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This is a bizarre take. The GOP controls the Executive branch and half of the Legislative--2/3 of the lawmaking machinery of the federal government. Dems contro

This is a bizarre take. The GOP controls the Executive branch and half of the Legislative--2/3 of the lawmaking machinery of the federal government. Dems control 1/3. The GOP isn't obstructing the Democrat agenda--the American people are.

majormajor 6y ago
The "American people" are not equally represented, and GOP voters are overrepresented by design in the parts of the federal government that the GOP controls. This was a somewhat-naive experiment in vote distribution that has been hopelessly gamed by the GOP and needs to be put to rest.
- marcusverus 6y ago
  > The "American people" are not equally represented, and GOP voters are overrepresented by design in the parts of the federal government that the GOP controls. Your point seems to be that some hypothetical alternative government would give Democrats more power, so the GOP, which controls the real government, is obstructing the will of the people... as it would be represented in that hypothetical system? This is an equally bizarre point. If Dems want to pass their agenda, the should concentrate on running candidates that can win according to the rules that they're stuck with. Or even changing the rules via Constitutional Amendment. Bellyaching about the rules is just sour grapes. >This was a somewhat-naive experiment in vote distribution that has been hopelessly gamed by the GOP and needs to be put to rest. I'm not sure that you understand the narrow margin by which the United States came into existence. Without these 'somewhat naive' mechanisms, small states would not have joined the Union and there would be no United States.
  - ianleeclark 6y ago
    > equally bizarre point. If Dems want to pass their agenda, the should concentrate on running candidates that can win according to the rules that they're stuck with. https://i.redd.it/qo1c2vtmu8s21.jpg https://i.redd.it/qo1c2vtmu8s21.jpg What a joke of a democracy we collectively pretend to have.
  - majormajor 6y ago
    > Bellyaching about the rules is just sour grapes. Bellyaching about the rules is necessary to get people onboard with the idea that maybe the Constitution should be changed. That it's not a perfect religious artifact. > I'm not sure that you understand the narrow margin by which the United States came into existence. Without these 'somewhat naive' mechanisms, small states would not have joined the Union and there would be no United States. I'm not sure why I'm supposed to be convinced that this would've been such a worse outcome.
dane-pgp 6y ago
Replace "the American people are" with "the Electoral College is" and you might have a stronger case there.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- CWuestefeld 6y ago
  Not even close. What's necessary to create legislation is the Congress, and the Electoral College has nothing at all to do with election of Congress.
  - dane-pgp 6y ago
    I was responding to a comment which said: > The GOP controls the Executive branch and half of the Legislative--2/3 of the lawmaking machinery of the federal government. You're right that it is misleading (and potentially dangerous) to think of the Executive branch as part of the "lawmaking machinery of the federal government", but there is such a thing as a presidential veto, so it's not like the Electoral College is completely irrelevant in terms of Congress's power to create legislation.
tzs 6y ago
They are doing more than just blocking the Democrat agenda. The Senate leadership is blocking bills that would pass even in the Republican majority Senate if they were allowed to come up for vote.
- marcusverus 6y ago
  Could you provide an example?
  - tzs 6y ago
    H.R. 116: Investing in Main Street Act of 2019, passed House 403-2. H.R. 1759: BRIDGE for Workers Act, passed House 393-23. H.R. 2590: DHS Overseas Personnel Enhancement Act of 2019, passed House 394-2. H.R. 2609: DHS Acquisition Review Board Act of 2019, passed House 419-0. H.R. 769: Counterterrorism Advisory Board Act of 2019, passed House 414-12. H.R. 3050: Expanding Investment in Small Businesses Act of 2019, passed House 417-2. H.R. 4407: SCORE for Small Business Act of 2019, passed House 389-8. H.R. 499: Service-Disabled Veterans Small Business Continuation Act, passed House 423-0. H.R. 596: Crimea Annexation Non-recognition Act, passed House 427-1. H.R. 1593: CLASS Act of 2019, passed House 384-18. Of course I can't say for sure that any of those would pass if allowed to come up for a vote in the Senate. Those all could be issues where GOP Representatives and GOP Senators are so far out of alignment that they pass with overwhelming GOP support in the House but would get at most a couple GOP Senators behind them.

