The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
Agenda of the 117th [Congress]
silence1186
Character shields down!As a wingmanRegistered User regular
Character shields down!As a wingmanRegistered User regular
For the first time in over 10 years, the Democratic party barely controls both the House of Representatives and Senate, and stands a chance of passing legislation for the first time since Ted Kennedy's death.
Although it remains incredibly likely Mitch McConnell will block all legislation in the Senate via the filibuster, Dems still get to pass one budget bill via reconciliation per year, as well as chair committees, vet appointees, and investigate pressing matters in the USA.
This thread is to talk about the yearly omnibus bill, other legislation Congress is considering or you think they should consider, hearings for Biden's appointments to the cabinet, other agencies, and judiciary, and committee investigations on matters they are considering or you think they should consider.
Legislation
There's already talk of a 1.9 trillion dollar Covid relief bill, though I'm not sure if this will require reconciliation to get through, which would make it the one bill a year the Senate can pass. Doing Covid relief first is smart in my opinion, since it's the most pressing matter in the country, and doing anything else first, no matter how worthwhile, will be seen as political.
Speaking of political, other things I'd like to see considered:
1. John Lewis Memorial Voting Rights Act
2. Statehood for DC and PR (if they want it)
3. Postal reform including dropping the pension requirement, a short term cash infusion to cover liquidity issues, and setting up postal banking.
4. Equal Rights Amendment. This might be tricky because some states tried to recant their previous ratification, but Constitutionally it's not clear if that counts.
5. Judicial reform. I'm skeptical SCOTUS expansion happens with how narrow the Senate margin is, but I'd still like to see the number of circuits expanded to 15, and a number of new judicial positions created equal to as many Obama had openings that were blocked by Mitch McConnell. Ideally the circuits with Trump appointees would get broken up and diluted with new Biden appointees.
There's a myriad other things I'm sure.
Appointments
Because both GA runoffs went to Democrats, Joe Biden gets to have a cabinet, and otherwise staff the government and fill judicial openings. If Mitch McConnell had still been Majority Leader, he all but outright came out and said none of those things would have happened, so good job everyone who turned out for Senate races! Cabinet chatter should probably go in the dedicated thread, but there's other appointments to deal with. (Cabinet thread)
Committee Chairs and their Investigations
Democrats get the chair the various powerful Senate committees, and might actually be able to enforce subpoenas and compel testimony (hopefully no more Quantum Executive Privilege). There should probably be an investigation into how the Capitol coup was allowed to get as bad as it did, and I know Elizabeth Warren would like to speak to Facebook, Twitter, and other social media/tech companies about their effects on our democracy. Who should or should not chair the various committees, and what should their investigation targets be? Personally I was impressed by Sheldon Whitehouse at the Judiciary hearings, and I'd like to see him replace Diane Feinstein as chair of that committee.
Finally one of the reasons I created this thread is to tap into the forum's impressive collective knowledge so I can refine my priorities and arguments when I call my Congressional representatives. This isn't an explicit call to organize for the forum, but hopefully the discussion here helps people who are already active in their contact with Congress.
Some details here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/117th_United_States_Congress
Although it remains incredibly likely Mitch McConnell will block all legislation in the Senate via the filibuster, Dems still get to pass one budget bill via reconciliation per year, as well as chair committees, vet appointees, and investigate pressing matters in the USA.
This thread is to talk about the yearly omnibus bill, other legislation Congress is considering or you think they should consider, hearings for Biden's appointments to the cabinet, other agencies, and judiciary, and committee investigations on matters they are considering or you think they should consider.
Legislation
There's already talk of a 1.9 trillion dollar Covid relief bill, though I'm not sure if this will require reconciliation to get through, which would make it the one bill a year the Senate can pass. Doing Covid relief first is smart in my opinion, since it's the most pressing matter in the country, and doing anything else first, no matter how worthwhile, will be seen as political.
Speaking of political, other things I'd like to see considered:
1. John Lewis Memorial Voting Rights Act
2. Statehood for DC and PR (if they want it)
3. Postal reform including dropping the pension requirement, a short term cash infusion to cover liquidity issues, and setting up postal banking.
4. Equal Rights Amendment. This might be tricky because some states tried to recant their previous ratification, but Constitutionally it's not clear if that counts.
5. Judicial reform. I'm skeptical SCOTUS expansion happens with how narrow the Senate margin is, but I'd still like to see the number of circuits expanded to 15, and a number of new judicial positions created equal to as many Obama had openings that were blocked by Mitch McConnell. Ideally the circuits with Trump appointees would get broken up and diluted with new Biden appointees.
There's a myriad other things I'm sure.
Appointments
Because both GA runoffs went to Democrats, Joe Biden gets to have a cabinet, and otherwise staff the government and fill judicial openings. If Mitch McConnell had still been Majority Leader, he all but outright came out and said none of those things would have happened, so good job everyone who turned out for Senate races! Cabinet chatter should probably go in the dedicated thread, but there's other appointments to deal with. (Cabinet thread)
Committee Chairs and their Investigations
Democrats get the chair the various powerful Senate committees, and might actually be able to enforce subpoenas and compel testimony (hopefully no more Quantum Executive Privilege). There should probably be an investigation into how the Capitol coup was allowed to get as bad as it did, and I know Elizabeth Warren would like to speak to Facebook, Twitter, and other social media/tech companies about their effects on our democracy. Who should or should not chair the various committees, and what should their investigation targets be? Personally I was impressed by Sheldon Whitehouse at the Judiciary hearings, and I'd like to see him replace Diane Feinstein as chair of that committee.
