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Monday, November 3, 2014

The Balance of Power

Republicans are poised to take the Senate tomorrow.

And Democrats are terrified.

I’ve got hundreds of messages here, woe woe woe, what are we gonna do, Jim? It’s the end of the world!

Folks, first of all, nothing’s won until the votes are counted.

And second, political polls don’t measure reality. That’s not their purpose. Polls, especially the ones pushed relentlessly by agenda driven organizations aren’t designed to reflect reality, instead they exist to shape reality by doing exactly what they are doing – i.e. creating a self-fulfilling prophecy through manipulation of your perception.

The bottom line here is this: if you think you’re defeated, if those polls make you think you’re defeated, you are.

If those polls and your sense of defeat coupled to voter intimidation and deliberate attempts at disenfranchisement keep you home tomorrow, then they’ve done exactly what they were designed to do, hand the Senate to Republicans.

If you already think you’re defeated, you are.

Republicans will certainly hold the House tomorrow.  And they very well may take the Senate.

That’s how it works. You win some. You lose some.

America lurches back and forth, left and right and left and right again, like a drunk staggering into the future. Sometimes your party and your ideology is going to win, sometimes it isn’t.  And it for damned sure won’t if you don’t get out there and vote for it.

But you know what’s going to happen if Republicans do take the Senate tomorrow?

Do you know what’s going to happen if Conservatives control both houses of Congress?

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Literally nothing. 

That’s what will happen.

For the next two years.

Nothing.

 

So, if you think about it, in most regards, down here on the street, it’ll look pretty much the same as the last two years where Congress has accomplished … nothing.

 

Oh, sure, the very first thing Republicans will do is attempt to repeal Obamacare. 

They have no choice. 

They’ll have to – they’ve painted themselves into a corner on it.

And so, the first order of business, right after they all make a big showing of swearing in their new majority by reciting the Constitution, will be a rushed bill through both chambers to repeal the Affordable Healthcare Act.  It’s already written.

Republicans will pass a repeal in the House.

They might even pass a repeal in the Senate by a simple majority vote.

Especially if Democrats continue to cravenly run away from the ACA instead of standing their ground and fighting. Instead of reminding Americans why we needed it in the first place and why the majority of Americans, including one hell of a lot of Republicans, benefit from the ACA every day – which is what Democrats should have been doing during their campaigns instead of pissing their pants.

Democrats should have stood with their president when it mattered, but of course they didn’t, they’re never any good in the clutch.

However, while getting a repeal through the House is likely a sure thing, getting it through the Senate isn’t.  Turnabout is fair play, right? Especially in Congress and Democrats can place secret holds and engage in filibusters same as Republicans. So getting that repeal through the Senate isn’t a certainty. But if the Democrats continue to crap out and Republicans do get their bill through, they won’t have anywhere near enough of a majority to override a presidential veto.

That’s right, veto.

See, the balance of power? Those constitutional checks and balances Republicans lately like to go on and on about? Well those cut both ways.

In order to get the president to sign a repeal, Republicans would have to actually put forth a serviceable replacement.

Republicans would actually have come up with something that does what the ACA does, only better

Republicans would actually have to create an act that provides access to affordable healthcare for millions of Americans, one that fixes the problems with Medicare and keeps it solvent, one that keeps all the many, many provisions of the ACA that Americans like and have gotten used over the last two years, and one that fixes all the myriad problems of the ACA.  Of course, they could have done that already. Conservatives could have participated in the process right from the start. Congress could have fixed the law, improved it, made it work better. But they didn’t. And they won’t now.

Republicans don’t care about healthcare, one way or the other. This isn’t about healthcare, affordable or otherwise. This is about beating Obama.

This is about putting the black man in the White House in his place once and for all.

So flush with victory, they’ll send a repeal to the president.

And he’ll veto it.

And why wouldn’t he?

No, really why wouldn’t he? He’s got nothing whatsoever to lose. 

It’s not like Republicans would be offering to meet him halfway.

It’s not like spineless Democrats can’t abandon him any more than they already have.

It’s not like he’s running for reelection. 

So, why would Barack Obama sign a repeal of his signature accomplishment?  Unless Republicans offered to replace it with something that’s actually better?

And really, the ACA sucks, so if Republicans came up with something better, well, shit, folks, how’s that bad for us?

But they won’t. Republicans can’t come up with anything better. They are pathologically, ideologically incapable of it. It’s just not in their nature. So they most certainly won’t.

And the president will veto their repeal.

And conservatives might hold both houses, but they won’t hold enough of a majority to override a veto. Not even close.

And there things will stop.

And nothing will happen.

