Biden should reach out to Republicans, not only Manchin

Gordon L. Weil

Republicans may suffer from a political split personality.

On the eve of the first anniversary of the assault on the Capitol, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) called it a “violent terrorist attack.”

The next day, after a Fox personality humiliated him, charging, “You told that lie on purpose,” he backed off what he called his “mistake.”  He had erred, he said, because he sought to defend against Democrats and the media “trying to say that all of us are terrorists.” 

His first statement could be the voice of a deeply conservative but fair-minded Republican.  His retraction could reveal a politician fearful of offending the GOP establishment, now almost entirely taken over by former President Trump.

Cruz’s public debate with himself symbolizes the crisis of American government.  The Republican Party has undergone a major transformation, inherent in Cruz’s overnight shift, that may threaten the traditional political system.  Instead of seeking compromise, it exploits constitutional loopholes to block the Democrats.

President Biden has wasted much of the momentum of his election victory by failing to understand the Trump GOP’s unwillingness to serve as the loyal opposition.  He mistakenly gambled that, as in his early Senate days, the two parties would work within an agreed system.

Biden and most congressional Democrats concluded that his victory was a rejection of Donald Trump, which they hoped the Republicans would concede.  That could open the way to adopting new economic and social policies, including many promoted by the Democrats’ progressive wing.

Biden met with some initial success.  But, even without accepting Trump’s false election claims, Republicans mostly remained more loyal to Trump Republicanism than to the preservation on the traditional political system.  Besides, even some Democrats were wary of Biden’s most progressive proposals.

Biden has now dropped his bid for bipartisanship.  In his insurrection anniversary speech, he recast his 2022 political strategy.  No longer could he seek to win enough support to pass his most ambitious social and economic proposals.  Instead, he went on the attack.  His willingness to abandon the filibuster to fight GOP voter suppression is part of this new effort.

The unyielding Republicans have led Biden to make this year’s campaign a referendum on Trump.  The conciliatory president, who had appeared weak even to some of his supporters, became much tougher and more partisan.  His campaigning could be more like the confrontational Trump than the affable Biden.

Nothing reveals the state of the political order better than Maine.  Republican Sen. Susan Collins, once seen as a leading moderate and no friend of Trump, has become a loyal hardliner on most key issues.  She, too, shows a split political personality.

Democratic Rep. Jared Golden, a moderate who holds the Second District swing seat, advises Biden to settle for what he can get from Sen. Joe Manchin, his party’s moderate leader.  At least the president could see some of his program adopted, disappointing the progressives, but better than complete failure this year.

Collins and her GOP allies won’t yield to Biden.  With his congressional leaders, he won’t yet accept Golden’s counsel, but keeps fighting for policies they cannot pass.  The deadlock has become dangerous.  Former President Jimmy Carter, himself a Democratic moderate, worries about “losing our precious democracy.”

The time has come for Biden to change course. He needs to test whether the GOP split personality has any political value. Instead of focusing on Manchin, he should work on a moderate deal with some GOP senators not engaged in this year’s elections.

He could try calling together a small, bipartisan group of senators. If he engaged in good faith talks with a commitment to back an agreement they might reach, it would be worth seeing if progress is possible.  Members of the group would have to agree on a legislative package, stick to it and become the swing voting block by refusing to vote for anything else. 

Biden would have to make significant concessions to the GOP to get this deal. It would be far less than he wants, but probably more than he can otherwise get. 

Even a limited success could improve his leadership rating and give the Democrats a better chance of holding onto congressional control.  Without that control after this November’s election, Biden is not likely to accomplish much in the last two years of his term.

This effort could have an even broader effect. It might encourage conservative Republicans who believe their party must do more than simply block any Democratic proposal.  Rather than a new party, a new bipartisan, moderate and pragmatic coalition could be the goal.

If the democratic system is truly in danger, it could be revived by a practical effort that gives its survival a higher priority than divisive political games. 

