> How exactly are House Democrats supposed to revoke the Exchange Stabilization Fund or change the Defense Production Act when they don't have a majority in the House?
Introduce an actual bill. Draft and debate something specific so that when they are in power they don’t have to start from scratch.
Use procedure to try and bring it up for a vote. At least try to legislate.
I believe it was mitch mcconnell back during obama that said he never wanted to see another democratic bill passed again-to the point he voted against his own bill he signed just because it received dem support
> to the point he voted against his own bill he signed just because it received dem support
Who cares. Write a damn bill. Get agreement among your members that specific text works. That is the first step to any legislating. It’s also something Democrats know how to do—even the CPC has an energy bill drafted. It’s what you do when you’re being serious about prioritizing legislating versus tweeting.
If you care about this issue and have D representation, call and demand an actual bill.
Never forget that McConnell is responsible for the shit state of the country. His Supreme Court bullshit was treason.
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Irony of ironies, McConnell's seat is up for grabs Tuesday, with a bright young go-getter on the Democratic ticket, and a wishy-washy, Trump-brown-nosing nepobaby on the Republican side, in a state that stunned everyone by electing a Democratic governor last go-round. One might say that the Democrat is about to get stomped for obvious and unmentionable reasons (it's Kentucky, he's black), but it's actually because the DSCC is still bitter that he almost beat their preferred candidate in the 2020 primary; they've contributed a fraction to his general election campaign of what they spent defeating him so that Temu Mitch could lose to the Real McConnell.
Everyone is complaining that the current Democratic candidate has had basically no ad presence. The Republican would be in the same boat, as they both received about the same amount in individual donations, but the latter actually got national and PAC support to run ads.
We do this to ourselves.
One might say that the Democrat is about to get stomped for obvious and unmentionable reasons (it's Kentucky, he's black)
Middle school level opinion. Laughable, almost. What possible authoritative source could you point to to even remotely beg this case that isn’t silly conjecture in 2026?
https://www.justice.gov/hatecrimes/state-specific-informatio...
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2022-election/kentucky-sena...
https://eji.org/news/kentucky-felony-disenfranchisement-up-6...
I can't imagine people in Kentucky are any less racist than the ones in my red state.
> Use procedure to try and bring it up for a vote. At least try to legislate.
They do introduce bills in committee. Which are shot down in committee by the instrangient Republicans that lead the committees refusing to compromise often before the bill can come to the full congress. You are asking Dems to do something they literally cannot do while minority party. You are asking Dems to do an impossible thing and then complaining they cannot.
> Introduce an actual bill. Draft and debate something specific so that when they are in power they don’t have to start from scratch.
You're also complainging about democrats not introducing bills... on a post from Democrats proposing bills (well, resolution. whatever, still not starting from scratch then)!!!! You're complaining about something that literally already exists! Stop being so blind.
> They do introduce bills in committee
Sure. They also publish draft bills.
That lets folks comment and edit and build consensus while the other guys are in power. (Or snatch some across-the-aisle votes.)
It’s how effective shadow governments work in parliamentary systems. It’s what the GOP was up to while it was out of power. It’s what the Congressional Progressive Caucus does when it actually plans on passing laws about something [1].
Just not here. Because this is puffery.
> on a post from Democrats proposing bills (well, resolution
Big difference! You float a resolution when you want to tweet about it. You publish a draft bill when you want to legislate.
[1] https://progressives.house.gov/endorsed-bills
So try to pass it, let it fail, and then publish the bill text as an example of what you’ll pass when you win the election. Then when you win, actually pass the damn bill. “Promises kept.” It’s not rocket science.
Edit: love the downvotes, keep them coming. “We’ve tried nothing and we’re all out of ideas.” Classic Big D.
speaker controls the floor. republicans dont have to even let debate happen. the only way to force a vote is discharge petition.
but then the speaker also controls the schedule so republicans will just shut it down and not work for 2 months to avoid the vote.
It doesn’t have to reach the floor. Even introducing an advanced draft in committee can be a signal of intent to voters and a plank for campaigning.
Resolutions are cheap theater. There’s been a huge number from both parties over the last decade, with very few tangible results except from some joint resolutions that stripped away regulations.
That's what they're doing now in this exact case!! omg.
Well great, then stop saying that people who want this are somehow wrong for wanting it. You were responding negatively to someone who was asking for more of this, saying it’s somehow not possible.
He wasn’t saying that it had to actually get into the floor. Just make an effort and use that as an explicit position when campaigning, then follow through.
No, that is not what they are saying. Can we stop pretending like people are saying things other than they are
From them:
"Use procedure to try and bring it up for a vote. At least try to legislate."
"Edit: love the downvotes, keep them coming. “We’ve tried nothing and we’re all out of ideas.” Classic Big D."
