Return of the "Spoils System"

I was never one of those professors who used the same lecture notes year after year, but generally the basic ideas of American government–the federal system, the separation of powers, the Constitutional order–were much the same from one year to the next. 

I always had a unit on what were called the Independent Regulatory Agencies, sometimes known as the 4th branch of government.  These were commissions set up by Congress to regulate certain aspects of the American economy.  The first one was the Interstate Commerce Commission, formed in 1887 to regulate the railroads.  It was abolished in the 1990s, although other agencies took on some of its responsibilities.  

You may have heard of the Security and Exchange Commission, set up during the New Deal to regulate the Stock Market.  And I know you have heard of the Federal Reserve Board.  The commissioners who ran these agencies were insulated from the president and congress so they could regulate the various aspects of the economy without worrying about being fired.  Until this week.

The Supreme Court ruled that President Trump could fire Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, a Democratic member of the Federal Trade Commission.  The vote was 6-3.  President Trump, who often lies and exaggerates, called this a BIG WIN, and said it was a “Historic and Unprecedented Ruling, one of the most important ever given with respect to Presidential Powers.” 

This time Trump is correct.  Over a century of precedent has been overturned.  Independent regulatory agencies are a thing of the past.  The Supreme Court has completely abdicated its responsibilities, and we are back to what was once called “the Spoils System.”  To the winner belongs the spoils.

I might add here that the Court said Trump could not fire a member of the Federal Reserve Board.  I don’t know any logical reason to carve out an exception for a single regulatory agency.  It was simply an arbitrary ruling.

A disquisition on the 14th Amendment, Section 1

In Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857), considered by many Constitutional law scholars to be the Supreme Court’s worst decision, Chief Justice Roger Taney wrote that slaves were not citizens even if they were taken to a free state.  He then went on to say that black people in the U.S. could never be American citizens because they were black.  Their children also could not be citizens.  There would always be an underclass of non-citizens.

In 1868, after the Civil War, the 14th Amendment was adopted.  The first line in that amendment is clear and easy to understand.  “All persons born or naturalized in the United Stares and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

The president at that time was Andrew Johnson.  He opposed adoption of the Amendment.  He is reputed to have said, “This would mean that even Chinese could become citizens.”  Or, as I told generations of American government sudents, “If you are born here, you are one of us.”  You are an American.  End of story. 

When Americans decided they had enough of Prohibition, did the President issue an executive order ending it?  No, he did not.  Presidents have no power to change an Amendment.  Did Congress pass a law ending Prohibition?  No, it did not.  Congress can’t change an Amendment.  Did the Supreme Court declare Prohibition unconstitutional?  No, it did not.  The Supreme Court cannot declare part of the Constitution unconstitutional.  

The only way you can change an Amendment is to adopt another Amendment.  Today three Supreme Court justices did not understand that basic fact that my American government students understood.  This is how far this Supreme Court has sunk.

Democratic Party registration drops to all time low

The latest issue of the “Ballot Access News” arrived today.  Major party registration has dropped below 65% for the first time in at least 90 years.  The Democratic Party registration now stands at 34.96% of American voters.  In Feb. 1992 it stood at 47.76%.  Republican registration is at 29.80%.  Interestingly, Republican registration was lowest during Covid.  In December 2021 it stood at 29.38%.

It is not that voters are flocking to the Working People’s Party or the Greens or the Libertarians.  They are becoming Independents.  I have no idea why, although I think it is because they are living in their own little bubbles and lack the information to see the difference.  I’ll bet you have heard more than one person say, “Politicians are all alike.”  

Yeah, Barack Obama and Donald Trump are alike.  Even Fetterman, for all his shenanigans, is not like Sen. McCormick.  It makes me sad how little the average American voter knows.  Or cares.

The Walkway of Absolute Bullshit

The Walkway from the West Wing to the White House residence has 47 gold-lettered plaques summarizing each of the presidential terms.  The messages were written by Trump.  In the Times today a panel of eight historians commented on the wording on the plaques and found them to be full of lies and downright silliness.  You don’t need to be a historian to figure that out, of course. 

Trump’s plaque, for example, says he announced the “Golden Age of America,” and “he delivered, ending eight wars in his first eight months, securing the Border, deporting gang members and migrant criminals, making our Cities safer, helping our Farmers, defeating Inflation, reducing Energy costs and drawing Trillions of Dollars of new Investment, a RECORD, into the United States.”  It goes on like that.

The Joe Biden plaque starts off “Sleepy Joe Biden was, by far, the worst President in American History.  Taking office as a result of the most corrupt Election ever seen in the United States....” etc., etc.

I’m not sure what’s with the capitalization.

Running the numbers on Elon Musk

Musk’s net worth as a trillionaire has been calculated as worth five million times as large as the average American family.

If the trillion dollars were converted into $100 bills, how high would the stack be?  679 miles high.

Musk’s stated goal:  To be worth $10 trillion.

How many children does Musk have?  14

How many women had those children?  Four different women.

If Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks, making $39 million a year, were to equal a trillion dollars, how many seasons would he have to play?  More than 25,000 seasons.

How many people are estimated to have died as a result of Musk’s DOGE cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development?  600,000, many of them children.  (Musk’s 14 children were not affected.)

Some of these statistics are from David Lay Williams, “Musk Confirms Ancient Concerns About the Superrich,” New York Times, (21 June 2026),  p. SR 5.

 

"Forever Chemicals" in North Carolina

The chemical company Chemours reported $1.4 billion in net sales in the first quarter.  The Trump Administration’s E.P.A. reached a settlement with the company, which has been dumping PFAS into North Carolina waterways, to pay a fine of $480 million.  The company should be able to afford that rather easily.

Chemours will not be asked to clean up the PFAS.  The Company also does not need to make public its “plans” to clean up future contamination. 

The E.P.A. is also repealing some of the Biden Administration limits on PFAS in drinking water.  And so it goes.

Some of the information in this post is from Hiroko Tabuchi, “Officials in North Carolina Assail U.S. Plan to Settle ‘Forever Chemicals’ Case,”  New York Times, (June 26, 2026), p. A16. 

Why are we blockading Cuba?

Cuba has ended the school year early and scrapped its college entrance exams.  Buses can’t run because of the American oil boycott.  Students are up at night and are exhausted because of lack of air conditioning, and school meals can’t be served because of electrical power failures.  

I have yet to hear a good explanation of why we are doing this to the Cuban people.  Did Congress authorize this?  Are we at war with Cuba?  Are we planning to invade or just being cruel for the sake of cruelty?

I hate to say “we,” since “we” are supposed to be running our government.  Right?  It acts in our name.