Patience Is Truly a Virtue! President Biden Needs Our Patience.

[MineralMan]

And so do our Democratic House representatives and Senators.

Right now, a Covid Relief and Budget Bill is making its way through Congress. We all know what we want it to contain, but we should also realize that some of the things we want may need to wait for a later bill to be introduced. What we need, in fact, is for the main parts of the bill to become law right away. If that doesn't happen, due to stubbornness or insistence on getting everything we want Right F-ing Now, we just might get none of what we want.

That's the nature of Congress, especially when the Senate is equally divided, even with the help of our Vice President.

As far as I know, none of us on DU are in Congress, nor have ever been in Congress. Because of that, we have only a partial understanding of how bills make it through the congressional process.

So, let's try our patience a little and see what happens, now or later. The reward for that will be getting almost all of what we want, instead of little of what we want. That's Congress for you.

[lettucebe]

1. Thank you for this! I've been listening to the "why hasn't this happened yet" narrative with dismay.

It's been less than a month and even some here have asked why hasn't he done this or that yet. Seriously? These things take time. I'm pretty sure the Democrats in the House and Senate know what they are doing.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. Hear, hear.

Getting a little tired of "Why hasn't Biden done ___________ yet???!!11?" along with "What's wrong with the Democrats, they haven't passed the legislation we want; they're so weak!!!!" Old saying: "Those who love the law and sausage should watch neither being made." That is, it's messy, complicated and sometimes not quite what you started out with. It's been three weeks. Nothing in Congress happens that fast.

[MineralMan]

4. Yes. For the most part, we watch Congress in action without

really seeing how it works. And how it works is slowly, almost always. Few people pay much attention to the actual process, and that's a pity. This is what Parliamentary Rules are all about. Congress has its own rules, and they are complicated and sometimes difficult to understand unless you follow the process regularly.

They're designed to give everyone a voice in the process. Even the dimmest bulb in Congress gets to light up and say something, pretty much always. It can seem cumbersome, old-fashioned, and awkward at times, but without that parliamentary process, nothing at all would ever get done.

Most members of Congress and Senators never actually read the bills they're voting on. They rely on their staffs to tell them what's in the bills. Then, everyone wants to add amendments that make them look good to their constituents. There's also a lot of "I'll vote for your amendment if you vote for mine" stuff going on as well.

The party whips and their staffs in both houses are constantly counting votes and feeling the pulse of their caucuses. They're putting out fires and setting new ones to keep things moving, because without the system, there would be no bills passed at all.

We don't watch all of that, because it's downright boring. Most of the time, there's hardly anyone in the House or Senate chambers. Whoever is speaking is speaking to an empty room most of the time. C-Span shows the speaker, not the audience. All of the real business is done in committees and in the offices of the members.

We don't know what goes on, and we don't really understand the process very well at all.

[Ohio Joe]

3. But... It's been weeks!!! Why is everything not fixed yet!!!

Sheesh

[MineralMan]

5. I know. I mean, really!

A couple of times a month, I turn on C-Span and watch it for several hours straight. More boring television does not exist on this planet. And yet, that is Congress at work.

[Corgigal]

6. I think he's doing fine.

Actually, faster then I thought he could.

Now, if I can find out he rolled back the bear hunting ( murder), inside their dens with the babies, I would feel better. This was a true own the libs legislation, that still bothers me daily.

[Mister Ed]

7. Patience? I can scarcely keep up with all he's accomplishing!

"Sleepy Joe", indeed.

[Kaleva]

8. Biden, Pelosi and Schumer are moving along just fine IMHO.