I thought I’d remind everyone of what the score card is for our current congressional session, executive and judicial branches.
Branch R. D. I
President 1
Vice President. 1
House reps. 241. 193. 1
Senate 52. 46. 2
USSC 4(1). 4
Hard to edit from an iPhone.
So, there you have it. The entire Federal government is owned by the Republicans. They control the horizontal and the vertical and they show no respect for norms.
Not only that but let’s say you voted for Trump but he’s making you uneasy and maybe could be impeached down the road. (Not before congressional Republicans are done using him to finally destroy the safety net but let’s save that for another time) If Trump is impeached, Mike Pence takes his place. Not much of an improvement except he’s less likely to nuke us all. But let’s say that Pence is too religiously extreme for you and you want him out. No problem. Paul Ryan, the granny starver, will fill his shoes.
In other words, it’s Republicans as far as the eye can see. They can ram any damn thing they want thru Congress and the Democrats can’t do much about it. If you hear otherwise, someone is not being honest.
The data geeks at 538 are keeping track of what the Republican juggernaut is doing. Let’s follow along, shall we? And let’s be clear here. The only reason they are in charge is because they were able to control the district voting populations because they had the majority after the 2010 election year. They are a minority party throwing their weight around like they have a mandate. They don’t.
The soonest we can vote them out is 11/2018.
Why, yes, they CAN do a lot of damage by then. Thanks for asking.
Filed under: General |
The Confluence 
I don’t know how many know this but the popular vote total of the Democrats in Congress far exceeds that of the Republicans, just like the presidential election. I think The Democrats should run a candidate in every district and in every state and not let the Republicans run unopposed anywhere. However, unity among the multiple Dem factions is sorely lacking unlike the dislike/hate for most everything that is good about America that binds the Rs.
The Elephascists, and also “independent” reactionaries, consider everything that we consider good about the USA to be bad. That sentence remains true if the words “good” and “bad” are reversed.
Psychologically, I suspect we have become two nations.
I totally agree, also need to run and win more Governors.
ABOUT THE ABOVE VIDEO….Mr. Trump wants to remove all restrictions from tax-empt churches preaching and involving themselves in politics. THIS is who he wants us to hear and heed. NEVER! NEVER! NEVER! GO TO HELL!
Signed
One of those dirty women – and damn proud of it, too….
That was both nauseating and frightening. These people are demented and they CANNOT win. Their words, their facial expressions, their arrogance is repulsive.
Protests in CA universities over white supremacists coming to campus’.
Of course, when it gets dark, all the crazy anarchists take over and ramp up to violence. I have a feeling this will be more and more common with El Douche in OUR house. Last night was just another day in the Bay Area. Trump is soooo hated here.
http://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2017/02/02/milo-yiannopoulos-ivory-tower-bu-orig.cnn
I couldn’t watch more than 39 seconds of that woman hating pastor. Keep those damn women under men’s thumb.
I wouldn’t call them women or men, they are subhuman. Animals behave better.
It is depressing that Der Trumpolini wants to do away with the Johnson Amendment that forbids religious leaders from political activity.
There is a short New York Times story to explain the Johnson Amendment.
I just did a quick calculation. Election Day 2018 is Nov. 6, 2018. There are 332 days left in this year and 282 in 2018 until Nov. 6. So there are 614 days in which they could do a lot of damage.
I keep hoping that for a Democratic administration that will reverse everything since Reagan.
The most important thing to reverse is to reinstitute the Fairness Doctrine. With the rise of Fox News, a new Fairness Doctrine should include a requirement for a minimum amount of time for the opposing viewpoint. If Fox has 55% of programming that is opinion and not news, then 25% must be the opposing viewpoint.
http://www.startjuno.com/player/article/geobeats-neil_gorsuch_reportedly_founded_a_fascism_forever-5min
A must read:
https://still4hill.com/
There are elections coming up in 2017! flippable is already working on those: https://www.flippable.org/upcoming-elections#twitterlink
Either the military and/or CIA is going to say ENOUGH, this is getting really dangerous (in which case, all of them go), or, yes, impeachment and Pence/Ryan (unless the Russian hacking investigation finds something and is able to release what they find–interesting it’s gotten very quiet about that lately, probably for the best to be UTR).
