Is Federalist 10 Still Valid? 9-19-2010, Part Five

 [Continued from "Is Federalist 10 Still Valid? 9-19-2010, Part Four." sch 7/17/2023.]

Vehemence fuels a faction's ideology. The danger posed by factions rides on the Commerce Clause along with the income tax. The income tax funds the power contained in the Commerce Clause. 

The danger comes from there being no practical means of limiting the Commerce Clause. No, we do not want to regress into a state like the European Union. While the country needs the economic center created by the Commerce Clause, the country does not need granting to federal power a carte blanche over non-economic aspects of individual lives. The Tea Party wants a smaller federal government, it will not give up federal power as a tool against its opponents. 

I think the Democratic Party presents no great danger - it is such a shambling coalition of interests, its radical factions gain insufficient traction for harm. Democrats will compromise. 

Ideological factions cannot compromise. The Republicans act as if the majority must succumb to them rather find a compromise. They have said attitude towards compromise as Captain Ahab had towards a certain white whale.

I mentioned the Senate's filibuster rule at the start. The Republicans exposed a constitutional weakness in this rule. The rule has always been anti-democratic, in the hands of an ideological faction it can destroy democracy.

I do not see Democrats acting similarly. My imagination fails in conceiving any circumstances where the Democrats could get themselves in a position where ideology meant all.

sch

[Continued in "Is Federalist 10 Still Valid? 9-19-2010, Part Six." sch 7/17]