r/politics • u/Quirkie The Netherlands • 14h ago
Possible Paywall The Long and Extremely Urgent To-Do List if Democrats Take the House - If House Democrats don’t use every tool at their disposal to name names, kick ass, and stop further destruction, there will be hell to pay with the base.
https://newrepublic.com/article/216138/to-do-list-democrats-take-house164
u/BadgeOfDishonour 13h ago
If the Dems win (that is, they get the votes, and those votes are counted without any meddling), they have to do all of these things not because it might anger their base if they don't, but because there won't be a nation if they don't.
This is looking like the last stop before Shitsville. It might already be too late. The Dems have to pull an 11th hour save out of their butts, or its all over folks.
Here's hoping they find their spines. It's time to be the nation y'all pretend to be in your movies and books.
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u/Vegetable-Error-2068 10h ago
They won't. They'll let the country slide into feudalism while making grandiose promises that "we see you" and "we haven't forgotten you," counting their stacks of money and buying a new house as soon as the cameras are off.
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u/InfinityComplexxx 10h ago
This. Don't get me wrong, Dems NEED to win, and it will be instantly so much better.
But anything less than a united front that includes pitchforks and torches to burn everything that is GOP and MAGA down means we are just delaying the inevitable, full scale reality of fascism. This is basically the last, best chance to reverse course, and punish harshly those that got us here.
I don't think Jefferies or Schumer are remotely close to those people we need to meet this moment.
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u/DukeOfGeek 10h ago
I think looking at districts where better candidates can advance through the primary process is something we do no matter what. Some districts we are lucky to win so run a candidate that can win. Other places we know we can win so look for a real progressive candidate. Vigorous prosecution of MAGA is required not to be primaried.
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u/MagicWishMonkey 9h ago
Guess what? Jefferies and Schumer can easily be replaced, if enough people show up and vote and we get enough new blood in the house and senate those two dipshits will not be the ones running the show.
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u/InfinityComplexxx 9h ago
That is not "easy".
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u/Thors_Goat 9h ago
It's way easier than taking the country back from fascist kleptocrats. Last chance to make a difference doomers.
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u/MagicWishMonkey 8h ago
They literally have an election every session to determine leadership. Both Jefferies and Schumer have to run for their positions again in January, so yes, it is actually very easy.
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u/troyandabedinabed Washington 5h ago
And who votes for leadership? Is it the American people? Or is it the Democrats?
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u/MagicWishMonkey 5h ago
We are a representative democracy, we vote our representatives and they vote for leadership.
This is stuff you should have learned in 3rd or 4th grade. It's not complicated.
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u/InfinityComplexxx 4h ago
I don't think that poster was literally asking how the voting process works. More pointing out that the elected representatives aren't going to defy Dem leadership and go against Jeffries/Schumer, even if the general public in a straight-up, hypothetical vote would like ditch those two. Aka, there's an obvious and pervasive disconnect between the voter's wishes and representative's actions.
Nevermind that people don't cast their vote based on how much a candidate will rebel against party leadership, anyways.
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u/troyandabedinabed Washington 3h ago
I mean, if you really think we're a representative democracy then I've got a bridge to sell you LOL.
But the other commenter was correct that I was pointing out that elected Dems are not going to buck leadership and that you will probably be here in a few months arguing how Jeffries is the best choice.
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u/Hitmanforrent 28m ago
Nah nah we're a representative democracy, just only representative of the upper 2% of wealthy people. For those top 2% congress is much better at addressing their desires. I wonder why that is? 😅
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u/troyandabedinabed Washington 5h ago
This is just not true. A lot of house seats have been gerrymandered so that it will be virtually impossible to flip them. The reality is that in the best case scenario, the Dems have plus 20 in the house and maybe plus 2 in the Senate.
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u/BklynDad 8h ago
Thank you for saying this. I wonder about all the doomsaying on these threads, if these people writing off our democracy are foreign bots or what. There are some amazing candidates running in this cycle (Talarico, El-Sayed, Pastor Hamilton, Rob Sand...not to mention Ossoff) who can help to change the conversation if we're lucky enough to elect them.
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u/MagicWishMonkey 8h ago
We have so many good people who will likely be in congress next January, it pisses me off that ignorant idiots spout their nonsense on reddit without having a single clue how anything actually works.