Finally one of the reasons I created this thread is to tap into the forum's impressive collective knowledge so I can refine my priorities and arguments when I call my Congressional representatives. This isn't an explicit call to organize for the forum, but hopefully the discussion here helps people who are already active in their contact with Congress.
Some details here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/117th_United_States_Congress
silence1186 on
0
This discussion has been closed.
Posts
It's a new voting rights act bill. It tries to do a bit much all at once but seems to be doing what it can to stuff the foreign corruption the GOP has been feasting on back into toothpaste tube.
That is pesumably HR 1 from 2 years ago
Last I heard they were renaming it the John Lewis Voting Rights Act or something like that and gonna pass it again.
3DS Friend Code: 3110-5393-4113
Steam profile
There's no real downside to letting fringe Republicans constantly damage their more vulnerable members from the right, I think?
There was a slew of confirmation hearings yesterday.
Someone in another thread mentioned Schumer and McConnell cut a deal about not expanding the judiciary/SCOTUS. Has anyone else heard similar things?
It's also handing McConnell rope. Patience for obstruction is going to be limited.
Switch - SW-7373-3669-3011
Fuck Joe Manchin
Just shovel money into Manchin's state so he'll shut up and stay quiet.
They already killed Paygo for a bunch of things so maybe?
i'm sure it's a total coincidence that as soon as they killed pork spending the entire government stopped being able to function properly
Getting rid of so-called pork was always part of the starve the beast plan and to make lobbyists more powerful.
So-called because the space program was part of that. As were many highway and infrastructure projects. That's not to say there weren't wasteful projects and unnecessary items put into budgets.
However, those things were the best horse-trading program congress had. Lots of tit-for-tat went on under the guise of pork barrel projects.
oh and lack of insane assholes in power.
Democrats Abroad! || Vote From Abroad
But we are so friggin' selfish so.
That was the explicit intent at the time, no?
Pretty much - the people pushing to kill earmarks (at least on the right) knew that killing them would make it harder for leadership to rein in members of Congress and nationalize local offices by removing the largest "local" impact. (Left wing opposition tended to come from "good government" sorts who view political parties as the Root Of All Political Evil.)
I found it telling that the "Bridge to Nowhere" used as the symbol of the evil of earmarks was, in fact, a legitimate piece of infrastructure meant to connect an Alaskan town to the airport that was its connection to the world. The problem wasn't the bridge, but that the late Senator Ted Stevens was using it as a slush fund.
I think one could argue that earmarks were actually a part of keeping the insane assholes out of power. No idea how much of a part but incumbents being able to fend off batshit primary people by saying "here's a list of stuff I got done for you" probably figures in.
It also acts as a way to control guano from elected officials, because leadership could tell them "behave, or your earmarks die on the vine."
I think my "favorite" stupid take on earmarks was someone calling them bribery, and that it was wrong that an incumbent skilled at bringing home earmarks was hard to unseat. It was just a galaxy brained take that made me shake my head.
He talked about how the American people elected a House with a slim Democratic margin, a 50/50 Senate, and a President who made Unity his central theme. The subtext, to me, was obvious: Republicans should get equal say to Democrats in what Congressional bills and business advances, which is to say, if Republicans don't get everything they want, or if Democrats get anything they want, the Senate will grind to a halt.
So expect legislation to be defanged or poison pilled, and if Democrats object to either of those things, the bills will get stonewalled.
Mitch being Mitch.
dare we hope
While welcoming DC and PR to the union.
(Like trying to make lgbt discrimination legal, or Devos attacks on trans kids, https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2021/01/11/donald-trump-cabinet-betsy-devos-transgender-kids-bostock-clayton-county/ or..)
Because Biden can reverse those actions. With the CRA Congress can make them illegal to do again without Congress authorizing it
I mean the ACB nomination should be all the "they did this shit fuck their bullshit." Like McConnel is even making it easy, he's flat out saying I want to fuck the majority. So fuck him.
pleasepaypreacher.net
Come Overwatch with meeeee
They don't have anything to ram through, their "agenda" is not popular enough to win in a filibusterless senate.
If that were true they've had killed it themselves back in 2017.
No, McConnell fucking loves the filibuster. Because the filibuster prevents things from happening, which is his general strategy anyway. And by doing so it allows his party and it's individual members to aggressively message about this or that issue without ever having to go on the record voting it up or down. Which you'll note has been his entire strategy this entire decade. Talk big, never make anyone actually have to take a vote.
I'm not so sure. Remember that the Republican controlled House at the time was a clown party of chaos and nonsense, and couldn't pass shit themselves trying to appease its nutjob lunatics.
When is that gonna change?