Chuck’s Commentary - Congress Deliberately Created “Shutdown Politics” + Americans Believe We’re In A “Political Crisis”

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?

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