Jefferies is only the house speaker because he was hand picked by Pelosi, at a time when it was ok to pick any idiot to be a figurehead and things would probably be ok. He's made it very clear he's not up for the moment, he needs to go sit in a corner somehwere and let an actual adult take the helm.
Schumer is only where he is because it was "his turn", again, not the worst thing in the world in normal times, but it's clear we're not in normal times. He needs to go. I'll be shocked if either of them are re-elected once the house and senate convene once the new blood is sworn in. I will be very pissed if either of them are.
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u/MountainMan2_ 7h ago
See, this is where the divide is. People who have given up, people who see this as a last chance, and people who think things are OK as normal. It's like a football team in the fourth down. Some of us are saying punt, some of us are saying field goal, and some of us are saying go for it.
Frankly, we're in overtime. We can't punt this one by voting for conservative Dems. We either have to go for it to turn this thing around or get a field goal by revolt. Everything else is a loss. The Dems are currently bringing out special teams for a punt. That is the sign of a team that's here to lose, and if we don't boo that shit off the field right now, we ain't getting another possession.
In non football terms, if Jeffries is still house speaker in March it's time for the Ides.
(Sorry, my two metaphors are football and rome today.)
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u/MagicWishMonkey 7h ago
I think enough people are pissed off enough at this point that the folks who think this is "business as usual" are vastly outnumbered.
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u/AINonsense 5h ago
People who have given up, people who see this as a last chance, and people who think things are OK as normal.
The last election was the last chance.
The midterms might be a Mulligan, if Musk, Thiel, Pedo Piggy et al haven’t got them in the bag.
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u/Massive_Rate_7555 10h ago
They figured out they fundraise more if they lose. They're like a subscription service to use features of a car you already own. We elected Biden, and suddenly it was no you need to elect Biden again actually to unlock those heated seats. Before anyone says it, no one forced Biden to hire Merrick Garland, Biden told the elites nothing would fundamentally change and he meant it.
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u/Motor_Cat9258 0m ago
Sure blame the dems when its the american public who does not give them a super fucking majority in both houses when the opposition is the trump regime. As an outsider I find it laughable. Give them the power then you can blame them if they fail.
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u/WeirdIndividualGuy 10h ago
See: dems for the last 20+ years
Shoutout to the small window in time during Obama 1 when dems had both houses of Congress, and they decided to do…nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Establishment dems live for the status quo and nothing more. And unfortunately progressive dems don’t/won’t have the numbers to actually get shit done.
Expect at best 2-4 years of dems doing a half-assed job of fixing Trump’s mistakes, while propaganda makes Americans think those mistakes were dem mistakes and they lose Congress by 2030, where republicans wreck the country even further.
America’s whole “one step forward, two steps back” policy with this back and forth between republican and democrat rule has taken its toll. They’ve reached the point where they’ve taken too many steps back, and “one step forward” won’t be good enough.
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u/wookiee42 Minnesota 6h ago
They basically had 59 Democrats + 1 Independent with Joe Liberman.
They could have done so much with 1 or 2 more seats.
It's basically what you saw with Manchin and Sinema. I don't why you would blame all Democrats for them.
Vote in more and you'll get what you want.
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u/troyandabedinabed Washington 4h ago
This is exactly what will happen in the best case scenario for that upcoming election.
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u/Think_Wing_1357 10h ago
This is bullshit and you know it. Obama care is still here and still a critical piece of the safety net.
I didn't really care about Iran deal at the time either but look what happened without it?
And those are just the things I can think of on top of the loo while dodging my boss.
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u/I_am_the_darkness_99 10h ago
Establishment dems live for the status quo and nothing more.
You mean the "status quo" that has delivered almost the highest standard of living in human history? You want to throw that away to try something different?
Tell me, what bill have Democrats voted the wrong way on? What specific policies are they supposedly screwing up so badly?
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u/I_am_the_darkness_99 10h ago
Really? Because Democrats are literally the only people who have stopped MAGA so far.
It's funny, I see people like you constantly criticizing them while you do literally nothing. And I'm guessing your candidates are the leftists in congress who have literally never delivered on one single promise in their entire careers? The ones who have been promising me free healthcare for 50+ years? Then those nasty old far right wing nazis in the Democratic party actually did deliver fantastic healthcare to me that saved my life...
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u/Vegetable-Error-2068 6h ago
Democrats never once stopped Trump.
They enabled him every step of the way. Just like liberals always enable fascists.