What might cause CIA/Justice/military to say enough is that it appears Trump et al are setting up their own mini-govt inside the federal govt. and then freezing out all agencies/people outside that very small group (e.g., this Yemen Navy Seal authorization which took place over a nice fancy dinner with son-in-law, Bannon, etc.). I don’t think it’s wise to piss off or concern the CIA/Justice/military.
Read there were 1.5 million calls per day to representatives this week. Indivisible groups are getting very active. It’s impressive.
I think I’m going to a huddle later today. Will let you know how it goes.
I distinctly remember happily visiting this blog in 2008 when Obama was racebaiting Hillary and how the people here stated that blue dog dems warned that if Obama won, dems would lose for a decade.
I am disappointed that the people I looked to for solace during the latte drinking misogynistic new wave liberal crowd hostile takeover of the dem party would ignore that 5 blue states turned red and 1000 seats lost under Obama is “the minority”. There is something rotten in the Democratic party and they deserve everything they get.
And for the record, decades of piss poor, corrupt democrat and Republican “leadership” still has blacks in poverty, higher crime rates and stagnant wages for all.
This hysterical, emotional reaction to trump is utterly over the top and democrats have jumped the shark.
-a former dem
I agree. Over the top…is being too kind. The opposition to Trump should stop and take a breath. They are hyperventilating. It is the same actions that resulted in his election. Quit calling him names! It is beneath us. Use logical, reasoned arguments. Quit being hypocritical. Remember that Trump is the Obama’s legacy. Obama gave us the pro Charter School Sec of Education Arne Duncan….now we have Betsy DeVos. Same sh*t, different year! We had a Sec of Defense who promoted Transgender in military and even thought having Defense Dept pay for the surgery was ok. Is this any less insane than Trump? We can’t pay for veterans healthcare after being wounded but we can find money for trans surgery. INSANE!
We had a healthcare pushed on us that was super expensive and mandated. A public option was forbidden. It was nothing but RomneyCare. Some benefited, but the cost to taxpayers is enormous. Only the HealthCare industry really benefited. Their stock and their profits and their reimbursements were “yuge!” It is wonderful to see people marching, but why no marches this past 8 years? We are still involved in these wars and Guantanamo is still open, and we even started a few more wars. No marches. Legal and illegal immigrants had been insane under Obama. Not a peep. We export millions of jobs and allow immigration to skyrocket. Just view this as a math problem that makes no sense. Unaccompanied minors streaming over our southern borders! Just what this country needs. Young people with no one to look out for them. Easy prey, easily exploited and companies being paid fortunes to house and who knows what to them. Insane! Yes, these policies were insane yet nobody thought it was worth thinking about yet alone doing something about. Trump pulls out of the TPP and the left never says a thing. I thought Obama supporting the TPP was insane. I applaud Trump for that. I am very nervous about Trump. Need to keep a close eye on him and his cronies. But being hysterical is not wise, in my book. Don’t shoot till we see the whites of their eyes. We are just wasting ammunition. And if you ask me, Pence would be worse than Trump. Smug Democrats who can’t see what Obama has given us had better take a step back, take a breath and find a better way to be the opposition. This blog understood what Obama was in 2008. We may not like Trump but he is President and what is in the wings is worse! Calling him names and the over the top rhetoric is counterproductive. Being outraged at Trumps use of the word pussy and then having a pussy March has me flummoxed. Being too cute for our own good. Being vulgar is not only common, it is hardly noticed anymore. Not worth wasting spit on anymore! There is a reason the media is over the top on Trump…but I don’t understand why they are. Who is buttering their bread? I don’t remember the media being so up in arms when Bush and Cheney were doing their dirty work! I don’t remember the media being vigilant with Obama. But all of a sudden they are frothing at the mouth. It just seems too weird. Not proportional and totally out of character. I just wonder what is really going on!
I can’t think of a president that is worse than Trump. It’s not just a matter of incompetence.
He is different. He is fundamentally unsuited for this job. Electing him was the biggest and most critically destructive thing this country has ever done to itself and the world.
You are not paying attention.
