Off the top of my head, since the year 2000 the United States has done the following big things:
- Bush tax cut
- Afghanistan war
- PATRIOT Act
- No Child Left Behind
- Iraq war
- Second Bush tax cut
- Medicare prescription bill
- Bankruptcy bill
- Wall Street bailout
- 2009 stimulus
- Auto industry rescue
- Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform
- Obamacare
- End of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
- DREAMER executive order
- Iran treaty
- Trump tax cut
- 2020 COVID act
- Warp speed
- Second 2020 COVID act
- 2021 COVID act
- Infrastructure bill
- Afghanistan withdrawal
Obviously this list depends on my definition of "big." And it's not limited to legislation. Nor is it limited just to things I like.
What's the point of this? Nothing much, really. It just seems like a surprisingly long list for a fragile, gridlocked, polarized, democratically declining nation. Am I wrong?
NOTE: The list is approximately chronological, but it's also numbered so you can argue about stuff more efficiently in comments.
Not sure this list has much value unless it's compared to similar nations? What have they done compared to us?
Wait, when did we achieve warp speed? Honestly I didn’t even know it was a “thing” outside of Star Trek. It sure sound exciting that we will be able to travel faster than light speed. I wonder why it hasn’t gotten more attention in the press?
Scientists on the take from Big Sublight.
NASA has done nothing! Nothing!
Let's do the Time Warp now!!!
I wonder why it hasn’t gotten more attention in the press?
It's gotten overlooked because of the saturation coverage of fusion reactors.
Also, Kevin cites "Iraq War" (#5) as a sign the country isn't collapsing?
Here's the thing, there's little reporting on good governance--only bad.
And of course mis-information....Rural hospital closes in a "red" state--that's Obamacare, not that the governor refused to expand Medicaid.
We can do a lot if we put our minds to it. That's why systemic problems get portrayed as individual issues--very much a divide and conquer strategy. The oil and gas industry didn't cause global warming--it's the fact that you didn't properly compost that piece of lettuce.
And don't get me started on Covid...
I agree that many things do continue to happen. My feeling is more that it is the continuing improvement that is the part of good or even regular government that is not happening. The big example would be Obamacare. Almost immediately it became apparent that some minor changes would greatly improve both the system and the well being of many people (Democrat and Republican). But the Republicans flat out refused to allow anything to be done. As close as I can tell, nothing quite like that had ever happened before. Not to an existing program serving millions of people. No matter how obvious the need or how small the change was, Republicans did everything they could to stop it and almost entirely succeeded.
My feeling is that this is played out on a smaller scale with many other programs, but we never see it because the press is incompetent. Well, and Democratic messaging is also incompetent.
A different example of disfunction was the Solyndra scandal. A fund designed to rapidly build up solar industries by investing in risky companies, invested in a company and lost money. All loans immediately stopped going out because of Republican political pressure. Much of the money never went out and the fund - a fund that was expected to lose lots of money - actually turned a profit because it couldn't make any investment that involved risk. I suspect things like this also happen a lot on quieter issues.
You are correct that the ACA is the key case study. Look at Kevin's list, and everything is basically some economic bill, including three tax cuts and no tax increases.
Anyway, where I think Kevin often misses the mark analytically is that he assumes, as he does in this post, that the US two party system is composed of politicians who show up everyday to do the work of government competently.
That really has not been 100% true since before Gingritch. Of course, the Dems always show up to do the work of government competently, not because of any particular Dem politician, but because competent government is a fundamental issue for the Dem voting base.
A fundamental issue for the Repub voting base is government is bad. It use to be "too much government is bad." Trump realized that the base had evolved from "too much" to "any."
Trump realized one other thing, if your base already believes that any government is bad, its easy enough to say that another core belief is that anyone who believes that some government might be good is your enemy.
These are the two things Trump realized about the base that the other 2016 candidates were sort of unwilling to say. I mean, Trump set records in other areas, but these to me were the two big ones.
Having confirmed that significant segments of the base believes these two things, that's where we are.
There is no point, other than for Dem internal discussion, that a list like this is even relevant. There aren't any Repubs who can be convinced. There may be some "independents" or to put it another way, people who normally don't even bother to vote who could be convinced of something, but that's it.
1-10 are all bad or disasters.
