Chuck Todd highlights some recent polling that shows the American public is NOT happy with the current state of politics, then blasts congress for deliberately creating the conditions that lead to government shutdown fights annually.
On this episode of the Chuck ToddCast, Chuck looks at new polling showing just how unsettled Americans feel heading into yet another potential government shutdown. With 93% of the country agreeing that political violence is a problem and a majority believing we’re in a full-blown political crisis, partisanship has hardened to the point where disagreement itself is seen as betrayal. Chuck traces how government shutdowns—once unheard of before 1980—became a recurring political weapon, thanks to Justice Department rulings, congressional maneuvering, and laws that reduced the political pain by exempting things like military pay and Social Security. The result: contractors left stranded, bipartisanship all but eliminated, and a system designed to fail.
Finally, Chuck takes a trip in the ToddCast Time Machine to 1974, when congress gave the Freedom of Information Act teeth, plus answers listeners’ questions in the “Ask Chuck” segment.
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Timeline:
(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements)
00:00 Introduction
01:00 New polling out leading into potential government shutdown
02:00 93% of the country believe political violence is a problem
03:00 Majority of the country believes we're in a "political crisis"
04:00 Democrats less likely to talk politics across the aisle
05:30 Partisans believe you're on "the other side'' if you don't agree with them
07:45 People need to feel secure in having political debate
09:00 Independent voters are disenfranchised relative to D & R voters
11:15 Before 1980 America never had a government shutdown
12:30 Two Justice Department opinions created the legal basis for shutdowns
15:00 Government shutdown threats are now an annual occurrence
16:15 Two laws passed to make political cost of a shutdown less painful
17:45 Exemptions for military pay and social security make shutdowns easier
18:45 Proposals for automatic government funding haven't passed
21:15 Government contractors can't work under shutdowns or CR's
22:30 Politicians deliberately created the conditions that lead to shutdowns
23:45 Congressional leadership wanted to create artificial leverage
25:00 The incentive structures for bipartisan compromise are gone
27:30 Congress had the power to deal with shutdowns and didn't
30:30 The ToddCast Time Machine
31:00 October 5th, 1974 Congress put teeth in the Freedom of Information Act
32:30 Cheney and Rumsfeld argued transparency would hurt national security
33:00 Lawmakers overruled the presidential veto
35:00 Florida has some of the strongest government transparency laws
35:45 Multiple states created their own transparency laws after FOIA
37:00 Pentagon demanded restrictions on journalists, no outlets agree
39:00 We can't have a democracy without transparency
41:45 When your party is out of power you're more likely to believe nonsense
43:00 Ask Chuck
43:15 Parallels between LDS church in UT & OK nearly becoming a black state?
46:00 Chances the Republican gerrymanders backfire?
50:45 How can Americans abroad stay civically engaged and bring about change?
55:45 Where do you get your optimism from in this political climate?