So, naturally, the second thing the new Republican majority will do is attempt to impeach the president.

First they’ll threaten Obama with it, better bow down, admit defeat, boy, or else we’ll do it. We will. We mean it.

Forgetting, of course, that if the last five years have proven anything it’s that Obama isn’t much intimidated by conservative threats. 

But Republicans, drunk with their new found power and utterly oblivious to the lessons of history will bluster and beat their fleshy chests and threaten impeachment based solely on the idea that being black and liberal in the White House constitutes “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Saner heads among them will caution that they don’t have a case, Constitution-wise, and perhaps sanity will even prevail. Perhaps.  But more likely, when the Republican congress figures out that they actually can’t push Obama around, that those checks and balances go both ways, well, then likely they’ll work themselves up into a suicidal frenzy of blood-maddened rage, and maybe, just maybe, they even go through with it. 

They can certainly get the Articles of Impeachment through the House. They could do that right now. All it takes is a simple majority vote.

But the Senate? The Senate would actually have to try the president. Publicly.

The House can act like a lynch mob, sure. But the Senate? The Senate would have to present proof. Legal proof, the kind that stands up in court. They’d have to present facts, actual facts, not made up bullshit from Fox News and conspiracy theorists. They would have to provide actual evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors. Republicans have tried this before. This time? This time they don’t even have a blowjob to hang their case on.

So what it comes down to is this: No matter what, to remove Obama from office, Republicans would have to make their case and  get two thirds of the Senate to agree. On record. In front of the nation.

And that’s just not going to happen.

So they’ll do nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Because that’s their whole agenda. Repeal the ACA. Impeach Obama. And if that fails, as it inevitably must, then allow nothing to happen. That’s it. That’s all they’ve got. If you want to see what a Republican led majority looks like, look to the House. They can’t even agree on the stuff they agree on. 

It’s not Democrats who keep throwing a monkey wrench into John Boehner’s machine, it’s Republicans.

And so what if they take the Senate?

Fix the debt? They won’t do that.

Balanced budget? They won’t do that. In fact, if history is any guide you’ll be lucky to see an unbalanced budget. More likely they’ll just shut the government down again, blame Obama, and go home.

Jobs bill? They won’t do that either. Minimum wage? Forget about it.

Immigration reform? Nope, they sure won’t do that. They won’t even “secure the border,” because that will cost hundreds of billions and require huge amounts of assets, organization, oversight, and a bigger government.  And they’ll need the cooperation of the president they just tried to impeach.

Energy policy? They won’t do that. Fixing America’s aging infrastructure? I wouldn’t hold your breath. Banking reform? Middle East policy? Action on climate change? Education? Gun violence? Tax reform? Trade?

Instead we’ll hear endless, endless debate over gay marriage and Benghazi and government overreach, but in the end they’ll do nothing and count it as a victory.

They’ll do nothing and count it as a victory because stopping Obama is all they care about.

Republicans have no big vision, they don’t even have a small vision.

They have no fresh ideas.

The GOP’s message is one of revenge and sullen resentment and fuck you I got mine and nothing more. 

They’re on the wrong side of history and they’re going extinct and they know it and it makes them small and mean.

 

And the very best they can offer for the next two years is … nothing.

 

But if you want more than that, more than nothing, then shrug off your defeat and gather up your friends and all the like-minded Americans you can find and get your ass to the polls.

Sure it’s hard.

Sure it’s an uphill battle.

Sure the odds are stacked against you and the game is rigged.

So what?

If your vote didn’t matter, then these rotten sons of bitches wouldn’t be working so damned hard to take it away from you. 

81 comments:

  1. I'm voting tomorrow. First time in 10 years that I get to go to a real polling place and not fill in an absentee ballot! Pretty cool that it will be my kid's high school too. Of course, voting by mail actually makes more sense as it would be more efficient, but I admit to being excited to actually have a place to go to and vote in real life for the first time in a decade :)

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    1. And you will get your little sticker! Wear it with pride!

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  2. Jim, you are the best. You really are. I've been feeling a bit down over all the forecasts for Republican victories but I refuse NOT to vote, regardless of the outcome. If they do win, we'll see what happens (or doesn't happen) this next two years. 2016 should get really interesting, don't you agree? But thank you so much for helping me keep my sanity.

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  3. Amazing isn't it that the Republicans can find so many persons with low self-esteem and lack of self-respect to run for office under their auspices ??
    Amazing also how so many folks will continue to deny their own self-interest and vote for them.
    Ya just gotta wonder ........

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    1. At least here in Oregon, they find the crazy more than they find the low self-esteem. Our junior senator is less than a representative of the people and the republicrats can't even beat HIM here. Our own newspaper of record essentially said something like, "no one likes Jeff Merkley, but at least he isn't insane!"