"Quiet diplomacy' fails again; Olympic Committee backs China's genocide

Did you ever hear about “quiet diplomacy?”

Maybe not.  After all, it’s supposed to be quiet.  Also, it doesn’t work, at least not as intended.

It is meant to work when countries, facing heavy pressure, change their policies without having to make embarrassing public concessions. It fails when those applying the pressure get nothing for concessions they make to encourage a quiet deal.

The International Olympic Committee has acquired the reputation of being an historic failure in using quiet diplomacy.  It has just failed again with China, which is about to host the 2022 Winter Games.

Its first classic failure was the 1936 Olympic Games held in Berlin under Hitler and the Nazis.  The choice of Berlin may have been made in the hope that Germany would drop its anti-Semitic policies. Germany obliged by covering its objectionable public signage for a couple of weeks.  But American Jewish athletes were kept from competing.

The Olympics gave Nazi Germany the appearance of being an honorable member of the international community.  With these credentials, it carried out the Holocaust, the attempt to kill all European Jews, and the massacre of millions of Russians and Poles.

The IOC’s quiet diplomacy was carried out with little conviction.  It almost certainly knew it was legitimizing Hitler, which helped pave the way for Nazi genocide.  Genocide occurs when a government tries to end the existence of a group of people simply because of their membership in that group.

The IOC was not alone.  Money meant more than principle for some U.S. companies.  IBM sold Hitler equipment to identify Jews in the population. During World War II, Coca Cola stayed in business there and created a new German wartime brand called Fanta.  Ford Motors also remained.

After World War II, the United Nations was created to foster worldwide cooperation aimed at preventing any new genocidal regime, like the Nazis.  In 1948, U.N. members adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  Though not a binding law, it was an agreed standard of national behavior.

The Declaration recognized that genocide was a crime against humanity. Even if it took place within the borders of a single country, the world community would have a legitimate interest in fighting it.

In 2008, the IOC sponsored the Olympic Games in China.  As a result, that country gained in prestige, shifting the world’s focus from its human rights violations to its lavish athletic show.  It made sure it could win the most gold medals.  At the same time, its control extended to foreign journalists covering the events.

Once again, instead of influencing the host country, the IOC was used.  The Committee is almost entirely financed by the proceeds of the Games, so it was enriched by the lavish show.

In 2014, Russia, with a history of oppressing minorities, hosted the Winter Games.  Like China, it won the most gold medals.  Then, it was found that many Russian athletes had doped their way to winning.  Unchecked, Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2015. 

Now, the IOC has again made China the Games’ host, anticipating big profits from its choice.  To do so, it had to ignore genocide, China’s attempt to wipe out its Muslim minority by imprisonment, abortion, sterilization and “reeducation.”  Meanwhile, there’s little doubt China will again win the most golds.

The Committee no longer claims that it is pursing quiet diplomacy.  Its chairman merely asserts that as an international body, it must be politically neutral.   To repair the self-inflicted damage and possibly to save itself, it awarded the upcoming games, without competitive bidding, to France, the U.S. and Australia.

China is ramping up aggressive moves to become the dominant world power.  It builds illegal military bases on false islands in the open ocean, ends democracy in Hong Kong and threatens Taiwan.  Echoes of Berlin.  But the Games must go on. 

The American consumer has unknowingly supported its genocide.  The U.S. market has become heavily dependent on cheap Chinese products.  But last month, Congress and the president banned imports from the region where repression is taking place.  The bill was strongly opposed by some American companies.

"Many companies have already taken steps to clean up their supply chains," said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), an author of the bill. "For those who have not done that, they'll no longer be able to continue to make Americans -- every one of us, frankly -- unwitting accomplices in the atrocities, in the genocide that's being committed by the Chinese Communist Party."

President Biden has barred U.S. officials from attending the Games.  Chinese officials say that violates the Olympic spirit and they are right.  It violates the IOC’s false neutrality, its version of that spirit.

China also claims its genocide is its internal affair.  The world has heard that one before. 