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u/AINonsense 5h ago
Democrats never once stopped Trump.
Except in 2020.
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u/troyandabedinabed Washington 5h ago
If by stopping him, you mean allowing him to run in the next election and win again then sure, they did a great job.
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u/AINonsense 4h ago
allowing him to run in the next election
How did the Democrats choose the republican candidate?
They stopped him taking the presidency in 2021. After that, well, here we are. Look, for instance, at what Democrat voters delivered in 2024.
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u/I_am_the_darkness_99 1h ago
I'm assuming by the patently absurd nature of your accusations that you are some sort of leftist? So tell me, did socialists stop trump? Socialists have never flipped a seat from a republican in all of US history.
Liberals defeated Hitler. Liberals got me the healthcare leftists have promised all my life and failed to deliver. Liberals keep fixing the economy. Worldwide, liberal Western social democracies have provided the highest standard of living that has ever existed.
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u/I_am_the_darkness_99 9h ago
Gosh, if only we had voted for Democrats instead of being the world's stupidest voters and claiming they are exactly the same as republicans when that doesn't match reality in any way at all.
We wouldn't be in this position at all. We'd have a progressive SCOTUS instead of this nightmare one. Abortion would be federally legal. None of this stuff with ICE and Border Patrol would be happening.
Us voters who didn't vote for Democrats have ruined the nation and are responsible for the deaths of a massive number of immigrants and others. All because we let propaganda from social media make our choices for us. We made idiotic decisions based on ridiculously impossible purity tests. We did this. We made trump happen, after we already knew what he was.
I cannot fathom being stupid enough to not vote for Democrats today. Our plan to "punish the DNC" for imagined slights just ended up destorying the world. So many immigrants died because leftist like us were hung up on unrealistic and frankly ridiculous ideasl. We were really, really, REALLY stupid. I can't believe I was dumb enough to listen to the endless "leftist" propaganda on reddit and now I'm paying for it by trump destroying everything!!!!
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u/AINonsense 5h ago
Us voters who didn't vote for Democrats have ruined the nation and are responsible for the deaths of a massive number of immigrants and others. All because we let propaganda from social media make our choices for us. We made idiotic decisions based on ridiculously impossible purity tests. We did this. We made trump happen, after we already knew what he was.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
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u/ChicagoThrowaway422 7h ago
I have complete faith that they won't do a fucking thing. I'm still voting for them, because nothing is still better than treason, but that's the choice.
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u/EdenG2 13h ago
Damn effing straight. The entire world is out of kilter because of lack of compassion of the American gop. Only way for us to earn our place back at the table is to visibly take on our own problems harshly loudly clearly permanently. We must never let this return. We are in a new world of tremendous possibility and abundance. The lip service GOP gives to abundance is so clearly lies preparing the groundwork for hoarding. Come on America you can do this.
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u/_Debauchery 13h ago
I want to see a Republican Control Act of 2028 to mirror the Communist Control Act of 1954
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u/Floreat_democratia 10h ago
Get money out of politics and you will have the same outcome. 90% of all of the problems are caused by a failure to reform the campaign finance system.
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u/naththegrath10 13h ago
Nothing will get done if Jeffries and Schumer are re-elected as leaders.
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u/f8Negative 11h ago
Regardless you have that POS from Pennsylvania to deal with who is totally not switching parties
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u/I_am_the_darkness_99 9h ago
The guy who was the absolute darling of this subreddit when primaries were taking place. The guy leftists here said was a man of the people along with Graham Platner and Tulsi Gabbard and Krysten Sinema (remember, she openly bisexual so that makes her super progressive and better than all the other Democrats running!).
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u/mysteryofthefieryeye 12h ago
I'll believe the rhetoric maybe ten years from now. Until then, I've learned to trust no one.
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u/I_am_the_darkness_99 9h ago
Which of your candidates has gotten more done than them?
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u/ss_lbguy Pennsylvania 13h ago
No one is going to be happy with the next Democratic administration because no administration is going to be able to act at the volume needed to address everything.
Destroying things can be done fast. Building things right takes more time.
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u/GreenShinobiX 12h ago
I think a lot about 2010. Two years after a two term GOP administration had left the US in utter ruin. The voters gave the GOP 60+ House seats. I almost lost my mind. I was a young guy just starting to learn about politics. It made no sense. Surely these voters could remember what the situation had been just two years earlier. That election was one of the worst things to ever happen to our country.
