I'm now uncertain if I want a GOP Senate or Dem

what do you mean wrong, that is exactly what happened

 

No it isn't it's the opposite of what happened.

 

That would be a reasonable aspiration if it weren't for one element: Mitch McConnell. A Republican Senate is not a guarantee of checks and balances. It's a guarantee that nothing gets done and the country stagnates. Not a good idea after a pandemic like this. Republicans under McConnell have provided absolutely no checks and balances to any President. Republican or Democrat.

If your first priority is getting things done, Democratic Congress and Democratic President is your best bet. If you want checks and balances, a Republican President (so long as it's not an authoritarian like Trump) and Democratic Congress might do. But any scenario whatsoever in which Republicans control Congress is sure to be a disaster.

To recover from this crisis, you want things done. Not endless debates in Congress. Once we put this behind us... we'll see.

 

lol... you're worried about "Checks and Balances" and about the, "systematic attack on Democracy with the silent enabling of most GOP senators"?????

You are worried as the Democrats are actually considering:

• Removing the Filibuster
• Making Washington D.C. a state
• Making Puerto Rico a state
• Getting Rid of the Electoral College
• Packing the U.S. Supreme Court

Are you trolling?

 

I found the likely source for this chart, here:

https://www.senate.gov/legislative/cloture/clotureCounts.htm

It shows that the final cumulative count for cloture motions over the span of Obama / Reid were 504.

This span was 6 years.

In four years under Trump / McConnell the cumulative count is at 512.

Mother Jones chose to aggregate these data according to cloture motions only during unilateral party control of the Oval and the Senate.

However, if you just look at the senate.gov page, it distinctly shows an increasing trend of these cloture motions.

Since any single Senator of either party can begin a filibuster, it is not clear from just these counts what the partisan split is or may be.

Assuming the 80 / 20 rule, maybe 80% of the cloture motions are filed by the majority against filibusters by the minority?

Seems the Senate is just plain broke to me.

 

10% approval rating; 90%+ re-election rate.

They get their performance review every six years. The people keep telling them, good job! Why would you alter the way you do your job if you got an exceeds expectations all the time?

 

You don't go from being on the fence about voting for Trump to being the biggest Trump basher on the forum in a matter of months. If you think that is evidence of critical thought, you have not exercised critical thought to come to that conclusion.

 

Who are you talking to? You couldn't pay me to vote for Trump. I voted nota in 16 and was Biden all the way from the primaries on. You must have me confused with someone else

 

I don't especially care to turn Washington DC into a state, but Puerto Rico needs it badly. You do know that Puerto Rico is actually US soil even though it isn't a state? Right?

 

I had a feeling that once Biden's win was assured that many of the voters in Georgia, facing a do-over election, would begin to want those two Senators to be Democrats. I just knew it!

 

Heed the context of the conversation. I was talking about the OP, saying that you (as in "one") does not simply go from being on the fence about voting for Trump to being the biggest Trump basher on the forum in a matter of months. The OP, if you look at his posts when he first started posting, said that he was on the fence about voting for Trump, and he wanted us to make an argument about whom he should vote for. Now, he's the most rabid Trump basher on this forum, which is an unnatural transition of thought.

 

Yes, and I know Puerto Rico would be greatly served with a simple repeal of The Jones Act and to lose their oppressively high minimum wage. They do not belong as a state at this time. They have yet to get their own act together as illustrated by their corruption after the last Hurricane where Trump sent tons of supplies and the Government hid it from the people in need for months and months, while complaining at the same time.

 

Yes, I remember that last Hurricane disaster. That's what got me to say they need it badly. I think if Puerto Rico was a state the government there could all be brought up on corruption charges. That didn't happen, so I'm assuming their current government system isn't serving the people as it is now.

 

But you quoted me. It was a little confusing Xyce.

 

Trump had that effect on people. Whether you believe it or not. He was a terrible candidate to hitch your wagon to, and it has cost the party dearly. Even I was leaning toward the republican party after Obama, not because of his policies but just because it was about that time in my life to grow up. Unfortunately you guys placed a child in charge and steered alot of people right back to the democrats.