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  4. Thank you again, Mr. Wright. I heard Al Sharpton say the same thing on the Tom Joyner Morning Show two weeks ago. If you have no power and your vote doesn't matter, why are they working to hard to deny you the right to vote. It's that simple.

    Now what can we do about the vile, corrupt, vicious media? And I'm not talking just about Fox News.

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  5. Thanks for keeping things in perspective.

    Heck, long-term, it may even be a WIN for the GOP to take both houses. It would keep half the nation terrified of a GOP POTUS in 2016, and maybe give the GOP enough rope to hang their miserable ideology once and for all (though I think there are enough mouth-breathers out there to keep them around like a bad hangover, dragging the nation down for the next century).

    Two minor editing points:

    "See, the balance of power? Those constitutional checks and balances Congress likes to go on and on about? Well those cuts both ways. "

    I think that final sentence should be "Well those cut both ways."

    And in the sentence: "It’s not like Republicans are would be offering to meet him halfway."

    I think you meant leave out the "are": "It's not like Republicans would be offering to meet him halfway."

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  6. :: sighs :: I'm rooting for you America.

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  7. I'm voting, and both my children are voting. They are part of that HUGE generation that grew up with the internet, fast facts and information sharing, that grew up supporting GLBT rights and are so beautifully mixed racially, they grew up with good science and watched Dr. Tyson become a star and in the end, we can get through 2 years of nothing while the rest of them get old enough to vote and enough of them realize why it's so important.

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    1. I don't know, man. My father (an Independent) tells me that in the near future, by the time I'm grown up (I'm fourteen), people will be trading their essential rights and liberties for some cool app.

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  8. "If your vote didn’t matter, then these rotten sons of bitches wouldn’t be working so damned hard to take it away from you."


    Love this, just perfect. Thanks for your sanity and sense. I'll admit to being a bit down today, expecting the worst tomorrow - but you know what? You're right. What is the worst? NOTHING. And that's probably just what we will get...but it's manageable.

    It sucks - but it is manageable. So thanks for the wisdom. I feel better.

    (Voted early here in Texas, so tomorrow will just be another day)

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    1. I refuse to vote by mail, or early; to damn easy for the bastards to "accidentally" lose my ballot.l KNOW I'm on the voter roles at my poling place, within walking distance of my home and I've voted there for 22 years. Try and prevent me, and I'll likely come back with a loaded M1A.

      whitelilly

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    2. Ok then don't vote by mail. I do vote by mail as I take care of an invalid 24/7 and I make sure she gets to vote too. She is lucid and completely capable of making her own choices, but would use violence if your name wasn't on the ballot? It is a lot easier to fix computers votes than absentee votes. You scare me.

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  9. Isn't being black while President a "High Crime and Misdemeanor" according to the RWNJ? BTW - I plan on voting, just like every other election since 1984.

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  10. Thanks. I've been one of those who have been dreading the possibility of the GOP thinking they're running the nation somewhere other than into the ground, but this makes me feel much, much better.

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  11. you write extremely well.

    reading your work regarding politics helps rest my mind. because while I intellectually can grasp what the fear media is about, it's still, well, frightening. and it makes it hard not to worry too much.

    so... when I read your commentary I think... whew! I'm not crazy after all. there are others who think the same thing. I haven't misunderstood or misconstrued a damned thing. whew!

    thanks Mr Wright.

    I enjoy your work.

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  12. Today I prostrate myself before the great Stonekettle. May your words of wisdom be widely disseminated and their infinite logic and sanity be taken to heart! OMG, you are a wonder.

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  13. I never, ever miss voting. Never have, not since I turned 18. Never will, unless something truly catastrophic like a coronary or a stroke befalls me on my way to the polls, or I am hit by a bus or something else like that.

    But stay home puling in my oatmeal like some little wimp? Not. Gonna. Happen.

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  14. "...like a drunk staggering into the future." :) Oh, how true! I agree with you that not much is going to happen for the next two years, but I stand by what I've been saying since February, when Cory Gardner jumped into Colorado's Senate race...it's important for Gardner to lose this election, or he's going to be running for president in 6 years. Cory is not a bad guy. He's a small-town kid from my area - Yuma County, Colorado with 2400 square miles and 10,000 people. But right now, he's being backed in a big way by the Koch Brothers. He's a real guy, but the power behind him is evil and deceptive, in my humble opinion. And that's why I've been making phone calls (I despise making phone calls), campaigning for Mark Udall, stuffing ballot boxes (vote early, vote often), threatening my friends and family with extremely painful deaths, (Pit of Despair - need I say more?) and intercepting as many Republican ballots as I possibly can ;) in an effort to help Mark Udall win this election. Hopefully all these efforts will make a difference and the rest of the country will never know presidential candidate Cory Gardner. And yeah, yeah...I know they're just going to find someone else to put all that money behind. Some day I'll probably get too old to care, but it's gonna be awhile.

