Hi’.
You’ve got Trump for roughly a month now. Meanwhile, a tiny country in the middle of Europe, Switzerland, has been under the hard-right’s control for more than a year now.
I’m swiss and let’s say we saw Trump coming. From experience.
Take away money from politics? Switzerland has relatively strong campaign rules. Inform people? Rules and a public network. The economy? It is one of the few countries who were left mostly unaffected by the economic crisis. Not represented? Switzerland has direct democracy. By any metric, that country should have been safe from the rise of the extremes (like Luxembourg is).
Yet it fell, and almost fell first. On February 9th, 2014, it had its “mini-Brexit” with an anti-immigration vote. On October 18th, 2015, an alliance of the right and hard-right took power, controlling four of the seven executive seats and the equivalent of the House in their Parliament — plus 18 of the 46 seats in their “Senate”. The right had been historically in power but this shift was an earthquake. Once in power, the right did what the right does best. Tax cuts for the rich, cutting social services and of course, raising the military budget, even when the military doesn’t want it. Like refitting trucks for twice the price they were bought. True story. Also, they had to enact the very anti-immigration vote that put them in power (hint: they didn’t). The left, meanwhile, was and still is basically powerless, as it needs to rely on the center and the center is leaning right.
Thus far, it should sound familiar but not really relevant.
But how did the left react? Well, it didn’t choose to oppose&obstruct. Mostly because of the country’s tradition for compromise and because the hard-right is not as insane in Switzerland as in the US. But it did choose to use their enemy’s tactics.
In an “all-or-nothing” bet, the main party from the left put all of its eggs on one single votation: that vote was “RIE III”, the third reform on corporate taxes. Under the hard-right’s supervision, this reform turned into: “tax cuts for the rich”. The government was for it, most parties were for it and polls showed the population for it, 60-40 or more. It seemed a lost battle. To not help, proponents of the reform spent 20 millions to the 1 million of opponents. Eight times more ads aired in favor of the reform than against.
Well yesterday the decision fell: the left won, the reform was rejected, 60-40.
Nobody knows for sure what happened. It’s a mix of factors, with at least one agreement: the people did, indeed, vote with their wallet. People on the right suggest “incomprehension” as the reason, and accuse the left of a “populist” campaign that biased facts. But the current narrative that emerges is people who are fed up, another “Brexit-like” vote, people who “refuse to vote with a gun on their head” (just heard that one on the radio not an hour ago). The no was spread on almost the whole country, cities and countryside alike — with an ironic spin.
Yesterday I didn’t see how it could be of any use to US politics — or any other country’s politics, relative to the rise of the extremes. At the very least, it shows that people are, indeed, leaning left, to the extent that they are tired of the “status quo”. But that much was already a given.
No, what really makes me write this diary is different.
In Switzerland, the left challenged the right. They chose an uphill battle, they forced the vote and won. The hard-right is already making compromises. Come April, depending on how things go, I might have a second example of that (or not), but this is how another country chose to fight the hard-right, using the democratic tools at disposal.
In the US, the left can’t do the same. There is no such direct democracy tool at the federal level. A progressive bill like H.R.676, even if it was advertised or, by miracle, passed a committee, would be dead on arrival — ColoradoCare showing. On top of that, republicans don’t actually represent their constituents. So the democratic party is stuck on the defensive, opposing, filibustering, protesting, but only reacting to what the right is free to do.
Actually, the left could challenge the right, and take a wild bet: a vote on repealing Obamacare.
We know what will happen if the left waits. The right will craft a joke of a legislation, pass it late and make sure to kick the can past 2020. Obamacare will be dead and they would get away with it. But democrats can force a vote now. The House already passed such a bill, so dems’ can introduce the same version in the Senate and pass it through a committee with the nuts’ help. If they don’t help, you can tell that to their constituents, but they will — they are actually that insane. Once on the Senate floor, dems’ can safely vote no, and safely say they don’t have the votes to stop it. So it’s all up to republicans, their call.
Then sit back and watch. The right has spent the last six years posturing, voting 60 times to repeal Obamacare, wasting time on something they themselves didn’t want to see pass. Time to waste their time posturing, using the rift in their own ranks and forcing that vote, again and again, complaining when they refuse, until they have their backs on the wall. Do that for the repeal, do that for every insane policy they have, so that if they vote yes, people feel the pain here and now, and make 2018 a landslide; and if they vote no, people see republicans for what they are, and Trump for the mad clown he is, and make 2018 a landslide.
The US, and beyond that the world, can’t afford four years of Trump. My worst fear is to see frustrated, desperate people doubling-down in 2018. You can’t afford to let republicans pick and choose their battles.
“Make them own it. No more excuses.”
EDIT: Island gave a link for swiss news. www.thelocal.ch I didn’t even know it existed.