After Biden, I may reevaluate the republican party again.

 

I quoted you talking about the OP. My use of "you," placed in context, was referring to the pronoun sense "anyone at all." Either way, I think the point is made: you (as in "anyone at all") does not go from being on the fence about whom to vote for to being a rabid anti-Trumpist a matter of months; it's absurd.

 

This was not a years-long process for the OP. The OP joined months before the November election, and they went from being on the fence about whom to vote for to being a rabid anti-Trumpist in a matter of months. To think that that transition of thought happens within months is absurd.

 

Yes, it's clear now. I check my phone on breaks at work. Not really a good time for context. No biggie.

I understand him just fine. He sounds like a typical moderate independent. You have to understand that independents think differently than partisans. Independents don't see politics or government through the team paradigm. I don't have any data to cite, but I'd bet independents split tickets far more than registered D's or R's. That could be what we just witnessed; independents responsible for Republicans doing better than expected.

Independents swung for Trump in 16 but swung even more for Biden this time. Perhaps you're seeing this from a team viewpoint, and view it as betrayal, like a White Sox fan rooting for the Cubs. Independents don't think nor behave that way. To an independent, there are no White Sox or Cubs, just baseball players. Make sense?

Moderate independents can change their mind about someone on the fly. It's not only normal, it's to be expected.

 

It makes perfect sense to me. What benefit is there in lying? It really doesent take months, it could be a single action that has hoards of people flocking in the opposite direction of anything they once supported.
People be people. Iv learned in life even in sales, that after youv made a easy sale, a simple statement in closing can cost you that same loyal customer. So its not hard to believe Trumps childish behavior being supported opened his eyes in a matter of months to the BS of the GOP.

 

I want the Democrats to win the Senate. It is beyond time to legalize marijuana federally. Alcohol is way worse than weed will ever be, but we have people who get sloppy drunk on the weekends who look down on legalizing weed. Idiots.

McConnell will put himself in the way of that.

 

Exactly. Democrats are gonna vote Democrat. And Republicans gonna Republican. Everybody else looks at the candidates. I voted for McCain, but I had no hatred for Obama. Either was better than Bush. I was turned off by the Tea Party and Trump's birther nonsense, but I still looked at Romney. I think the people that hated Obama saw the country as Obama haters or Obama lovers. Much like we have today. The truth is that many of us weren't overly impressed with Obama, but we were revulsed by the hatred coming from Republicans and Donald Trump. Anyway, I gave Romney every chance in the world, and it was the 47% comment that lost my vote. Sometimes, if you're not a partisan, you make decisions, which are broad based, because something has rung the bell.

 

My leanings are towards republicanism - but todays Red guard would not recognize me as one of their own - pro choice - not anti gay - don't care so much about the wall .. Voted Obama - anti war - don't believe all land creatures were destroyed in a flood round 2100-2300 BC ..concerned about the environment and global warming - and so on.

So that would be very moderate by Red Standards of today.

So while Red is bad - Blue has gone right off the turnip truck. Neocon, anti Environment, anti ACLU ... anti Classical Liberalism. Disgusting.

 

It used to be that a filibuster required someone standing on the floor, talking to run out the clock, for hours.

they got rid of it, and now a filibuster is just an administrative procedure.

It should be restored, that way, given how hard a filibuster is, real effort, finding a volunteer to do it, will mean that much fewer filibusters, and a return to the good old days of "Mr Smith Goes To Washington" era.

And, while we are at it, noting that Reagan repealed the fairness doctrine, which allowed guys like Limbaugh to do hate radio without opposing views. we should restore the Fairness Doctrine.

These two things, have caused the body politic to go downhill.

 

You sound more like a Biden/Obama dem than a republican. Maybe an Eisenhower republican ( who would be a moderate dem, by today's standards).

 

well if that's how you remember it - lol