5 ms·

Yep. Same boat here. I voted for hope and change. Got Bush-lite.

i_laugh_at_you 11y ago
Same here. Almost tempted to vote for crazy,racist,sexist,xenophobe trump just to throw a tantrum.
elbigbad 11y ago
Bernie Sanders seems like the only candidate in a long time that would be tough on this stuff, though they all promise to be tough on Wall Street.
- debacle 11y ago
  If you think Obama has been stonewalled by Congress, having Sanders in office will open your eyes.
  - pdeuchler 11y ago
    lol, the ACA passed without a single republican vote. This is just a BS "us vs them" rationalization... either you actually mean "Obama has been stonewalled by Democratic Party infighting", or you're just being disingenuous.
    - Jtsummers 11y ago
      The ACA was passed in the early days of the Obama administration. When Congress had the following numbers: D R I Senate 57 41 2 House 255 179 In 2010 the distribution changed, so the 112th Congress (2011-2013) had this distribution: D R I Senate 51 47 2 House 193 242 113th: D R I Senate 53 45 2 House 201 234 114th (current): D R I V(acant) Senate 44 54 2 House 188 246 1
      - abawany 11y ago
        Further, the Republicans have tried to repeal it 62 times [1] without offering a viable option, fortunately without success so far. [1] http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/07/us/politics/house-votes-to-send-bill-to-repeal-health-law-to-obamas-desk.html?_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/07/us/politics/house-votes-to... EDIT: syntax.
    - specialist 11y ago
      The Congressional Democratic caucuses in the years 2009-2016 obstructed the Obama Administration's legislative agenda?
  - 1024core 11y ago
    Sanders has worked with both sides of the Congress for decades. He has the record for the maximum number of amendments approved.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
specialist 11y ago
I encourage everyone to join your local political party, work on a campaign, help with endorsements, lobby for some policy change, and even run for office. Heck, just pick an issue and attend every relevant public hearing, just to see how policy is forged. Once you see the game up close, you'll see that most everyone's acting completely predictably, rationally. Mostly, the problem is the politics of attention. So many fires, so little time. Whoever screams loudest gets action. Bad things happen on the down-low when no one is watching. I also learned that politicians and bureaucrats do not play to win. Rather they play to not lose. A real-life version of Survivor. No matter what they do, or not do, it'll come back to bite them in the ass. So the pack only moves when it's "safe", like responding to "overwhelming" public pressure.
- 1024core 11y ago
  > I encourage everyone to join your local political party, The problem is: the Democratic Establishment is basically no different than the GOP when it comes to these matters. Case in point: the only reason the Carried Interest loophole is still around is because of Chunk Schumer, Democrat. He prevents Democrats from working on repealing it, and the GOP is more than happy to help him out. And Feinstein is very pro-war and pro-surveillance. And the PATRIOT Act renewal, as well as NSA's Warrantless Wiretapping getting approved, wouldn't have happened without Democrat support. My point is: both parties are bad. We need a rational, third party with a clear agenda. I'd be happy to work on getting it off the ground, if people are interested. Start small, and slowly work your way up. Most third parties (like Independent, Green and Libertarian) just put up Presidential candidates, and don't do much else, which is ridiculous.
  - specialist 11y ago
    There is no Democratic Establishment. Just cabals of people protecting their power. At the national level, things like names, logos, bumberstickers are just tribal identifiers. I'd be happy to work on getting it off the ground, if people are interested. Less talk, more walk. Convert your outrage into action. Find your local party, regardless of flavor (Green, Socialist, GOP, Democrat). Join. Pull your weight. If you can't find your party, start a new one on meetup.com. Pick an issue that pisses you off. Write a resolution. Persuade dozens of people to sign it. Present it to your council. Draft a bill. Use your new found tribe to pressure your representatives to sponsor and then pass it. Use your petition's popularity to change your party's platform. Send a press release to all your local media outlets. Write op eds. Meets with other interest groups to find allies. Rinse, lather, repeat.