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  15. I voted the first day of early voting. Thank you for stating the truth with no regrets.

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  16. I'm voting against the GOP tomorrow, too.

    But there's more to our elections than just that. We need a return to the 50 State Strategy. Having conservadems like Steve Israel and Debbie Wasserman Schultz run things has been a disaster. They won't support liberal candidates, and they won't run candidates against their Republican friends, and they've recruited horrible candidates like Jennifer Garrison here in Ohio (she's Ohio's Sarah Palin, but registered as a Dem).
    ~

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  17. Good for you, Christi Herrick! I, too, have been preaching about Cory Gardner but not to the same extent. He's scary.

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    1. Great, Susan! I hate the way these polls are looking in Colorado...really scary...but I'm not ready to throw in the towel yet.

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  18. Oh, c'mon Jim, they'll deregulate something, won't they?

    Bruce

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  19. Hitting it out of the park again, Chief!

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  20. Gummint keep yer hands off my Obamacare!!

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  21. "If your vote didn’t matter, then these rotten sons of bitches wouldn’t be working so damned hard to take it away from you. "

    I want to see that on billboards. Big fucking billboards in ten million point type.

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    1. Can we get that on anything and everything CafePress offers?

      Tshirts, mugs, bumperstickers, tote bags, towels... etc.

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  22. Sadly, even if the Democrats keep the Senate, the next two years will still be full of Nothing. As plymster said, a Republican win of the Senate could ultimately be a loss for the Republican Party because we will see all those things you warned us about... and Independents aren't the blindly loyal voters that Republican voters have tended to be (though slowly, slowly, more and more Republicans are opening their eyes, realizing just what they are voting for, and going Libertarian instead).

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    1. I don't think the military is a proxy for the broader population but I saw this survey today that shows party affiliation changes from 2006 to 2014. Being the tip of the spear of foreign policy, the trends are noteworthy: Republican 49% to 32%, Democrat 14% to 8%, Independent 22% to 28%, Libertarian 3% to 9% (more than Democrats?!).

      The Republicans will take the senate, but that doesn't mean they are popular. A great many races are tight, and independents have legitimate chances to win, which tells me voters don't want to hand a mandate to either major party. I think the stage is being set for major inroads by third parties and independents in coming years.

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  23. When the inevitable threats to shut down the government come and the right is braying that they have a simple majority in both houses and thus they are speaking for "the will of the people," I want President Obama to come out and say: "You guys sure you wanna do this again? You know, I'm playing by the rules. I didn't make up the rules. But I'm playin' by them. And the rules say that if you don't like what I do, if you don't like the fact that I've vetoed some bill you wanted, all you have to do is get enough other congressmen and senators to agree with you to override that veto. The rules don't say you can shut down the government and make everybody's lives miserable because you didn't get what you want. You guys should try playing by the rules."

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  24. Great post! I have been hoping that all these so-called polls are going to be proven wrong tomorrow. You did put it into perspective for me. I have been dreading the thought that the republicans would take the senate, but you are probably right. Nothing will happen for the next two years anyway. I just hate the thought that our sh!t-for-brains media will be crowing how they were correct in reading their tea leaves, essentially telling us the outcome of the elections weeks before any actual votes had been cast.

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  25. You can make a pretty good case that the Pubs have done all the damage that they can possibly do to the social safety net. And, even that they can't do much worse in the U.S. Congress than obstruct any of the President's agenda (or possible appointments, which doesn't bode well for SCOTUS) You might even reasonably say that they'll insure a Dem president in 2016, which I think is far from a done deal, but then President Obama won by a significant margin and, Fox News to the contrary, I suspect the Dems aren't going to lose all that many presidential voters to whatever hard right-winger the Pubs run out there. It could very well be that the President's biggest job of the next two years will be serving as the adult with the veto pen. Now. Here's the big looming problem. All those state races and governors races are probably going to go to people who really want to push a theocracy. Really, really, really. And down here in Texas, except in the center of the big cities, there are a lot of people who really want that. A lot. Creationism, school prayer, no abortion, no gay rights, Bible studies in school, no tolerance for other beliefs, especially Islam. Most of the people I grew up with (like all but one or two out of a couple hundred) and their parents are enthusiastically in support of that kind of thing. And that scares me.

