for your support!
An interesting weekend -- one of the last of Daylight Savings Time -- in which there is much to celebrate, much to contemplate, and a bit to worry about.
The Gaza peace deal is shaky, but holding, after the living hostages returned; the shutdown is still going on, with no end in sight; the China trade war is heating up; and the confrontation with Venezuela continues to escalate.
The "No Kings" protest was a dud, despite the media's attempt to inflate it. What I find fascinating is that the Democrats have basically stolen the rhetoric and the imagery of the Tea Party protests, circa 2009. They claim they are defending the Constitution -- just like the Tea Party did.
On the one hand, this is good. How wonderful to have a political system in which both sides, bitterly opposed though they are, articulate differences through the Constitution -- and not, as in so many other countries, outside it.
On the other, this is sheer hypocrisy for the Democrats. Not only did they malign the Tea Party as ...