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u/ProtectionVirtual225 9h ago
It was an early turning point. DC Dems messed up. They rapidly abandoned the 50 state strategy, then told the states their brilliant new crop of political consultants would come out and run the states midterm election campaigns for them. Just send all the campaign donations to DC Dems and those guys who ran Obama's campaign will take over and run all the local ones.
Then...no one showed up, spent money or did anything until a month before the election day. Shortly after that big loss was the GOP's first majory gerrymandering victory, taking advantage of the census year and massive Dem losses in state and federal districts. In some states, they gerrymandered again after more Dem losses, even though it wasn't a census year. That was the first time I recall seeing them ignore the laws on elections and campaigns. It wasn't the last.
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u/Vegetable-Error-2068 10h ago
That's just not true.
People keep repeating "bad things are fast and good things are slow" because maybe it sounds profound, but really it excuses cowardice.
Good things can be done quick. There just needs to be willpower.
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u/MasterofPandas1 10h ago
Think of it like a house. You can destroy a house in a few days or less with a wrecking ball. It’ll take months to rebuild it. Currently Trump is a wrecking ball and it’ll take time to rebuild everything and also make sure this can’t happen again. Ideally with a President that’s like FDR and a Congress on board with that platform but that’s seeming like a pipe dream at this point.
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u/bb_kelly77 10h ago
Good things can be done quickly but only small scale, on a national or international scale everything is slow
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u/Think_Wing_1357 10h ago
I'd like to hear your plan on rebuilding international relationship and how to do that quickly!
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u/ss_lbguy Pennsylvania 10h ago
Tell me you've never been involved in building anything in your life without telling me you've never built anything.
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u/Truthisnotallowed 9h ago edited 9h ago
When FDR took office in 1933 he knew he had a lot to do also.
FDR knew the consequences of failing to seize the day. A visitor - unidentified in the press - came to him not long after the Inauguration and told him, "Mr. President, if your program succeeds, you'll be the greatest president in American history. If it fails, you will be the worst one." "If it fails," the new president replied, "I'll be the last one."
He fully expected, if his efforts did not succeed the country would be taken over by fascism.
I am afraid our present situation is frighteningly similar. Fascists are not going to disappear when Trump is removed from office. If our government is not successful at eliminating corruption and restoring our democracy, the U.S. is very likely to become a fascist state.
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u/mightcommentsometime California 1h ago
If you want Dems to push FDR sized changes, they’ll need FDR size supermajorities.
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u/Truthisnotallowed 34m ago
At the rate Trump is driving the economy into a ditch - we may just get a disaster that will cause an FDR size supermajority.
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u/m00n55 Texas 13h ago
Not mentioned in the article, but top of my list is replacing ALL the top Democrat leadership, they have already proved themselves to be ineffectual at best, often complicit or worse.
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u/GreenShinobiX 12h ago
I was never the biggest fan of Harry Reid, but goddamn was I pissed when the leadership passed to Schumer. He's useless and always has been. In his prime he was good at media appearances and not much else.
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u/Massive_Rate_7555 10h ago
He's not useless, same as Pelosi he is a fundraiser plain and simple.
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u/I_am_the_darkness_99 9h ago
Nancy Pelosi was literally the most effective Speaker in US history.
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u/negativepositiv 13h ago
Neoliberals: "No, no! For this nation to heal, we need reconciliation. Lower the temperature. We need unity."
Anthony Oliveira, Sept 23, 2020:
"every single day for four years I have thought about Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt gloating that you can dismantle a democracy right in front of a liberal's face piece by piece and all they'll do is convene breakout sessions and committee meetings til the boots are in the halls"
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u/bb_kelly77 10h ago
Because liberals and progressives believe in a civilized human with no need for violence... humans are dirty vicious selfish animals, as far as I'm concerned "civilized human" is an oxymoron
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u/Average-spectacle 10h ago
There is no Dem Project 2026, 2028. They don't have a consistent platform. Any hope rests with the progressives. Look at what Mamdani is doing on a small scale, his ideas and actions are popular. If we rely on Jeffries to coordinate a resistance, then nothing will get done. It's no longer business as usual, it's fuck you politics from this point forward.
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u/poofph 12h ago
Have to get out all the career dems that basically do nothing but pretend to be a good guy/gal, and take money from big corp, look at whitmer in mich who obviously just took some handouts with the bs she is doing lately as she is going out the door. Sure she will try for a senate seat or something next.
