The Gap
By Nick Caraway
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“In politics there are lags and there are gaps. Since elections happen every two years there are often lags in representation. It just takes time for legislatures and Congress to catch up to the will of the people. When those lags become consistent they become gaps and we have that currently with the Senate. It is becoming what I like to call the “frustration gap.”
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The frustration gap rears its ugly head in two distinct ways. Currently, the 50 Democratic senators represent 42 million Americans more than the 50 Republican senators. That’s certainly a gap. Gerrymandering has found a way to create a similar gap in the House, but the gap is not nearly as pronounced.
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The second gap finds its way into individual issues. For instance, the Pew Research Center finds that 66 percent of the country is in favor of the $15 minimum wage according to its polling. Yet, the Senate can’t take it up because of current parliamentarian rules. In theory, such a robust public support should render even the cloture rule moot. Yet, representation is not truly representative. We certainly know that all too well here in Texas.
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As someone that studies politics, the frustration gap concerns me. We have faux outrage like we saw on January 6th, but this has the potential to turn into genuine outrage. What happens as the frustration builds and nothing seems to happen. The minimum wage is only the beginning. We have voting rights legislation, environmental legislation, gun control legislation, and infrastructure upgrades that a majority of the population wants. As it currently stands, they may not get any of it.
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What concerns me is that most people are educated only enough to know they aren’t getting what they wanted. Demagogues like the last president take advantage of that frustration. They feed off of it. They know good and well that they have no intention of fixing the source of it. After all, their party is the source of it. Yet, as long as most people don’t educate themselves as to who is behind their frustration, they will continue to put the same idiots back in charge. Then what?”
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Nick