They literally are. This guys is explicitly bitching about things actively happening.
From you:
"Just make an effort and use that as an explicit position when campaigning, then follow through."
He literally called making an explicit promises "pure puffery" and they cannot follow through until they are seated so no, they are not saying that. This person isn't worth defending and is not saying any of the things you are assigning to them.
Promises aren’t worth anything without action. Drawing up an actual bill and gathering early feedback/support is action, as real work is being accomplished through that process. Better to do the bulk of the work early and use it as proof to voters that there is real intent.
Which has nothing to do with what the other person was saying. Saying this is fine, assigning this language to someone else who was saying the opposite is not
> That's what they're doing now in this exact case
They’re absolutely not. This is a non-binding resolution. It’s had none of the hard discussions around what should be revoked and how what isn’t revoked should be revised. It’s a nothing burger.
And you think there'd be that from a draft bill? That also will have none of the "hard discussions" that you want in a committee led by Republicans who don't let anything Dems to come to the table to even be talked about. The difference between them is negligible. But hey, you work in private equity, so of course you're just gonna try to hate on Dems no matter what
Then bypass them. Shop it internally among the party, and privately with defecting Rs who see which way the wind is blowing. Bring the results to the committee as a “show your work” moment for voters and draw a line in the sand.
> you think there'd be that from a draft bill?
Yes. I just had a markup of one floated to me by a New York member. This is what you do when you’re preparing to go back into power.
> You are asking Dems to do something they literally cannot do while minority party. You are asking Dems to do an impossible thing and then complaining they cannot.
It's Murc's law all the way down.
>At least try to legislate.
It is still "puffery" if they don't have the needed majority to pass it. I am sorry, I can see you try to find any excuse, purity test, "no true Scotsman" fallacy, to rationalize not voting for the Democrats, but you will have to if you want anything to happen.
It's difficult for a politician to do something that isn't political, so I think we can let them off the hook for making symbolic gestures.
However, putting legislation up for a vote is not puffery. Establishing what parties vote against and why is actually an important part of what the opposition does. Otherwise they may as well not turn up.
Yeah, so, it won't be put up for a vote before the midterms. So? Are you going to vote for the party that at least proposes to do something you want, or will you vote, or leave in place, the party that has proposed nothing or the opposite?
Why should someone vote for the Democrats when they will just throw us under the bus the moment it becomes convenient?
Democrats aren’t a unified block, and they have some bright stars coming into their own this year. Their future looks bright, if people vote their interests the signal is getting through and change is possible.
And because republicans are a unified block whose entire platform is to serve you for dinner. Their whole existence is dedicated to reversing any change.
I would say the same about Republicans.
Yeah, "all" the Democrats will throw you under the bus. All of them. You aren't delusional at all. How much better you are under the Republicans!
You would like a third, fourth choice outside of Democrats and Republicans? Well, you would need a ranked-choice voting system for that. Remind me, who is pushing to extend that system of voting? And who is completely opposed to it and is even banning it wherever they can? Dare to answer?
Perhaps, just maybe, like i mean its possible, we live in a world where chains of events happen, markov style. So that when a bill that can't currently passed gets voted on, there is an event where the politicians who opposed it can be held accountable by thier constituent in later elections.
I know it sounds strange, but what if the math is right, and there can actually be casual relationships?
Sounds reasonable. Doesn't appear to match reality. People have very short memories and are subjected to way to many campaign ads (aka propaganda).
Calling on legislators (in any odds) to perform legislation “Puffery” is a hand wavey way to beg the assertion that “alternative tactics” need to be implemented to get around the process. This is how corruption happens.
Change the rules legally if they don’t work. Rouse your base with actual arguments legally if they don’t work.
Haha nope. It’s the opposite actually. They need to run candidates willing to say things that I agree with in order for me to vote for them.
Which they did, so your point is?
I mean, generally speaking they actually haven't. Look at all the candidates who abandoned trans rights.
A voter who won’t vote for anyone but their perfect candidate is electorally useless in a country of hundreds of millions. Democracy is about compromise, and compromise often means nobody is particularly happy about the outcome because nobody gets all of exactly what they want.
Trans people want to exist without being harassed, assaulted or killed, without being classified as degenerates by the government. They're in the same social space that gay people were 40 years ago.
You aren't talking about compromise on fiscal policy, you're talking about compromise on basic human rights and decency. Accepting transphobia from the Democratic party just means the transphobes get everything they want.
There is a huge difference between being on the wrong side of an issue and choosing not to take sides. In a lot of America, the trans kid in sports thing has turned into a clusterfuck. We probably don't have the votes to see that through. That does't mean someone should be against making trans a protected class for employment, et cetera purposes.
