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Joe Biden Presidency


Lazarus

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Biden to appointees: I'll fire you if you treat someone with disrespect. In his remarks to over a thousand of his appointees, President Joe Biden laid out what he expects from them and what kind of administration he will have.

 

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The Republicans and indeed McConnell have no interest in helping Biden in any way, even if the Republican base is for a given policy. The vast majority of Americans wanted the COVID relief package including taxpayer financial aid, and the majority of Republican voters agreed. Not a single R in Congress voted for it, though several went back to their states to claim credit for the same bill.

At any rate, Biden needs to act, which means that executive orders isn't the way to do it--EOs are within existing law. So, new laws must be passed by Congress, and the problem is the filibuster in the Senate. Either it has to be reformed--make it for 41 Senator to bock a bill, not how it is now that 1 blocks it and 60 are needed to overcome the filibuster. Or, scrap it altogether.

It is essential for Biden and the Dems to pass laws and they have very little time to do it, IF they have a chance to retain their majority in Congress after the 2022 midterm elections. Usually the party in power loses seats, and the Dems have thin majority in the House and 50-50 split in the Senate.

I say screw McConnell's tear jerkers about traditions and norms. He's a big hypocrite. But, Biden seems to have learned from Obama's mistakes trying to pursue bipartisanship, AND, I think, the times have changed. Most Dems believe compromise and delays will get them defeats as it happened under Obama and in 2016.

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On 1/21/2021 at 3:51 PM, Lazarus said:

Biden to appointees: I'll fire you if you treat someone with disrespect.

"I will drone bomb Syria and support an aerial spray of glyphosate in Colombia but if you dare challenge anyone who has the same beliefs as I do, you will lose your job".

When will people understand that none of these people (on either side) are working for us?

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The problem in all of this is that if you get rid of the filibuster, than you set bad precedents.  The republicans in the Senate were elected by the people, you can't discount their votes.  The best case scenario is if the two moderate democratic senators align with some moderate republicans and pass legislation that is agreeable for all.

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9 hours ago, Brklyngrk said:

The problem in all of this is that if you get rid of the filibuster, than you set bad precedents.

The filibuster has no place in a modern representative democracy. It's an archaic process in the US Senate and has been overly abused by both parties over the years. For those that don't know what 'filibuster' is (our members outside the US), here's a link: Wikipedia.

Elections have consequences and the winning party has to govern according to the wish of the people that elected them. That's what having a majority is about. 50%+ 1 gives one the majority. The minority should have a voice and present it for discussion and consideration.

Bipartisanship is achieved by two parties cooperating - the winning party sets the tone of discussion in the particular branch of government. The minority party brings up its arguments and own proposals for discussion and to make the public aware of where it stands. One party refusing to participate in governing - with the sole goal of accusing the other party of failing in legislating - is not what legislating and bipartisanship is about. Although it it what it has become. Which makes it the appropriate to change, the appropriate time to move forward.

The Democratic party will have to live with the consequences of doing away with the filibuster if and when the Republican party gains majority in the Senate.

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Well, there is an existential issue for both political parties: the new Voting Rights Act.  The Republicans' officially signed off as the anti-democracy party by passing or will be passing state laws throughout the country to implement Jim Crow-era voting restrictions. If they succeed, the Dems will be out of power in many states and very probably Congress and the White House.

Biden has realized that the filibuster has to go if he and his party will have a chance to compete in much of the country. So the Voting Rights Act has to pass by Congress.

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