4 ms·

Congress, hopefully. Call your senators and representatives! There's a Senate bill that needs support. https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill

by rsfern 10y ago

Congress, hopefully. Call your senators and representatives! There's a Senate bill that needs support. https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/248 https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/248

Arizhel 10y ago
Oh please. Congress has been stuffed with GOP people who are in league with him. The only time they complain is when he does something that isn't conservative enough for them, like when he issued a statement that his administration would uphold the LGBT anti-discrimination order from Obama, and a few GOP congressmen complained how this infringes "religious freedom". The only people in Congress who'll oppose him are (some) Democrats, who simply aren't numerous enough to make a difference. You might as well get used to the new reality; Trump has the power to do almost anything he wants, unless it's so bad that it pisses off much of the GOP.
- dragonwriter 10y ago
  > The only time they complain is when he does something that isn't conservative enough for them That's not entirely fair. Several Republicans have objected to things he's done on other bases, including the immigration E.O. The partisan duopoly created by the structure of the electoral system creates an illusion of a simple unidimensional political divide, and partisan tribalism is high, but, still, even conservatives in Congress sometimes have more nuanced policy views than "is it conservative enough?"
  - Arizhel 10y ago
    >That's not entirely fair. Several Republicans have objected to things he's done on other bases, including the immigration E.O. Ok, to be fair, out of several hundred Republicans, you're going to find a few here and there who object to many things he does (and the ones who object will be different, based on the issue). Similarly on the Democrat side, you're going to find a few here and there who break ranks with the rest of the Dems and side with him. But by and large, you're not going to see any unified opposition from the GOP. You might from the Dems, but that doesn't matter much because they're a minority in Congress.
    - dragonwriter 10y ago
      Unified opposition from Dems + some opposition from the GOP can be enough to constitute a majority, though. (It's why the DeVos nomination is on the edge of failing right now.)
      - Arizhel 10y ago
        Yes, I'll admit that in some extreme cases like that, Congress might be able to push back against Trump. But it has to be pretty ridiculous it seems (DeVos is an especially horrible pick).
- rsfern 10y ago
  Eh, I don't disagree with you that Congress is pretty one-sided right now, and unlikely to meaningfully oppose the executive branch, but I don't think your fatalistic attitude is all that productive. I don't think it's without merit to call up the sympathetic offices to thank and encourage them, or to call up the offices supporting Trump's more egregious policies to express dissatisfaction. Who knows, maybe if more people did this, we wouldn't be in such a polarized mess right now.

by rsfern 10y ago

Arizhel 10y ago

Oh please. Congress has been stuffed with GOP people who are in league with him. The only time they complain is when he does something that isn't conservative enough for them, like when he issued a statement that his administration would uphold the LGBT anti-discrimination order from Obama, and a few GOP congressmen complained how this infringes "religious freedom". The only people in Congress who'll oppose him are (some) Democrats, who simply aren't numerous enough to make a difference. You might as well get used to the new reality; Trump has the power to do almost anything he wants, unless it's so bad that it pisses off much of the GOP.

dragonwriter 10y ago
> The only time they complain is when he does something that isn't conservative enough for them That's not entirely fair. Several Republicans have objected to things he's done on other bases, including the immigration E.O. The partisan duopoly created by the structure of the electoral system creates an illusion of a simple unidimensional political divide, and partisan tribalism is high, but, still, even conservatives in Congress sometimes have more nuanced policy views than "is it conservative enough?"
- Arizhel 10y ago
  >That's not entirely fair. Several Republicans have objected to things he's done on other bases, including the immigration E.O. Ok, to be fair, out of several hundred Republicans, you're going to find a few here and there who object to many things he does (and the ones who object will be different, based on the issue). Similarly on the Democrat side, you're going to find a few here and there who break ranks with the rest of the Dems and side with him. But by and large, you're not going to see any unified opposition from the GOP. You might from the Dems, but that doesn't matter much because they're a minority in Congress.
  - dragonwriter 10y ago
    Unified opposition from Dems + some opposition from the GOP can be enough to constitute a majority, though. (It's why the DeVos nomination is on the edge of failing right now.)
    - Arizhel 10y ago
      Yes, I'll admit that in some extreme cases like that, Congress might be able to push back against Trump. But it has to be pretty ridiculous it seems (DeVos is an especially horrible pick).
rsfern 10y ago
Eh, I don't disagree with you that Congress is pretty one-sided right now, and unlikely to meaningfully oppose the executive branch, but I don't think your fatalistic attitude is all that productive. I don't think it's without merit to call up the sympathetic offices to thank and encourage them, or to call up the offices supporting Trump's more egregious policies to express dissatisfaction. Who knows, maybe if more people did this, we wouldn't be in such a polarized mess right now.