The world really is a web. If you pluck a thread here, the web vibrates somewhere else.
A skilled or intelligent person shows restraint.
Restraint is a characteristic completely foreign to Donald Trump.
This is the summary of all that is wrong with him being president. He does not understand restraint.
He’s dangerous.
You know I’m no media fan and I never, ever recommend televised news on any cable or network station.
I am only watching what he is doing. I’m listening to his words. He is our unique catastrophe. The media is not exaggerating here.
BTW, any guy who thinks it’s ok to grab women by the pussy is no one I want as my president.
Sure, we all say things or think things that are inappropriate. The difference is that Trump actually does them. He has no respect for women.
I’m getting my own pussy hat and will wear it proudly. And anyone who grabs my pussy without my consent is going to find out what I learned in kickboxing class.
It is completely unacceptable. I draw my line here.
I couldn’t disagree with you more. The window has shifted.
Consider this a battle. In 2008 we were in the vanguard. We are now being pushed to the back lines and our shield wall is disappearing.
It is not an overreaction to be critical of Trump. Yes, we are where we are because Obama just HAD to go first.
But now we are fighting for our futures. It is not an exaggeration.
If you still think there’s no threat and there’s no difference between the parties, let the next year or so disabuse of that notion.
If it doesn’t, then you must be much higher on maslow’s pyramid than the rest of us who have to worry about mundane things like healthcare, employment and social security.
I did not say there is no threat. There is. I did not say there is no difference in the parties. There is a big difference. I voted for Hillary. I am scared of Trump BUT… I think there is an over the top reaction that is disproportional and is counterproductive to waging an effective opposition. I am scared about the media. Why, all of a sudden, are they frothing at the mouth about Trump and they never said beans about Bush or Obama. It seems weird. What is really going on? It makes me nervous.
And I am low on that Pyramid. The last 8 years have thrown me into poverty. And the media reacted like it was nothing. The Democrats seem to believe the last 8 years were damn near perfect. Well, that is far from the truth for me and everybody I am related to….except one. I am struggling. Where I live has been devastated by the last 8 years. And the last 8 were not much better than the Bush 8. In many ways worse. At least with Bush there was some opposition. (But not the media). With Obama, there was silence! Deafening silence. Not much difference between Bush and Obama in my eyes. Big difference in parties but those two, not so much. Two fools in my eyes. And it wasn’t just that Obama jumped line. More to it than that. He had a mini coup in the party, almost like Trump. Changed the party, and not in good way. And now we have Trump.
Well, that makes two of us then. I’m not making the salary I was making, my career in science is effectively over because when the industry collapsed, the Obama admin acted like startups were going to solve every problem. It has been devastating.
My family went thru hell and back. One of my close family members had a health issue that wiped me out. That was pre Obamacare. The sequester knocked me out of academia. It’s been one thing after another, Ali. I was sick to death of Obama and is careless nonchalance about all that happened to us. I worry about the next antibiotic resistant bacteria that won’t have a new drug in the pipeline or one for diabetes, or a new CNS drug for depression, schizophrenia, bipolar. These things will never get developed and there are thousands of experienced scientists sitting on the sidelines doing nothing for lack of funding.
It’s sickening.
And yet, despite the unemployment, the illness, the loss of my nest egg, the lack of punishment for the bankers and financiers who ate our seed corn, I am not so full of rage and anger and vengeance that I allowed myself to be blinded by the catastrophe that is Trump and the Republican Party.
If you bought into that shit thinking that you were going to teach someone a lesson, then you fell for the oldest trick in the book.
You need to draw a line. Find out what you really truly believe in be do not let any elected official drag you over that line.
We are responsible for each other. We can’t let anger make us lose sight of that or we will all lose.
BTW, with respect to TPP and losing our jobs to foreigners, I’ve worked with colleagues from china, India and Europe thruout my career. These people have become friends of mine. They come here on H1B visas and they are very vulnerable. Some of them have bought houses here and have children here and they were planning to make the US their permanent home. Then the get laid off and for an H1B visa holder, they have a matter of weeks to liquidate their assets and go back to where they came from. Even a green card is no protection. Some green cards are written so narrowly that the bearer can only stay if they find the exact same job at another company. If you’ve never held your lab partner while she was crying her eyes out because she was going to lose everything after her layoff, then you have no idea what it’s like for these people.
