4 ms·

Democrats have not had a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate since before Reagan, and they're constantly up against the asymmetry that breaking things is a

Democrats have not had a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate since before Reagan, and they're constantly up against the asymmetry that breaking things is a lot easier than building them. The side that wants government not to work has a huge structural advantage in any argument (even apart from their structural electoral advantages thanks to letting empty fields carry as much weight as cities) since they "win" by default. It only takes a few years or even months of Republican rule to install judges that will deem any regulations unconstitutional, to allow time-bounded authorizations to lapse, to fire large numbers of public servants who keep the administrative state running, or simply to use the bully pulpit to tarnish the reputation of federal bureaucracy so that individuals will refuse to interact with them. Building those institutions as credible, competent forces takes somewhere between years and lifetimes.

hindsightbias 2y ago
> filibuster-proof majority They had 72 Days in 2009 to fix everything! Both parties are the same! /s
- relaxing 2y ago
  And all the while they had blue dog conservatives like Joe Lieberman and Ben Nelson handicapping the proceedings.
  - acuozzo 2y ago
    I've wondered for a while now: why don't the Democrats get their own agents elected as pseudo-Republicans? The Republicans keep doing it... Lieberman, Nelson, Manchin, Sinema, et al.
    - relaxing 2y ago
      The current Republican party is the product of a decades long effort to purify and drive out liberal elements. The Rockefeller Republicans are long gone. Romney is gone. Murowski and Collins can’t even be counted on to stand up for women’s issues. The Democrats on the other hand are beholden to corporate interests which limits how far left they can go.
    - ImJamal 2y ago
      Romney?
llm_trw 2y ago
>Democrats have not had a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate since before Reagan Republicans have not had a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate since 1907.
- Arainach 2y ago
  That would only be a problem if Republicans had a legislative agenda. If all you want is to be able to break government, you need to be able to filibuster, not to be able to overcome one.
  - llm_trw 2y ago
    I hope you enjoy the next 40 years, becuae they will be the same as the last 40 years with people like you making the same excuses election after election.
    - Arainach 2y ago
      What "making excuses"? The Republicans have literally stated over and over[1] that their goal is to make government not work and make Democrats look bad - not to make life better for their constituents. Meanwhile the Democrats have to spend every term fixing the things the GOP broke, only for voters to reward them by saying "you didn't fix everything and this dude promises the magical tax fairy will build a wall and make Mexico pay for it" and restoring to power the party that breaks everything and raises the deficit. Things are NOT the same with both parties, and discussing the systemic issues both with the electoral college, the Senate - a body so undemocratic that the Supreme Court has literally ruled it unconstitutional for any state to have a legislative body with membership based on land instead of population[2], as well as the fact that it's much easier and faster to tear things down than to build them up - is not "making excuses". It's trying to educate people, despite the fact that a significant chunk of them don't want to understand how things work, they want to act on feelings. [1]: https://www.nationaljournal.com/member/magazine/top-gop-priority-make-obama-a-one-term-president-20101023/ https://www.nationaljournal.com/member/magazine/top-gop-prio... [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reynolds_v._Sims https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reynolds_v._Sims
lapcat 2y ago
The filibuster can be abolished at any time with a simple majority vote, because it's only a Senate rule, not part of the Constitution. The truth is that neither Democrats nor Republicans want to solve the problems of the working class and the poor, because both parties are financed by the wealthy.

hindsightbias 2y ago

> filibuster-proof majority They had 72 Days in 2009 to fix everything! Both parties are the same! /s

relaxing 2y ago
And all the while they had blue dog conservatives like Joe Lieberman and Ben Nelson handicapping the proceedings.
- acuozzo 2y ago
  I've wondered for a while now: why don't the Democrats get their own agents elected as pseudo-Republicans? The Republicans keep doing it... Lieberman, Nelson, Manchin, Sinema, et al.
  - relaxing 2y ago
    The current Republican party is the product of a decades long effort to purify and drive out liberal elements. The Rockefeller Republicans are long gone. Romney is gone. Murowski and Collins can’t even be counted on to stand up for women’s issues. The Democrats on the other hand are beholden to corporate interests which limits how far left they can go.
  - ImJamal 2y ago
    Romney?

llm_trw 2y ago

>Democrats have not had a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate since before Reagan Republicans have not had a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate since 1907.

Arainach 2y ago
That would only be a problem if Republicans had a legislative agenda. If all you want is to be able to break government, you need to be able to filibuster, not to be able to overcome one.
- llm_trw 2y ago
  I hope you enjoy the next 40 years, becuae they will be the same as the last 40 years with people like you making the same excuses election after election.
  - Arainach 2y ago
    What "making excuses"? The Republicans have literally stated over and over[1] that their goal is to make government not work and make Democrats look bad - not to make life better for their constituents. Meanwhile the Democrats have to spend every term fixing the things the GOP broke, only for voters to reward them by saying "you didn't fix everything and this dude promises the magical tax fairy will build a wall and make Mexico pay for it" and restoring to power the party that breaks everything and raises the deficit. Things are NOT the same with both parties, and discussing the systemic issues both with the electoral college, the Senate - a body so undemocratic that the Supreme Court has literally ruled it unconstitutional for any state to have a legislative body with membership based on land instead of population[2], as well as the fact that it's much easier and faster to tear things down than to build them up - is not "making excuses". It's trying to educate people, despite the fact that a significant chunk of them don't want to understand how things work, they want to act on feelings. [1]: https://www.nationaljournal.com/member/magazine/top-gop-priority-make-obama-a-one-term-president-20101023/ https://www.nationaljournal.com/member/magazine/top-gop-prio... [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reynolds_v._Sims https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reynolds_v._Sims

lapcat 2y ago

The filibuster can be abolished at any time with a simple majority vote, because it's only a Senate rule, not part of the Constitution. The truth is that neither Democrats nor Republicans want to solve the problems of the working class and the poor, because both parties are financed by the wealthy.