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    1. That's what has scared me since that scion of the devil, Ronald Wilson Reagan, ran for office in '76. He scared me sh!tless then and his ideas just refuse to die. I wanted to go to the viewing with a big wooden stake and mallet and pull a VanHelsing on him.

      whitelilly

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    2. It should scare all of us. Even those of us who were raised Christian and still believe in that faith. What happened to those people? How did they turn into the Christian Taliban?

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  26. "America lurches back and forth, left and right and left and right again, like a drunk staggering into the future."
    I've noticed this for YEARS! The pendulum keeps swinging left and right. Will someone grab that damn pendulum and center it?!

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  27. Love your writing. However, that pendulum has, since Reagan, really swung more and more to the right. It was Clinton, after all, who "reformed" welfare and signed legislation repealing Glass Steagle (sp?). What is interesting, and never covered in the media (left or right) is that the US population is mainly on the coasts in mainly blue states. When I have tablulated Senate votes (including cloture votes) by state populations, I am amazed and how often the "winners" represent about 1/3 of the country, while the losers represent the rest. By population, the US is far more liberal than anyone knows....but when states like Wyoming and the Dakotas, with 3 people each, each have 2 US senators, we are screwed.

    Vicki
    Florida

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  28. I was always taught in school that the pendulum swung from left to right and back. The usual example was FDR/Truman to Eisenhower to Kennedy/Johnson. However, I would agree that the pendulum is skewed hard to the right and has been beginning with Nixon. Despite what the Pubs say there hasn't been a liberal administration since Johnson's. And that was only because there was so much civil rights work to do. Since Reagan, there has not even been any attempt to mount any kind of organized left in mainstream politics. The Red scare-mongers would be proud.

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    1. Republicans organize better, stay on the same message and generally vote as a block, because they're all drinking the same tea. Also, they have all the damned money, (thank you, "impartial" SCOTUS for getting money and politics out of governement!). Democrats are atypical by nature; a diverse group, not always speaking with the same voice. We just have to work harder and not let apathy rule. VOTE!

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  29. Stay home, don't vote, you'll get the government you deserve.

    Get off your ass, make an effort, go in and vote for the least worst turd on offer and things might really change. You don't have to elect shining saitnly knights in gleaming armor, all you have to is elect the least Dickish and the sun will rise Wednesday morning on a very new day.

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    1. I agree anon 1:56. I have voted too many times for the "least worst turd" and would love to be behind every candidate I vote for 100%, but what is worse is when I hear people say they won't vote because there is nobody they believe in. These are representatives, not our precious children's caregiver. They think by not voting they are sending a message. To whom, I don't know.

      bd

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  30. I have voted and donated, both to Democratic candidates and to GOTV efforts. In terms of what the Rs will do if they take the Senate, repeal of the ACA is certainly on the agenda; McConnell has said so. Their strategy will not be to repeal it whole, but rather repeal important elements, attach the repeal legislation to a bill such as raising the debt ceiling, and dare the President to veto it. If he does, they will be able to say he did it and allow the country to go into default, again placing the blame on him. It is going to be a long and painful 2 years if they take the Senate.

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  31. I do feel much better after reading this, although I still worry about what might happen to the Supreme Court if the GOP takes over the Senate. I'm not sure Justice Ginsberg can hold on another three years for the next turnover, which is fairly likely in 2016, in a Presidential election year and after 2 years of GOP insanity.

    I'm also not sure I can stand even five minutes with Yertl the Turtle as Majority Leader. Even though I live in one of those terrible Yankee librul states, that is the race I'm most excited about and I would dearly love to see Grimes mop the floor with him.

    I'm really hoping that the polls are inaccurate because of too much reliance on outdated technology and because the media is promoting the hysteria to pump up their ratings.

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  32. I voted early. So did my husband. I can say that I have personally goaded 10 like minded folks to the polls. Here in GA, that matters. I'm not giving up. I'm going to stand and fight. Stand with me, we can do this.

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  33. Articles of impeachment? Why would any Republican congress-critter, be they most extreme tea-party follower of the Koch brothers, or a reasonable moderate, want Joe Biden to be president?

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    1. That's an easy question. He's white.

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    2. Plus, the thing is to taint and destroy the legacy of the first A-A president so that no other black politician will ever even think about running for POTUS. A "put-them-in-their-place" strategy. In their little racist brains, Repubs know they won't be successful at removing P.O. but just the humiliation will kill 2 birds with 1 stone--punish Obama for being elected TWICE while black & make sure the country will never experiment with another black (or, heaven-forbid, a Latino!!!) POTUS again.

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    3. What makes you think they won't then go after Biden?

