In-Depth: The Push to Turn the U.S. Into a Parliamentary System

On August 24, the Lieutenant Governor of New York State, Kathy Hochul, will be sworn in as governor, replacing An drew Cuomo, who has served in that office since 2011.

Cuomo was elected governor three times, by solid margins (60% or more in two of the elections), but has now been forced to resign due to charges of sexual harassment, which have been allegedly corroborated in a report filed by the
state’s Attorney General. He resigned, rather than dispute the charges, which he denies, saying his accusers have engaged in a political hit job.

During his tenure, Cuomo has been one of the most powerful elected officials in the country. His relatively sudden demise points to a potentially significant sea change in U.S. politics, the shift away from the Presidential system established by the constitution and based on executive authority, to a European-style parliamentary system, run by parties controlled by financial and other corporate entities, in which the parties, acting on behalf of their oligarchical patrons rather than the voters, determine who will be the leader.

On Sept. 14, Californians will vote on whether to recall their governor, Gavin Newsome, who received 62% of the vote in 2018. Should he be recalled, the new governor will be selected from among some forty candidates, whose names will appear on the ballot below the “Yes” or “No” for recall. It is possible that the winner in the most populous state in the U.S. could be elected by less than one-third, or even onequarter, of the votes cast.

But the most significant example of the shift underway is the assault on the Presidency. President Donald Trump was impeached twice after his election in 2016. Though he was not convicted and therefore not removed from office, his ability to conduct the business of the Executive branch on behalf of the American people –the most important responsibility of the President –was drastically reduced by the (absurd and unfounded) charges that he had not been legitimately elected, but placed in office by “meddling” by Russia’s President Putin.

Today, in the aftermath of the decision to withdraw from Afghanistan, there is growing momentum for the impeachment of President Biden, who acted with authority to fulfill the intention of Donald Trump to end one of the “endless wars” — which Trump had been unable to do.

For Lyndon LaRouche, the question of the Presidential system is directly related to the ability of the Executive branch to run the economy as a “credit system”, in which money is issued by the government, and that credit can be monetized in the form of currency. Under the Hamiltonian credit system, and the operation of a National Bank, with credit directed to improvements in physical production, the U.S. emerged as the most powerful physical economy on earth.

LaRouche repeatedly stated that it is the prospect of a return to the Presidential system, under his direction, with a commitment to a credit system rather than an imperial monetary system, which drove the City of London and its allies in the U.S. into a murderous rage against him. It was the prospect that Trump could be induced to junk the monetary system of the City, Wall Street and the U.S. Federal reserve, and move toward LaRouche’s policies, which was behind Russiagate, as there was never a shred of evidence of Trump “collusion” with Putin. Instead, pro-British neoliberal networks inside the Trump administration worked with members of both U.S. parties to reduce the power of elected Executives, while simultaneously undermining the sanctity of the U.S. electoral system. More reports on this dangerous process will be forthcoming.