12 Mostly repealed
13 A bad bill, only good because the system itself was even worse.
16 Failed
17, 22-23 all bad or failures
I think you own goaled here
Many (most) of these would be included in the list of items that prove that the US is a fragile, gridlocked, polarized, democratically declining nation.
Half of them appear to address the need for pointless wars and economic redistribution to the top 0.1%?
You include 14, but ignore Obergefell? It's a big public policy, even if done by SCOTUS.
Iran treaty wasn't a treaty--couldn't pass the Senate.
Obama was able to claw back some of the Bush tax cuts.
Pretty sure the Bakers of Conscience decision is the precedent that the five Supremes least allergic to stare decisus will use to turn back gray nuptials to the states, if not proscribe completely.
Obergefell is shakier than Obummercare, & possibly even Roe.
Ever the soul of courtesy.
thersites - where ya been, old sock?
The value conservatives have is in frightening other conservatives, something of scant use beyond merely that.
In any other thing they're poison, and their only value is in their absence.
Nothing is more consistent or well illustrated throughout history.
YOU FORGOT SPACE FORCE!
Lol! And New and improved NAFTA. (MAGA-NAFTA?).
US - NK summit! Face to face!
Legend of the Guardians: the Howls of Maralago.
23 Whole Things Done by the richest and most powerful country over 22 years!
Wow!
Only 3/4 of them are totally terrible things too!
This made me chuckle. Thanks.
Kevin's post is a bit Onionesque, ain't it?
My expat-tinged view over most of the last decade has tended to be: the media greatly exaggerates American dysfunction, at least based on my regular visits stateside. Things have generally seemed calm and efficient in real life. Your pizza order normally shows up on time, hot and delicious. Banking is a miracle of efficient, cheerful customer service compared to what I'm used to. American bricks and mortar retail is the absolute bomb. The airports seem to have improved. The air quality is much better than in China (just imagine not having to plan one's workouts around pollution levels—it's wonderful). So, occasional scandals aside, is the water quality. And the country is awash in wealth. Houses in the US are amazing. Yes, gun laws are absurdly lax, and too many non-rich people have issues with healthcare coverage, but on the whole I've always enjoyed visits to my rich, comfortable and chill homeland.
And then the pandemic arrived.
About a third of the country is apparently willing to risk suicide to own the libs. Not gonna lie, this part has me seriously worried about the country's future.
I relate to your sentiments and your much needed perspective. You present a view that I generally share. In your case, you seem to have a comparison to China in mind. In my own case, my understanding of and appreciation for the USA grew enormously after a few trips to India. I do not know or understand every historical detail, but my overall impression is that the great people of India have been let down by decades of bad (and/or ineffectual) government. And the result could perhaps fairly be described as the kind of genuine dystopia we obsess about over here (even while so many Americans live in relative comfort): their air quality (in some parts of India) is the worst in the world, their natural landscapes (in many areas) are basically gone (deforested), their over-populated density has to be experienced to be believed, an average trip on their shockingly over-crowded transit puts one at serious risk of injury if not worse, the incredibly dangerous driving practices on their insufficient highway system could be filmed and then placed directly into a Mad Max movie, they have hundreds of millions (as many people as live in the USA) suffering from some form of malnutrition, and, of course, they are slipping into a nationalist form of Hindutva government and, by some estimates, are no longer a democracy.
Should the USA be content by comparing itself favorably to what may very well be, pardon my blunt estimations, a worst case scenario? Of course not. But what I'm trying to say is that I agree with your statement that the media, and many other facets of our culture, tend to overly dramatize and greatly exaggerate every real or perceived problem here in America. Positive perspectives, which are quite possible, are simply never heard. And that becomes even more apparent after seeing what real, true, and genuine disasters are actually like.
All that being said, you indicate that your estimation of the USA changed due to our response to the pandemic. Fair enough. Although, even there, I would say that quite a lot of good generally gets overlooked because, in our vast population, even a relatively small percentage of crazies still adds up to enough people to do damage. And, in my own case, I have not actually shifted my views on the country (at least not very much) due to anything related to the virus.
But then there's donald trump. Now, in THAT case, our country really and truly did embarrass itself. Trump, of course, has never won the vote in any election of his mercifully short political career. And I take some solace in that fact. But our political system, nevertheless, allowed him to assume the presidency, and that's a genuine black mark on our history. At least we got rid of him (for now) fairly quickly (four years seems to me like a surprisingly short tenure for an authoritarian who has assumed power), and that at least is something to be happy about. But, yeah, it's not possible to think of the USA anymore without factoring in the fact that it somehow managed to elect an obviously authoritarian clown as president.
