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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Democrats screwed up from '09-'15
After Obamas big 2008 victory we let the minority Republicans and blue dog Democrats dictate things in the name of bipartisanship....that resulted in a watered down economic relief package and a watered down health care plan....also the minority Republicans held up everything in the Senate to include federal judicial nominees with so called blue slips, but the Democrats thought that this was Democracy in action and let their colleagues from the other side do it....and when the Republicans finally took over in 2015 that was the ball game
tman
(983 posts)Okay, but I'm more interested in looking forward.
Lets learn and move on.
Statistical
(19,264 posts)If we actually manage to pull off the trifecta (House, Senate, Presidency) it will only be for a short while. Inevitably the GOP will eventually retake at least the senate. So hopefully there isn't this lets work together and include the Republicans. They don't work in good faith. They will bid their time until they have the trifecta and then slam through what they want on party lines.
d_b
(7,462 posts)regnaD kciN
(26,044 posts)When the Republicans and their Blue Dog allies carried on all-out war that forced the Obama administration to water down its proposals, we chose to send a message of disapproval by staying home for the 2010 and 2014 midterms. The result? The first one cost us the House, and the second one the Senate. Reverse those two and, even if Trump had prevailed four years ago, he would have been blocked by a solid Democratic Congress. Make no mistake the plight were in today can be traced directly to our unwillingness to turn out in 2010 and 2014 every bit as much as 2016.
Proud liberal 80
(4,167 posts)Demsrule86
(68,469 posts)his seat. If we are to hold the Senate and the presidency, we need a big tent which means if you don't take blue dogs, liberals and moderates all into account. you won't win and won't hold anything. This is not Obama's fault nor Ginsberg's . It is unfortunate that Obama was unable to appoint her seat in 13 or 14 before we lost the Senate. But the real culprits are those on the left who even with an aging Court, sobbed but 'her emails' and voted Stein, stayed home or wrote in someone instead of voting for Hillary.
The Green left has done damage before causing endless wars, Katrina, an economic debacle after helping elect Bush, but this time they have really weakened the country...and done dreadful harm. They should be shunned by all progressives. The Greens should be named the Greens$...all about the money for them. This same group were whining about Obama in 10 and 14 and 'helped' with the loss of the house and later the senate...that is the truth. The reality is because some on the left (Greens)refused to consider courts in their votes from 2000 on and particularly in 2016. we are in a position not only to lose Roe But Brown and other hard fought victories including the ACA, Medicare, Social Security, Food Stamps...the list goes on and on. I can't wrap my head around horror of this moment.
But one thing, we need to do is move on quickly. Now is the time for action. We can't allow Trump to make this about the courts...it must continue to be about Trump's failures.
Proud liberal 80
(4,167 posts)Demsrule86
(68,469 posts)former9thward
(31,941 posts)The votes were there. Reid changed the rules in November, 2013 on a 52-48 vote to eliminate the filibuster for executive branch appointments and judicial nominations except for the Supreme Court. Three Democrats joined the Republicans in opposition. The votes were there.
Demsrule86
(68,469 posts)Your timeline is wrong. We lost the house in 10 thus in 13 we didn't have the house. Thus no legislation was possible. As for the courts I am on record as saying Ginsberg should have retired before we lost the Senate in 14...so you see it would not have mattered.
DIVINEprividence
(443 posts)After the abuse of power we have seen from Trump and the backlash, what is considered the center for Democrats is much more left than 2008. The George McGovern and Carter losses traumatized the Democrats for decades. Different ballgame now, at least I hope
Demsrule86
(68,469 posts)no more message voting or purity test. Until we show party loyalty, the GOP will continue to beat us...we could lose Brown...wrap your head around that one.
doc03
(35,296 posts)agreed not to let him pass anything.?
FoxNewsSucks
(10,422 posts)When Moscow Mitch refused to even hold meetings with, much less a hearing for, Merrick Garland, Obama should have immediately recess-appointed him. Then the story would have been how republicons removed Garland to install their stooge Gorsuch. And if they hadn't been successful in stealing the presidency from Clinton she would have been able to appoint him permanently.
Instead, even if it's not the case it appeared that Democrats just gave up and said OK.