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u/LeonTrollski1 14h ago
They should pay hell, as it's going to take 50 years, minimum, to under the damage Trump has inflicted. The world is paying for American intransigence.
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u/Candle-Jolly 12h ago
When was the last time Dems used every tool at their disposal?
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u/SundayShelter 12h ago
When they suppressed Bernie Sanders in the primary.
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12h ago
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u/Vegetable-Error-2068 10h ago
"Anything that makes Democrats look bad is enemy action"
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u/pchs26 10h ago
No - but now that the facts are inconvenient you deflect to making posts that are more and more closer to actual blatant GOP rhetoric, instead of the rhetoric bought and paid for by the GOP and Russians to undermine candidates best positioned to oppose GOP candidates. Awaiting the false equivalency posts.
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u/SundayShelter 12h ago
Touché
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12h ago edited 11h ago
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u/Flobking 3h ago
When was the last time Dems used every tool at their disposal?
2009/10 when they gave us ACA. Since then they haven't had congress and the presidency. And since 2016 they lost scotus completely.
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u/hexcodehero 1h ago
They did not “give” us the ACA. the entire this was written by the GOP
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u/Flobking 1h ago
They did not “give” us the ACA. the entire this was written by the GOP
And who voted it into law? And who didn't cast a single vote for it?
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u/Sweet_Wannd 14h ago
If they waste this chance trying to be bipartisan with fascists, they deserve to lose. Simple.
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u/Hyphen_Nation 13h ago
Oh, we know Jeffries, Schumer, and Fetterman are ready to drink at the trough of lobbying, performative centrism, and generally not being ready for the moment, or up to the task at hand.
I want the dems to show up with a CVS receipt of all the places MAGA showed us could be corrupted in the government, and have a remedy for each.
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u/P1xelHunter78 Michigan 12h ago
I think it’s important to note that Fetterman has been disowned by the Democratic Party and is going to get primaried out ASAP. He even just called himself “a lifelong Republican”.
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u/twovles31 13h ago
Anything they try to pass will get vetoed by Trump. If the House impeaches Trump, unless there is 61 Democrat Senators it wont go through. Investigate everything, turn it over to the DOJ, and DOJ will say naw we won't pursue further.
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u/Important-Factor-552 13h ago
if we get a president again this uprising of christofascists needs to be recognized as a domestic attack on America and we need a total reconstruction to shake the rats out of our government and get all the fascist thugs and foot soldiers onto trial for treason.
And I'm worried that America still isn't taking it seriously. Which means fascism is only going to get worse until they do.
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u/jamerson537 12h ago
Removal requires 67 votes in the Senate, not 60.
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u/GreySoulx 11h ago
We'll need more than 67 dems. There are for sure a hand full of senators on both sides who are essentially owned by billionaires, and they will clock in and do the work of the people 99.99% of the time the way they are expected to - but when something of absolute critical concern for the Epstein class comes to a vote it won't take more than a couple to be sacrificed to prevent something like removing trump from office. Yeah, they might get voted out (maybe), but in the end they will have fulfilled their true obligations to their masters and either be rewarded (doubtful) or discarded but with whatever dark secrets their masters hold safely in the back of a locked closet for the rest of eternity.
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u/jamerson537 11h ago
There’s really no point thinking that much about it, since Democrats won’t come remotely close to having 67 votes.
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u/GreySoulx 1h ago
Not with the current system, no... I like to think there could be a reform and maybe some day.
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u/oldteen 13h ago
Imo, dems should put stuff like this on "media blast"...as another example of this admin being corrupt. Just like with Kegsbreath, expose the cons for what they are. Then, with the added pressure of the midterms, and their results, work towards impeaching/removing each of his corrupt staff that only exist to serve this mob boss. They're in the "home stretch" for committing grifts. They're not interested-in helping the American people.
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u/Aleyla 14h ago
Until we know the outcome, it is hard to give them marching orders beyond: oppose this president and the christian nationalists that are destroying this country at every point.
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u/DarbIey 6h ago
I'm 45. They've been promising this every time, but when the rubber meets the road, its always "aww gee shucks, there's nothing we can do. For some reason there are an exact number of Democrats to vote with Republicans. Be sure to elect us again next election. Maybe we'll do something to stop them."