Same here. Almost tempted to vote for crazy,racist,sexist,xenophobe trump just to throw a tantrum.

Bernie Sanders seems like the only candidate in a long time that would be tough on this stuff, though they all promise to be tough on Wall Street.

debacle 11y ago
If you think Obama has been stonewalled by Congress, having Sanders in office will open your eyes.
- pdeuchler 11y ago
  lol, the ACA passed without a single republican vote. This is just a BS "us vs them" rationalization... either you actually mean "Obama has been stonewalled by Democratic Party infighting", or you're just being disingenuous.
  - Jtsummers 11y ago
    The ACA was passed in the early days of the Obama administration. When Congress had the following numbers: D R I Senate 57 41 2 House 255 179 In 2010 the distribution changed, so the 112th Congress (2011-2013) had this distribution: D R I Senate 51 47 2 House 193 242 113th: D R I Senate 53 45 2 House 201 234 114th (current): D R I V(acant) Senate 44 54 2 House 188 246 1
    - abawany 11y ago
      Further, the Republicans have tried to repeal it 62 times [1] without offering a viable option, fortunately without success so far. [1] http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/07/us/politics/house-votes-to-send-bill-to-repeal-health-law-to-obamas-desk.html?_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/07/us/politics/house-votes-to... EDIT: syntax.
  - specialist 11y ago
    The Congressional Democratic caucuses in the years 2009-2016 obstructed the Obama Administration's legislative agenda?
- 1024core 11y ago
  Sanders has worked with both sides of the Congress for decades. He has the record for the maximum number of amendments approved.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

specialist 11y ago

I encourage everyone to join your local political party, work on a campaign, help with endorsements, lobby for some policy change, and even run for office. Heck, just pick an issue and attend every relevant public hearing, just to see how policy is forged. Once you see the game up close, you'll see that most everyone's acting completely predictably, rationally. Mostly, the problem is the politics of attention. So many fires, so little time. Whoever screams loudest gets action. Bad things happen on the down-low when no one is watching. I also learned that politicians and bureaucrats do not play to win. Rather they play to not lose. A real-life version of Survivor. No matter what they do, or not do, it'll come back to bite them in the ass. So the pack only moves when it's "safe", like responding to "overwhelming" public pressure.

1024core 11y ago
> I encourage everyone to join your local political party, The problem is: the Democratic Establishment is basically no different than the GOP when it comes to these matters. Case in point: the only reason the Carried Interest loophole is still around is because of Chunk Schumer, Democrat. He prevents Democrats from working on repealing it, and the GOP is more than happy to help him out. And Feinstein is very pro-war and pro-surveillance. And the PATRIOT Act renewal, as well as NSA's Warrantless Wiretapping getting approved, wouldn't have happened without Democrat support. My point is: both parties are bad. We need a rational, third party with a clear agenda. I'd be happy to work on getting it off the ground, if people are interested. Start small, and slowly work your way up. Most third parties (like Independent, Green and Libertarian) just put up Presidential candidates, and don't do much else, which is ridiculous.
- specialist 11y ago
  There is no Democratic Establishment. Just cabals of people protecting their power. At the national level, things like names, logos, bumberstickers are just tribal identifiers. I'd be happy to work on getting it off the ground, if people are interested. Less talk, more walk. Convert your outrage into action. Find your local party, regardless of flavor (Green, Socialist, GOP, Democrat). Join. Pull your weight. If you can't find your party, start a new one on meetup.com. Pick an issue that pisses you off. Write a resolution. Persuade dozens of people to sign it. Present it to your council. Draft a bill. Use your new found tribe to pressure your representatives to sponsor and then pass it. Use your petition's popularity to change your party's platform. Send a press release to all your local media outlets. Write op eds. Meets with other interest groups to find allies. Rinse, lather, repeat.