What drives inflation? Electric rates rigged against consumers

Gordon L. Weil

If you pay the electric bill, you’re in for a shock.

In the electric business, it’s called “rate shock” and it occurs when rates suddenly increase to the point where some customers can’t pay their bills.

It’s here, now.  The electric business makes sure the companies who provide the fuel, produce the power and own the wires are fully compensated.  The system passes the buck and the buck stops with the customer.

Rates increase.  The reasons why reveal the anatomy of inflation. 

Can’t regulators protect customers?  That’s the theory, but it doesn’t work, because the game is rigged. An unjustified belief that the free market will set prices fairly plus well-meaning government policies that pile costs onto customers make it difficult for millions to pay their bills.

Sometimes the upward pressure on power and wires costs come together, beyond the control of regulators.  Oil and gas companies, renewable energy promoters, electric utilities and legislators can all make that happen.  Despite token representation, customers can’t stop it.

This is not only a local issue.  To be sure, Maine monthly bills are shooting up by about $40 and they will soar elsewhere in the U.S.  In England, they are forecast to climb by 56 percent. 

This wasn’t supposed to happen.  The industry was partly deregulated.  As a result, the cost of power was expected to decrease thanks to competition. The cost of the wires, then the smaller part of the bill, would remain under federal and state regulation. 

The cost of fuel used for generating power would continue to be set by the market.   That market is under the control of the fuel producers, mainly located in the Middle East, like Saudi Arabia, or in the American Southwest.  They try to charge all the customers can bear. Flip a switch and you’re boosting their income.

The current price jump is mainly due to an increase in the cost of fuel.  There may not be enough natural gas to meet demand.   A hot summer meant natural gas that would have gone into storage for winter went to power air conditioners. 

Also, the U.S. exports natural gas.  If we prefer to have Europe depend on American rather than Russian supplies, that comes at a cost to U.S. customers, some of whose winter gas goes overseas.  In a world market, other participants naturally jump on the upward price spiral.

The results could be serious.  With inadequate gas supplies, New England, where half the power is fueled by natural gas, faces possible rolling blackouts.  Nobody realized that regional energy policy was really set by the natural gas companies.

Renewable power sources like wind, solar, and hydro plus nuclear offer more price stability.  But they face opposition claiming they are unreliable, harm fish passage or spread radiation risk.    Even as the costs of non-fossil resources have fallen, bringing increased reliability and safety, they still struggle to gain against subsidized coal, oil and gas.

Part of the problem for renewables is the cost of transmission lines.  The resources are often sited far from main customer centers.  That means new lines must be built. When government mandates more use of wind and solar, it silently raises rates to cover the cost of new lines.

Maybe not so silently. The federal government favors renewables by offering transmission owners handsome profits on their investments.  State regulators allow lower profits for the distribution lines that deliver power locally.  No wonder utilities prefer to build high voltage lines and let residential service suffer.

An alliance has developed between the federal and state governments that adopt pro-renewables policies and the transmission owners who can increase their gains by building new lines.  The costs fall on most customers.

The biggest customers enjoy advantages that other customers don’t get.  They receive their power at high voltage and contribute little or nothing to the cost of distribution.  They are strong enough to make their own favorable deals with power suppliers.

Fuel costs, new transmission lines linked to new renewables, and better deals for bigger customers affect rates.  Electric rates also include aid for lower income customers and the costs of regulation. Electric utilities may even recover from customers their legal costs in arguing for rate increases.

Federal and state lawmakers have the power to improve this system.  When governments mandate policies, they should provide financial backing for their decisions.  Instead, they include some costs in rates that should be covered by taxes. It is easy to let customers pay more, promoting inflation.

There are a couple of positive signs.  President Biden’s proposed investment in new transmission  would come from taxpayers, and utilities could not earn a profit on it.

And consumer-owned public power, which serves 28 percent of the national market from Los Angeles, California, to Houlton, Maine, is non-profit. Its rates are lower.