majormajor 6y ago

The "American people" are not equally represented, and GOP voters are overrepresented by design in the parts of the federal government that the GOP controls. This was a somewhat-naive experiment in vote distribution that has been hopelessly gamed by the GOP and needs to be put to rest.

marcusverus 6y ago
> The "American people" are not equally represented, and GOP voters are overrepresented by design in the parts of the federal government that the GOP controls. Your point seems to be that some hypothetical alternative government would give Democrats more power, so the GOP, which controls the real government, is obstructing the will of the people... as it would be represented in that hypothetical system? This is an equally bizarre point. If Dems want to pass their agenda, the should concentrate on running candidates that can win according to the rules that they're stuck with. Or even changing the rules via Constitutional Amendment. Bellyaching about the rules is just sour grapes. >This was a somewhat-naive experiment in vote distribution that has been hopelessly gamed by the GOP and needs to be put to rest. I'm not sure that you understand the narrow margin by which the United States came into existence. Without these 'somewhat naive' mechanisms, small states would not have joined the Union and there would be no United States.
- ianleeclark 6y ago
  > equally bizarre point. If Dems want to pass their agenda, the should concentrate on running candidates that can win according to the rules that they're stuck with. https://i.redd.it/qo1c2vtmu8s21.jpg https://i.redd.it/qo1c2vtmu8s21.jpg What a joke of a democracy we collectively pretend to have.
- majormajor 6y ago
  > Bellyaching about the rules is just sour grapes. Bellyaching about the rules is necessary to get people onboard with the idea that maybe the Constitution should be changed. That it's not a perfect religious artifact. > I'm not sure that you understand the narrow margin by which the United States came into existence. Without these 'somewhat naive' mechanisms, small states would not have joined the Union and there would be no United States. I'm not sure why I'm supposed to be convinced that this would've been such a worse outcome.

dane-pgp 6y ago

Replace "the American people are" with "the Electoral College is" and you might have a stronger case there.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
CWuestefeld 6y ago
Not even close. What's necessary to create legislation is the Congress, and the Electoral College has nothing at all to do with election of Congress.
- dane-pgp 6y ago
  I was responding to a comment which said: > The GOP controls the Executive branch and half of the Legislative--2/3 of the lawmaking machinery of the federal government. You're right that it is misleading (and potentially dangerous) to think of the Executive branch as part of the "lawmaking machinery of the federal government", but there is such a thing as a presidential veto, so it's not like the Electoral College is completely irrelevant in terms of Congress's power to create legislation.

tzs 6y ago

They are doing more than just blocking the Democrat agenda. The Senate leadership is blocking bills that would pass even in the Republican majority Senate if they were allowed to come up for vote.

marcusverus 6y ago
Could you provide an example?
- tzs 6y ago
  H.R. 116: Investing in Main Street Act of 2019, passed House 403-2. H.R. 1759: BRIDGE for Workers Act, passed House 393-23. H.R. 2590: DHS Overseas Personnel Enhancement Act of 2019, passed House 394-2. H.R. 2609: DHS Acquisition Review Board Act of 2019, passed House 419-0. H.R. 769: Counterterrorism Advisory Board Act of 2019, passed House 414-12. H.R. 3050: Expanding Investment in Small Businesses Act of 2019, passed House 417-2. H.R. 4407: SCORE for Small Business Act of 2019, passed House 389-8. H.R. 499: Service-Disabled Veterans Small Business Continuation Act, passed House 423-0. H.R. 596: Crimea Annexation Non-recognition Act, passed House 427-1. H.R. 1593: CLASS Act of 2019, passed House 384-18. Of course I can't say for sure that any of those would pass if allowed to come up for a vote in the Senate. Those all could be issues where GOP Representatives and GOP Senators are so far out of alignment that they pass with overwhelming GOP support in the House but would get at most a couple GOP Senators behind them.