>There is a huge difference between being on the wrong side of an issue and choosing not to take sides
Democrats aren't choosing not to take sides, they're choosing to take the anti-trans side because they feel (likely correctly) that it holds more political currency in the current right-wing authoritarian climate.
>That doesn't mean someone should be against making trans a protected class for employment, et cetera purposes.
But that's just the thing - they will turn against that for the same reason, naked political opportunism. Republicans seem to actually care about principles, odious as those principles sometimes are, whereas the Democrats are constantly trying to curry favor with centrists and conservatives because they're afraid to be labelled "leftist."
> Republicans seem to actually care about principles
Which principles straddle Reagan, Gingrich, Bush and Trump?
for some reason I can't replay to jumpcrisscross below, so I'll put this here: Just cuz you can't get everything you want, doesn't mean you should have no 'hard lines' you're not willing to compromise on. So no, the past 20-30 years of 'the lesser of two evils' doesn't cut it anymore. I've voted for Dems. my whole life, but if they don't get a lot more effective, I wont be doing it in the future. When they had all 3 branches of legislature, they couldn't get stuff passed - everything got gutted or given away (remember the last shutdown when people begged them not to cave ?). Anyway, here's hoping for more independents and BrandNewCongress to pickup steam.
> When they had all 3 branches of legislature, they couldn't get stuff passed
And why? Aren't you forgetting something?
Who is hurt most by a government shutdown? What does it solve? Would Democrats have gained something politcally or lost more support?
Look at the opponents of Democrats (the party), and where they stand on trans rights. Most Democrats support trans rights, almost no Republicans do. We can all close our eyes and wish we had a system that didn't reduce down to two parties, but at the end of the day we're all going to get either a Democrat or a Republican representing us unless you live in a hyper specific part of the country.
Earlier today I had to grit my teeth and vote for Josh Turek in Iowa, even though I think he's a shithead who threw trans people under the bus just to eke out a few more votes from conservative fence sitters. I could've made a protest vote, but the realpolitik of the situation is I'm either getting Turek or his Republican opponent, and I think Turek will do a much better job representing me despite his dumbass about-face on trans issues, whereas the Republican will be actively harmful.
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In what way? Trans people are .01% of the US population. You're just repeating BS propaganda.
In many ways. Perhaps the worst is men being incarcerated in women's prisons because of prison housing policy that allows male prisoners to self-identify as women. These men have subsequently raped, sexually assaulted and impregnated female prisoners.
This has been a direct consequence of policy in multiple Democrat-led states which prioritizes self-declared gender identification over biological sex.
Just so you know, these are the opinions of a crazy person. And when you share these opinions IRL amongst normal people, they absolutely secretly start to realize you’re a crazy person.
No, this is real. Look up Ramel Blount, for example. A male prisoner, incarcerated in a women's prison, who was convicted and sentenced to seven years for raping a female prisoner who was housed with him.
He was in a women's facility because New York Department of Corrections policy (Directive 4498R-A) allowed him to self-identify there. Without this harmful policy, he would not have had access to women he could attack. This was policy introduced by mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democratic Party politician.
Then that specifically should be dealt with. It is not enough for the response people like you have had against ALL trans people.
Is this bait?
No I'm genuinely pleased with this change in direction by some Democrats. Hoping more will do the same.
So you think you are better? What have you achieved? Your own purity, at the expense of your trans friends' rights? "Yeah, you are hounded now by crass Republicans who use every lever of power to make your life hell, but at least I didn't vote for a Democrat who may or may not have lied about his support! Praise me!"
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You're an example of what's wrong with the system, you hold Democrats to the standard of a functional political party, while the other party is openly corrupt with respect to this topic and hasn't even bother with "puffery" legislation even though they dominate every branch of government.
The other party in question is the problem, and you're nitpicking an utterly powerless minority party's efforts to make things better.
to the dead reply: "is currently the problem" then. The party alignments have completetly flipped in 150 years. Nothing is permanent, and I thought that didn't have to be explicitly stated. Since I was incorrect about that I'm talking about the current state of the world, with no naive attachement to a particular label.
> you hold Democrats to the standard of a functional political party, while the other party is openly corrupt
I’m holding the party that has a hope of saving our republic to account for not repeating the messaging-BS mistakes from the later Biden years.
Non-binding resolutions are a mockable waste of time. They do nothing for affordability or corruption or reducing the chances of an AI bail-out.
That's defeatist. Everything they do right now is a mockable waste of time by those standards. This is better than nothing and signals intent.
> The other party in question is the problem
And this is how the game works, as easy as taking candy from babies
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Is that an impossibility? Is WWII's good/bad guy split genuine?
Nobody's perfect, sure. But can one side be significantly better than the other in politics at times?
If you can't see the rather stark difference between the two parties, and which one is obviously better for the country and not just the wealthy or hateful, then you are a broken person. And there are a lot of broken people so you've got plenty of company.