Not trying can be worse than trying but being thwarted. One reason Pelosi is respected is because she did get a lot passed in the House (even though it is not publicized as much as it should be). She knew Moscow Mitch would vote on nothing, but still made the effort.
Demsrule86
(68,469 posts)you should consider all the facts. As for not trying. The way our government works if the Senate refused a hearing, our hands were tied.
BumRushDaShow
(128,492 posts)That's not how the "recess appointment" works. You can only do it if the Senate is truly "in recess" and ever since Shrub recess-appointed someone as odious as John Bolton to the U.N. Ambassador post during a 2006 Senate recess (just after the general election where Democrats had just won back the House after 12 years out of power), the Senate has NEVER gone into a "hard" recess since.
I.e., they hold "Pro-forma sessions" (even when lame ducks) where a couple volunteer (Senate majority party) Senators will appear, gavel into session for "Morning Business", and then "go into a recess subject to the call of the chair" (i.e., not adjourned). And then wash, rinse, 3 days later, ad infinitum.
The whole idea of a "Pro-Forma session" being considered "not in recess" was even taken to court when Obama challenged it by recess-appointing members to the NLRB and the chair of the CFPB. Eventually the SCOTUS struck down the ability for a President to do that while those "Pro-Forma sessions" were underway.
Posted Thu, June 26th, 2014 3:13 pm
Court strikes down recess appointments: In Plain English
With only four decisions remaining when the Justices took the bench today, we knew we would have to get something good: all four decisions had the potential to be blockbusters. And we did indeed, starting with a unanimous declaration by the Supreme Court that the president violated the Constitution in 2012 when he appointed three commissioners to the National Labor Relations Board during a brief recess of the Senate. Lets talk about the decision and what it means in Plain English.
As unlikely as it sounds, the Courts decision in National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning was its first pronouncement on the scope of the presidents power to make recess appointments. And the Courts opinion was a mixed bag for both sides. Noel Canning, the soft-drink bottling company challenging the presidents recess appointments to the NLRB, and the conservative and business groups that supported it certainly regarded it as a victory in the sense that the specific recess appointments at issue were deemed invalid. But the president and his supporters could also declare victory, at least to a point: the Court upheld his power to make other recess appointments as long as they are made during recesses that last at least ten days.
<...>
The Court then turned to the third and final question presented in the case: whether the Senate can prevent the president from making recess appointments even during its longer recesses by holding pro forma sessions that is, sessions at which no work actually gets done every three days. The Court answered that question in the affirmative, rejecting the federal governments argument that the pro forma sessions are, in essence, just a sham to thwart the presidents recess appointments powers. In the Courts view, all that matters is whether the Senate says it is in session and could at least in theory conduct business, which is possible (even if unlikely) at the pro forma sessions.
<...>
But what about other recess appointments in the future? The short answer is that it really will depend on which parties are in power. Right now Democrats control both the White House and the Senate. With the decision by Senate Democrats back in November to invoke the nuclear option which allows them to confirm the presidents nominees with a simple majority the president currently doesnt need to use recess appointments to fill judgeships or senior positions in the executive branch. But that could change if the Republicans gain control of the Senate this November (a prospect that many believe is increasingly likely): a Republican Senate could not only block the presidents nominees, but prevent the president from making recess appointments by ensuring that it never recesses for more than a few days. And, of course, the shoe could be on the other foot if after the 2016 elections the Democrats were to control the Senate but lose the White House. So even if the presidents recess appointments power may not factor into many voters decision-making process, it certainly could hang in the balance in the next two elections.
https://www.scotusblog.com/2014/06/court-strikes-down-recess-appointments-in-plain-english/
Generic Brad
(14,272 posts)The old ways didn't work then and they most certainly won't work now. And under the current system, the Republicans overreached. I am expecting unprecedented blowback and massive societal change coming out of all this.
Autumn
(44,982 posts)bipartisanship things may very well have been different.
Demsrule86
(68,469 posts)was that...he never recessed until he won the Senate back. You know what might have been different if the so called purity message voters had Obama's back in 10 and 14.
Autumn
(44,982 posts)those voters out to vote. IMO an over abundance of bipartisanship has is what cost us. People like to know that the politicians they vote for has their backs. That's what the Republicans do, they rile up their base with non existent crap and pretend they are doing things for their base to solve those non existent issues.