Harris is rolling out her agenda. She'll need a Democratic Congress to pass it.
Harris is rolling out her agenda. She'll need a Democratic Congress to pass it.
Democrats could pass major parts of her agenda with narrow majorities. But Republicans are telegraphing that her plans would be dead on arrival if they're in charge.
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I always forget that people don't know this is how it works.
We had a majority of exactly 1 vote in the Senate and it was Joe fucking Manchin.
People: Why didn't Democrats accomplish more progressive things?
Like, you've seen what Republicans want to pass, right??
Ugh Manchin is lower than snake shit. I wish him as much ill as it is legal to openly declare.
Manchin is a moderate that voted with Biden 88% of the time. You'll be happy he's not running for reelection and will be replaced with a worse R, so yay I guess? He's the best you'll get from WV anytime soon.
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/biden-congress-votes/joe-manchin/
That percentage is meaningless when things that Lord Manchington doesn't like don't even come up for a vote.
He's not the Senate Majority Leader and doesn't control what comes to a vote. I just don't see the point of vilifying a centrist when there are 50 other lunatics that vote against progress 100% of the time. Manchin voted for all the judges, infra, chips, IRA, all the budget stuff, etc. Lets focus on the real problem - way too many GOP senators.
He’s not the Senate Majority Leader and doesn’t control what comes to a vote.
The Senate Majority Leader doesn't usually waste time on things he knows can't pass because one centrists is willing to stick his neck out and do what all centrists want.
As far as judges, he voted to confirm Kavanaugh and Gorsuch.
My point isn't to defend the guy, it's to put some context around the fact that half the Senate is even worse, so this is a disproportionate amount of villification. Let's say he had an R next to his name, we then have a R majority leader and the whole Senate grinds to a halt. Then will you magically give him a pass because now being an asswipe is fully expected of him? That's the kid gloves treatment you're giving to the other 50 GOP senators that are the actual problem.
He didn't betray your wing of the party. He betrayed mine.
We had a majority of exactly 1 vote in the Senate and it was Joe fucking Manchin.
There are always enough Manchins.
Once we finally get a Dem Congress and POTUS then we'll get universal healthcare, right? Right?
Nope, sorry... we'd need actual progressives to get that done.
Gotta shift that Overton window first. Votes can do that slowly, if we can do it consistently enough (local elections too, not just the presidential one.)
That probably won't be enough on its own, of course, but it's certainly not nothing.
They'll raise the minimum wage to $20/hr?
That one might actually happen because of how fucking pissed everyone is and because minimum wage employers don't lobby as much as health insurers, drug manufacturers, and PBMs.
Maybe? They still have to appease their corporate donors.
If I remember right, the Affordable Care Act passed the Senate 60-39 along party lines on December 24, 2009, and passed the House 219-212. That's really ragged edge stuff. Universal healthcre was considered, but too many votes would have been lost to pass a resolution which incorporated it. They did what they could.
Lieberman specifically tanked the public option piece. That would've been a strong step towards single payer but we were one vote short.
Yes. Lieberman was the Senator from Connecticut. Many insurance companies HQed there. Without his vote they couldn't reach cloture
Lieberman had help. Ben Nelson.
sorry, best I can do is insulin coupons
My go to liberal 'thing' is means testing but insulin coupons just got added to the list.
I mean, maybe. Exactly how Dem is this Congress? Because we're gonna have to have enough Dems that we can lose a few and still win the vote.
Unless, of course, you think we can get some Republicans on board. It's almost like the main problem isn't the few Dems that won't play along, like Manchin and Lieberman. Maybe the main issue is Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), JD Vance (R-OH), and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and the fact that I could have listed 47 other Republicans here, and that's just if I stick to the Senate.