      Why not? Bill Clinton is white too and they impeached him.

      Impeached but not convicted.

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  34. I am a self-aware collection of random quantum entanglements, most of the universe's missing dark matter is buried in my back yard, and . . . .
    I vote. Always.

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  35. Another fabulously rational discussion. I commend you on your latest posting.
    We voted early last Wednesday, but there a bunch of irrational folks that might make the race tighter in favor of the Republican candidate. If we come out in numbers, he won't stand a chance.

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  36. I agree about the 'big picture' with two more years of Congress doing nothing. And the scenario of what they will attempt is a real possibility. Having said that, I predict those attempts will pan out as you predict. And with that, the voting populace will become fed up with the shear audacity and recalcitrance of the Republicans, and set the stage for a Democratic predency in 2016.

    On the other hand, as Tip O'Neal said: "All politics is local". And here in Iowa we have Joni Ernst who actually runs commercials touting the fact that Sarah Palin endorsed her, and displays pictures of the two of them together. She actually considers that to her benefit!

    It's sad enough to see Tom Harkin retire, but to think that for the next six years we would have Sarah's/Satan's sister in that seat is revolting. It's bad enough to have Chuck Grassley (a man I once voted for) acting like a senile old man who refuses to take his meds. Far worse for Iowa, and the nation, to have Crazy Grandpa and a Palin wannabe represent this state.

    Harold Hughes is spinning in his grave.

    SDCulp USMC

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    1. Fellow Iowa Resident here.

      I have taken to calling the Senator-Elect 'First Term Ernst'.

      Is it bad I find myself hoping she takes a page out of Sarah Palin's book and quits after 2-3 years?

      And maybe Mr. Braley can run again and actually win.

      He is currently my Congressperson and I've liked his work.

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  37. Very unfortunate that after tomorrow the republicans and the democrats will still be in charge. They serve the system and not the people. Nice going, fucktard voters.

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  38. I voted a couple weeks ago. And in our area, over 50% of registered voters have already turned in their ballots!!

    Colorado's voter laws were changed recently such that ALL registered voters receive a Mail-in ballot. You can still go vote in person if you desire; vote centers have been operating for the past couple weeks as well. And to top it off you can register to vote up to and including election day if you want; just show up with ID.

    All these changes due to having a Dem majority in both houses of the state legislature for the past two years.

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    1. I have been out walking with our candidates, knocking on doors...talking to folks about our country, and the future...Jim...I have to say, that after reading your article, and knowing somewhat of your background, I want to thank you for your calming words...I was starting to feel panicked, and defeated....living in an almost pure red area, is frustrating in the sense of, why are my neighbors voting against my best interests, as well as, their own??? I ask these neighbors, folks whom I have known, and waved to for most of my life, why do they vote for R's, who do not care about them...and this is where the propaganda comes in...they believe the lies...without the facts...yet when presented with the facts, truth and common sense, they still reject the idea of a Black President...I didn't realize how deeply ingrained bigotry is in our nation...

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  39. They'll shut down the Postal Service.

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  40. I never thought I would see the day when our government is populated with a bunch of spiteful, petty 14 year olds. It's like watching the movie Mean Girls except starring nasty selfish geezers & geezerettes.

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  41. This. In a nutshell this. "If your vote didn’t matter, then these rotten sons of bitches wouldn’t be working so damned hard to take it away from you. "

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  42. I see it differently. The Republicans will quietly vote to repeal Obamacare without much fanfare, other than a few outspoken critics. Then they will ramp up investigations of the Obama administration's incompetence, intrigue and politicization in order to embarrass Hillary. There is plenty of fodder. Foreign policy will be the main focus. There won't be any need to impeach Obama. His popularity has tanked. His agenda is dead. He can safely be ignored. Hillary will become the target.

    This casting of Obama as a victim doesn't hold water, except that he is a victim of his own success. By passing a piece of legislation as sweeping as Obamacare without any participation by the minority and using a parliamentary trick rather than the requisite democratic process, he poisoned the chamber and ensured opposition to everything he proposed thereafter. He managed to cram his signature priority through but made himself irrelevant in the process. Had he carried the heft and connections of a Lyndon Johnson, he might have pulled it off, but a one-term Senator isn't afforded that kind of latitude.

    Let's face it. The president, the democrats, and the republicans are all deeply unpopular. The republicans will win only because the president has turned out to be such an ineffective leader, but that doesn't mean the republicans are popular. They will be on a short leash. The worm can turn on a dime.

