I called this book review Crazy, Useless, Shafted. That seems to cover it in a few words. The full title is The Party Is Over: How Republicans Went Crazy, Democrats Became Useless, and the Middle Class Got Shafted but that seemed a bit long for a title.
The book is by Mike Lofgren who spent 28 years has a Republican Congressional staffer. His start was with John Kasich who in the 1980s was on the House Armed Services Committee. Mike switched from national security to the House Budget Committee when Representative Kasich became chairman. He retired from the Senate Budgetary Committee in 2011, frustrated by the ridiculous debt ceiling debate and the lunacy and terrorism of the Republican party.
Why I read this book
I had read an article by Mike Lofgren called Republican Deficit Hypocrisy and liked it so I looked to see if he had written anything else.
I found he had written a book and ordered it. The book is a few years old but little has changed. A more current version would say the same thing but probably have a few more recent examples.
You are now reading a review of that book. By the way it is a book review but it very much about current events so I have filed it under both categories.
I figured he had a fairly unique perspective on the events of the past 30 years or so in Congress. He was a Congressional staffer in several important positions but not a politician who would be worried about making himself look good, perhaps with the next election in mind.
Both parties are rotten
Here I quote for his Truthout piece, Goodbye to All That: Reflections of a GOP Operative Who Left the Cult. It pretty much sums of the spirit of the book although the book has much more in it. You might want to consider reading this to see if you’d like the book.
Both parties are rotten – how could they not be, given the complete infestation of the political system by corporate money on a scale that now requires a presidential candidate to raise upwards of a billion dollars to be competitive in the general election? Both parties are captives to corporate loot. The main reason the Democrats’ health care bill will be a budget buster once it fully phases in is the Democrats’ rank capitulation to corporate interests – no single-payer system, in order to mollify the insurers; and no negotiation of drug prices, a craven surrender to Big Pharma.
Both parties are rotten but not in quite the same way. Both parties have been captured by corporate interests and the big donors. Neither is too concerned about the people unless they happen to be big donors.
Republican Craziness
Since Mike Lofgren was a Republican. He now considers himself a recovering Republican. I would think he would have more to say about this party and he did have lots to say.
Mike Lofgren is a conservative of the Republican old school. He does not like was his party has become. There is no interest in governing or working for the citizens of the United States. Whether it is the religious extremism, anti-science attitudes, failure to address reality, political terrorism, clinging to parts of the Constitution they like but ignoring others, or favoring the rich contributors, Mike Lofgen has lots to say.
Democratic Uselessness
He has less to say here but what he does say is quite damning. He believes that this party is also quite dependent of those big contributors. They cannot be effective opponents of the Republicans since they also need to serve the big money and corporate interests. They may not be quite as crazy as many of the Republicans but they are rotten in their own way.
What do the Democrats offer these people? Essentially nothing.
Another quote from the Truthout article cited above.
Middle class shafted
Neither party serves the middle class. The system is also rigged so it is difficult to impossible for a third party to rise to the point where it can do anything meaningful.
If you are not among the rich and have been paying attention in recent years, you have no need for me to expand on how the middle class is being shafted.
Crazy, Useless, Shafted – What to do
Read the book or read the articles I cite. Let’s think about ways to make the better political system work better and work for most Americans. Mike Lofgren has suggestions in the book. Lots of people have suggestions. It is time to do something.