Yes, they are brought here from India and China because they are cheaper and expendable when business conditions change and that affects all of our salaries. But it’s not their fault. They’re only doing what any of us would do, taking a huge risk in order to better their futures.
The problem is with employers who exploit liquid labor laws.
The solution, and Hillary was headed in this direction, is to give these people green cards when they come to the US. I’d prefer unrestricted green cards so that they can move to a new job if they get laid off. That calls the employer’s bluff. If they say they can’t find suitable candidates, a bullshit reason when so many STEM professionals are cobbling lives together our if shoe string and chewing gum, then whoever they hire from Asia should be worth their weight in gold and should be encouraged to stay permanently. Get rid of the H1B visa, replace it with unrestricted green cards and watch how things change. We’ve been way too soft.
I disagree with you on this point. I think employers who want to use foreign labor should have to pay them 20% above what they pay Americans. That would prove that they really need more workers and can’t get them her…. instead of paying them less. If the law of supply and demand were in effect, foreign workers should be paid a premium. Instead, employers claim they don’t have enough workers and hire foreign workers at a discount. How convenient! Encourages deceit. I don’t think bringing in replacement workers is fair to our citizens or to the foreign workers. It discourages unions from forming because companies can threaten workforce with bringing in replacement workers. Foreign workers are easily exploited. Foreign countries can export workers who give them problems. It allows a safety valve for countries who might have to reform themselves. Workers can just leave their country and come here. Their countries are not threatened with reform. Our country can’t reform itself by unionizing. The companies are always playing us and them. Too much immigration and too little assimilation. I am not hateful of the immigrants. But I do think our country should be able to make laws to regulate the rate of immigration. We have doubled our population in my lifetime. The rate is too high to make sane adjustments. Restraint applies to immigration too. Not just Trump! I did not vote for him. I voted for Hillary. I am a Democrat. But the last 8 years were awful. And I blame Obama and his crew. Funny how Trump can get things done but Obama had so much on his plate that he never ate a damn pea. Just wondering how much of a Democrat Obama was. Not much if you ask me. The media and the left are asking if the Russians had anything to do with Trump getting elected. If the Russians are that strategic to get Trump elected, perhaps they had a hand in Obama’s primary victory, too! Who is to say that this is the first time the Russians tried to influence an election? Just wondering!!!
A green card *is* a premium. It means that the foreign worker can’t be exploited. That means if an employer brings someone here, they’ll have to pay them well to get them to stay. A foreign worker is not an indentured servant and not disposable.
They aren’t part of a permanent underclass of Human Resources.
It makes them more valuable. Therefore, it makes us more valuable.
As for trump getting things done, I don’t particularly like what he’s getting done. My standards are high.
Plus, he can do pretty much whatever he wants because the Republicans want to pass a certain agenda. If you really voted for Hillary, then you are not going to like what’s coming.
It is clear that Democrats have to win many elections, to break this stranglehold of the zombie lockstep Republicans. Every single Republican votes the same way on everything. Getting rid of one or two of them does not get rid of the hordes of them trying to destroy every value which we care about.
What has been horrifying over the last decade and more, is that so many people vote Republican almost reflexively. They have been brainwashed by Fox news and now CNN, and all those awful right-wing radio shows which spew out an endless series of lies and slanders against Democrats, “liberals,” the invented enemy on which they foxus all their anger and unhappiness. Most people cannot resist this, they just vote Republican in every race, without even having any significant idea of what policies the parties stand for.
I think that the Democrats have got to go more for slogans, things that might somehow get through to people who wouldn’t understand economics in a hundred years. How about, “The world used to admire America, now they hate us.” “In two weeks, Trump lost two of our best allies.” And go after the Republicans, call them fascists. Sugarcoating it does not help us win elections. Idenfify Republicans with fascism and Nazis. I don’t care how much they yell about it. It’s true, for one, and it might get through to people who love the country. Do they want to live in a dictatorship? Let them make that kind of choice. Label and derogate and demonize the enemy. It’s the only way to win now.