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    1. The ACA was passed by a standard vote in the Senate 60-40 on December 24, 2009. March 21, 2010 it passed 219 to 212 in the House. The bill could have been modified during Reconciliation to meet both republican and democrat concerns, but following the death of Senator Kennedy and the loss of a filibuster proof majority in the Senate republicans refused to negotiate - and therefore the bill was passed without further modification. Obama signed the ACA into law on March 23, 2010.

      The amendment bill, The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, was also passed by the House on March 21 via straightline vote. The Senate passed it by reconciliation on March 25, and Obama signed it on March 30.

      There were NO, repeat NO, parliamentary tricks. That is an urban legend and it is utterly untrue.

      Republicans could have had a bigger part of the process, and many of their concerns WERE addressed (there are over a hundred republican amendments to the original bill) but they acted like crazed loons. They've got nobody to blame but themselves. Nobody.

      And you obviously missed Ted Cruz loudly proclaiming both repeal and impeachment this morning.

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    2. Here is the Orange Country Register's explanation of the "deemed to pass" approach used by house Democrats. The ACA itself was never voted on in the House. My point isn't that we shouldn't have had such a law, only that there should have been a wider national consensus before attempting it. The country was probably close to a consensus. Jumping the gun and forcing the policy into place, marginalizing the opposition in the process, has created deep animosities. Subsequent executive orders have exacerbated them.

      Yes, Ted Cruz. No Republican candidate wants to be seen with him. They call in establishment stalwart Chris Christie instead. Cruz holds no sway with the Republican leadership.

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    3. Run for your lives everybody, there's a Deem and Pass loose!!!11!

      "Deem and Pass" is not unusual...

      Even Republicans have admitted this...

      Some think it was a dumb move by the democrats--and for some pretty good reasons!

      But hey, it got the damn thing passed, in a majority Democrat Congress, which is what Republicans have used it for--like 35 fucking times in 2005-2006, when they controlled Congress. They call it "Demon Pass" when Democrats do it, and call it "....[insert sound of crickets here]..." when they do it.

      All D&P obsessives, please to be shutting the piehole now. Thank you.

      And I won't even get into how the ACA was basically a Republican idea with (most of) the serial numbers filed---well, painted over. I mean, y'all do know where the prototype ACA plan was passed, and by whom, right? (Hint: Massachusetts. Bonus hint: Willard RMoney, notorious Lefty Alinskyite and major ACORN donor. OK, I made up the ACORN bit).

      And those of you who think Obama alienated the Republicans and created animosities, and then turned around and *gasp!* exacerbated them (by "Presidenting while Black") really need to grow the fuck up. The Republican party fucking hates the ground Obama walks on (and especially, for reasons that may never be clear, the fairways he has the unmitigated audacity to golf on), and they are never, ever, going to help govern while he's in office. Not. Gonna. Happen. If the preceeding 6 years haven't shown you that, you got problems I cain't hep you with...

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  43. Thank you. Your last sentence says it all.

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  44. But it will be a miserable two years where they will try to impeach the President. They may not succeed but they will try. Because they've got nothing else on him. Because that is their last resort. Because they cannot let his presidency stand as a success. They cannot let the first black president be a success. That would just open the door wider to others and permanently shift the balance of power from white men.

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  45. I think liberals are missing an opportunity for self assessment. During his presidency, Obama's approval ratings have declined from the low sixties to the 40%. His negatives went from 20% to 55%. Most of the damage was in the wake of the passage of Obamacare. The rest resulted from foreign policy disasters over the last two years.

    Voters did not suddenly wake up to Obama's blackness and didn't suddenly become irrational and petty. Blaming those factors will only obscure the real reason for losses at the ballot box. Yes, the Republicans are just as myopic, but this is opening the door for the rise of third parties and independents unless the major parties sort out their dysfunctions and learn from voter frustration.

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    1. I'm surprised Jim let you in here. You be a closet racist.

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  46. While I get your point, there are still quite a few judicial vacancies that could be filled if Democrats held on to the Senate. No way would that happen with Republicans in charge. And the judiciary has an effect long past the President's term.

    So it really does matter which side wines.

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    1. Sorry, but one thing the Repugniphants *will* do is block all of Obama's remaining appointments, especially the Judicials. This is a "something" that will look like a "nothing" to those not paying attention. And no, Jim, I don't include you in that group. I'm pretty sure you know this is gonna be done. Or be not done. Or whatever...

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    2. Which means Eric Holder is not laving anytime soon.

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  47. Some of my friends have been crowing the last few days because they are positive that when the Republicans win that the first thing they are going to do is impeach the president for what I have no idea but they are positive he has done something wrong.

    I know it looks bad out there because the news media has been telling me for months that this is going to be blowout but you know what, if that was the case how come the polls are so close in every single race, if it was going to be a blowout then the Republicans would be 15-20 points ahead. I know I am a dreamer and that is fine, it is what I am.