The willfully unvaxxx'd are closer to homicide bombers* than suicidal.
*Remember that FOXnews coinage, the heir to RADICAL ISLAMIC TOURISM as a foreign policy litmus test?
I mean, sure, but given the fact that current vaccines are of limited efficacy in preventing infections, but hugely effective in preventing serious illness/death, at least non-insane Americans can protect themselves. I have zero desire to get covid even if my symptoms were to fall well below serious enough to merit a trip to the hospital: everything I've read suggests it can still be a rather nasty experience. But the balance—because of these miraculous vaccines—has shifted more toward suicide (and away from homicide) on the part of the anti-vaxxer folks.
Kevin, you left out the increasingly robust recognition of that core constitutional right known as Open Carry. If that doesn't spell "progress" I don't know what does.
There are some wingnuts, I think in Michigan, who want to make it legal for students to conceal carry guns in high schools. Like throwing chum in the water around beaches so the sharks will be attracted to the chum.
Let a million Camerons Kasky & Davids Hogg bloom to act as chaos agents!
#24 recreational weed
Why I am throwing away my vote by marking my ballot for John Fetterman.
by Tom Forcade's Ghost
#25 College Football Playoffs (surprised Kevin of all people left that one out)
Nah.
The Georgia Bulldogs not bulldogging & winning over Alabama actually boosts the Five Personality Wifebeater's chance of beating Rapahael Gamaliel Warnock in November.
I would rather not celebrate the shine come over Athens.
In the realm of glimmers of hope, Mitch McConnell said today of Jan 6:
“There is no question that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of that day,” and that “a mob was assaulting the Capitol in his name. These criminals were carrying his banners, hanging his flags, and screaming their loyalty to him.”
Backchannel* advisory from the January 6th committee of impending revelations about elected officials (Gosar, Greene, Cawthorne, Senator-presumptive Brooks)?
*Liz Cheney by way of dear old dad, Dick.
- 144 years after slavery, voted a black person into the presidency twice
- Supreme Court same sex marriage ruling
- Impeached an awful and corrupt president twice
- Voted a narcissistic monster out of the presidency
- US federal and state institutions passed a major stress test (a coup attempt)
- Reduced effective corporate tax rate
- James Webb telescope (assuming it works)
You forgot withstand Le Coup du McRib.
It's back every November.
Like crediting the national consensus for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Most major countries can do "big things." It doesn't mean they are always good. '
At the risk of having Godwin's Law hurled, Germany did "big things" in the 1930/40s.
Maybe take a stance and label such a list as the "good things" and "bad things" (obviously your mileage may vary) that we did.
I am serious in this question: Is something wrong with Kevin?
He includes the Iran Nuclear Deal as if it wasn't disastrously ended. He cites the PATRIOT Act and No Left Behind which are largely seen as huge mistakes. Tax breaks and wars as if they did anything useful for the country. Executive orders that are incredibly fragile and last resorts.
In a quarter of his posts he blames FOX News for what's wrong with the country, in another quarter he blames the Left for not magical controlling the media narrative.
I have followed Kevin for a decade and have huge respect for his questioning of media narratives with (as much as possible) objective statistics. Yet I feel like I am reading a liberal who cannot accept his world order is dying.
I am serious in this question: are you a troll? Because deliberate misreading and asserting false intentions and motives are gaslighting, and it's what you're doing. And if you're not a troll by intent, then you're a troll by effect. To begin with, Kevin - Mr. Drum to you - did not even pretend to assess the subjective effectiveness or partisan desirability of any of the things he listed. In fact, your entire post - "shadow" (snicker snicker, hee hee) - is an obvious troll clumsily designed to cast aspersions on Mr. Drum, and by extension the liberal/progressive project. Either that, or you're one of those leftist nihilists that has to run anything down that doesn't meet your unassailable standards of perfection. I'm going do door number one.
So we can still wage wars, shovel gobs of money mostly or entirely to corporations and the rich, and respond to disasters. That’s a good 80-85% of Kevin’s list. That doesn’t exactly make me think the US govt is able to routinely deal with problems facing regular people.
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