That's a clip from December, when both sides still expected Republicans to hold Georgia, meaning that Biden's presidency would have been gimped from the outset. Now that they have a trifecta (albeit by the thinnest margin possible), pressure on Biden will mount to get at least some things done, policy-wise.

Some things? I doubt anything at all will get done. Status quo from now on... it would be highly doubtful to see free healthcare, free college and loan forgiveness. The green new deal is a figment of the imagination of progressives and nothing more. Biden will do exactly what he has done his entire career, be a moderate do nothing politician.

This post was edited by Landmine on Jan 10 2021 12:43pm

They might get structural reforms (read: Democratic power grabs) done. Stuff like DC and PR statehood to tilt the Senate in their favor, adding two (two, not four!) judges to the SCOTUS, citizenship for the DACA kids, enshrining ballot harvesting and no excuse absentee ballots into law.

I dont think they're stupid enough to go for lightning rod policies that non-politicos care about, like defunding the police, an assault weapon ban or introducing very high carbon taxes. Well, considering the fact that the Democratic agenda now has become "the most radical thing that can get past Joe Manchin", stuff like carbon taxes should be dead in the water anyway.

This post was edited by Black XistenZ on Jan 10 2021 12:56pm

Isn’t that pretty much the status quo every time one party gets power?

No, not at all. This stuff would be a huge power grab by Democrats. But the apolitical masses might not understand how serious it is and what the long-term ramifications will be, so Democrats might get away with it.

This post was edited by Black XistenZ on Jan 10 2021 01:08pm

again the question, you dodged it last time: what is undemocratic about giving every american citizen a vote?

just like last time when we got free universal affordable healthcare bestowed upon us under pain of punishment if you didnt get it

The 23rd amendment gives DC a vote in presidential elections. I would support giving the DC representative in the House voting rights, because the House is the Congressional body representing the people. But the Senate is the body representing the states, not the people - and the capital district simply isnt a state, nor should it be. This was a deliberate decision by the founding fathers, and they had good reasons for not making DC a state.

What you dont understand, or refuse to accept, is that the U.S. Senate is not intended to represent the people proportionally. Democrats didnt mind this kind of unrepresentativeness of the Senate for the longest time. It is only now, when they have become the party of the cities, that they realize that the makeup of the Senate stands between them and their policy goals, prompting them to discover their hatred for the Senate. A hatred they didnt feel as recently as one decade ago, when they were still structurally competitive in the chamber.

This post was edited by Black XistenZ on Jan 10 2021 03:02pm

Manchin is half-Republican already, so unlikely unless Murkowski has an awakening.

Manchin is 73, and will be 77 when his current term ends. There is a possibility that he already intends to end his political career then, so that he doesnt have to hold back and can vote for whichever policies genuinely have his support, with no consideration for how they might play in his R+30 state.

But there are similar red state senators. Jon Tester from Montana is only 64, his political career surely isnt in its twilight yet, and he only barely survived his reelection race in 2018 amidst a D+8.6 environment. Mark Kelly from Arizona and Raphael Warnock from Georgia are up for reelection in 2022. Warnock strikes me as a true believer in the progressive cause, I think he would vote for radical policy if his vote is necessary for passage, even if it costs him his seat. But you also have senators like Sinema, Osoff, Brown or Hassan (up in 22 btw) who hail from R+3 to R+7 states and would definitely be unwilling to commit career suicide for any kind of "win" for the Demcoratic agenda.


Which brings me back to my original point: my biggest fear is not that the 50+1 D Senate will pass bold lefty policy on the issues themselves, my fear is that they pass structural reforms which grab power for Democrats in the long run, but have no short-term impact and thus dont cause a backlash from the (largely uninformed and apolitical) electorate.

This post was edited by Black XistenZ on Jan 10 2021 03:12pm