    But if they win we all know they will do everything in their power to make this a miserable 2 years for the president, actually it will be more of the same. But trust me I am not happy with the Democrats. We shall see what happens.

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  48. George Carlin said it best. "The real owners are the big wealthy business interests that control things and make all the important decisions. Forget the politicians, they're an irrelevancy. The politicians are put there to give you the idea that you have freedom of choice. You don't. You have no choice. You have owners. They own you. They own everything. They own all the important land. They own and control the corporations. They've long since bought and paid for the Senate, the Congress, the statehouses, the city halls. They've got the judges in their back pockets. And they own all the big media companies, so that they control just about all of the news and information you hear. They've got you by the balls. They spend billions of dollars every year lobbying ­ lobbying to get what they want. Well, we know what they want; they want more for themselves and less for everybody else."

    So get over this election as being so damn important. I voted, but I have no illusions that anything will get better or worse regardless of who hold the majority.

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  49. Can somebody explain to this poor Brit WHY Dem candidates are scared of being associated with Obama. What is poisonous about helping people get healthcare and strengthening the economy?

    Oh yeah, I remember - ordinary people who look at their life, look at what the Right tells them, and then believes the Right. People who only have to hear the word 'Socialism' and assume it must be true.

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  50. Jim, I do not agree that nothing will happen.

    There are some bad things Our President favors. For example, the trade deals TPP, TTIP, and worst of all, the TISA. (The TISA is so awesome, its details are supposed to be kept secret from the citizens it will be inflicted upon for five full years AFTER it is passed. Obviously, those details are not secrets to the corporations who drew up their wish lists.)

    Bill Clinton passed two of his worst pieces of legislation near the end of his 2nd term: The repeal of Glass-Steagall, and the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000.

    One of the reasons I supported Obama in the primary against Hillary in 2008 was because he ran against her on NAFTA. And he ran on transparency. It was only thanks to wikileaks that we learned that he resumed the negotiations G.W. Bush had begun on the TPP in the fall of 2009.

    The fight has to continue after the election. And on this one, Obama is not on our side.
    ~

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    1. You think the GOP will be on your side?

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    2. I think the GOP will support these crappy trade deals, as McConnell already hinted that he would.

      And that's my point. Do you support those deals? What is your point?
      ~

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  51. Sure the odds are stacked against you and the game is rigged.

    So what?

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  52. Jim,

    After last nights results, I hope you are correct that not much will change the next two years; from your lips to God's ears! I fully expect the Rs to eliminate the filibuster in the Senate so they can do as they wish. The Rs will interpret these results as a mandate to do as they wish. The only thing standing in their way is a presidential veto. I guess we will find out the degree to which President Obama can stand against the Republican Congress. The results I find most frightening is that the governors of Florida and Wisconsin get re-elected. How could people in those states vote for those guys?

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  53. While I am appalled that the forces of devolution have gained (more or less) control of Congress, I see a possible silver lining. For the past six years, in a snit over having a black president, the republicans have basically been on strike, refusing to perform any responsible function of government and blaming the resulting mess on Obama. They have refused even to propose any serious legislation, even on issues they care about, like tax reform. Now the ball is back in their court, and the country will expect them to do something constructive (maybe infrastructure???). If they do, good. The country benefits. If they don't, good. The country gets to see clearly that they are merely passive-aggressive and irresponsible, incapable of governing in any positive way. Time to put up or shut up, kids. The nation is watching. Incoherent babbling about conspiracy theories won't cut it any longer.

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    1. The problem is no matter how vile and malicious the Rethugs are, the Mainslime Media will spin it to make it Obama's fault.

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  54. Sure, the Rethugs won't be able to get much done at the National level (Without getting caught red handed using their usual dirty tricks), but that's not the plan. With the Kochs pulling the strings, and their controls at the state and local level, they're set to gut every protection and progressive law they can. They're going to open the floodgates of pollution and corruption at every level.

    America, dumb as a box of rocks. Idiocracy was a documentary.

    And I've never been more ashamed of my country, and I lived through the Shrub years.

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  55. Preach it, Jim. The GOP House has about a 20% approval rating and I'm sure they can cut that by half over the next couple of years. The GOP controlled Senate won't be nearly as likely to support House nuttiness as most people think because a shitload of those GOP senators, from not so solidly red states, are up for reelection in 2016 and they need practice CYA to have a hope of coming back.

    Yeah, there'll be a whole lot of nothing going on these next couple years.

    Meanwhile, love her or hate her, you know Hillary Clinton has her machine working all this into her plans.

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