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u/doublethink_1984 14h ago
Investigations and prosecutions.
I'm sure there is a mountain of whistleblower complaints that have already been given and are being sat on until there is power to do something
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u/MasterTolkien 13h ago
Prosecutions won’t be viable at the federal level until a Dem President is elected in 2028. Trump has corrupt agency heads across the board. The DOJ will tank any prosecutions… or Trump will pardon them… or they will get appealed to SCOTUS somehow, who will at the very least remand the cases to prevent any justice.
Dems simply need to investigate heavily… get everything lined up properly for prosecutions… and then when impartial DOJ, FBI, etc. heads are back in place, they then push for fair and speedy prosecutions at the federal level. This also REQUIRES an expansion of SCOTUS to undo this ridiculous MAGA Court that has been making up rules and law on the fly since Trump’s first term.
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u/ianjm 12h ago
They can use the Inherent Contempt power to put people on trial and potentially imprison them for failing to appear, failing to answer subpoenas, or lying to Congress. This is a trial and conviction vote held entirely inside Congress and it's a simple majority vote.
Bonus, it's outside the President's pardon power.
The DOJ is only involved under Statutory Contempt which is a different power.
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u/jamerson537 12h ago
Who would actually imprison these people and where would they be imprisoned?
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u/ianjm 12h ago edited 11h ago
The Congressional Sergeant-at-Arms office, which is a security force of around 500 people that protects Congress. A DC prison would be used, as the Federal District is ultimately under the authority of Congress.
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u/MasterTolkien 11h ago
In theory, this could work. But with Trump and his corrupt goon squad, there is zero chance. Trump would declare this treason, his followers (who know nothing about anything) would believe him, and Trump would start arresting members of the House.
Also there is the issue of centrist/corporate Dem who would be hesitant for such a bold move. Action needs to be taken, but the root of the poison is in the Executive and SCOTUS right now.
We need Dems and Independents (and the two or three remaining sane GOP) to join up in Congress to stop the bleeding and start the committees/investigations. But they need to White House in 2028 to make lasting change to fix this mess.
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u/jamerson537 11h ago
I’ve never heard of the “Congressional Sergeant-at-Arms service.” Are you talking about the Capitol Police?
500 people sounds like a pretty pitiful number to go up against the combined law enforcement and military personnel of the executive branch. This doesn’t exactly sound like something that can cross the border from imagination into reality.
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u/GreenShinobiX 12h ago
I kind of think the Dems should keep some of it close to the chest. They maybe shouldn't telegraph who they're really going to come down on in 2029, because Trump will just pardon them. For example, Elon Musk almost certainly violated laws with the DOGE stuff. It would be ideal if Trump simply forgot to pardon Musk prior to leaving office.
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u/jgandfeed I voted 10h ago
The only thing they can do is freeze legislation and investigate. They don’t have the votes to impeach anyone or over ride a veto or even get anything past the filibuster
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u/WenRobot 2h ago
Prepare to be disappointed. As much as I would like for all of this to happen, it’s doubtful.
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u/blackyoda 12h ago
Biden just sat on his old ass with his thumbs buried deep in the hole letting trump cement his power and prepare when he should have gone scotched earth. I'm telling you he was in on this where we are at now.
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u/A_Refill_of_Mr_Pibb Massachusetts 11h ago
Well, I’ll put it this way: if the democratic establishment uses the next time they’re in majority office to continue to take donor money, feather their nests, and push for incremental tweaks around the edges leaving the progressives out to dry, and ignoring what the voters care about, we’re gonna end up with a president in 2032 who is a straight up authoritarian the likes of which we can’t conceive of even now who runs on economic populism (where have we seen this before). Then it will be time to try to flee.
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u/CrunchyCds 11h ago
Reminder, Thomas Massie a republican, is the one bringing articles of impeachment against Pete Hegesth. Democrats could have at least been symbolically fighting, by pushing forward bills going against Trump regime's agenda, even whille being in the minority and they decided instead to do nothing.
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u/I_am_the_darkness_99 9h ago
JFC as usual this subreddit is nothing but intentional disinformation.
Democrat Yassamin Ansari submitted articles of impeachment against Hegseth. Dems always do things then thousands of redditors like you spend their entire week lying about it to hurt them. Why is that? Why do you treat lying about Democrats like it's a job?
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u/Vegetable-Error-2068 10h ago
That is their function.
Give the illusion of progress, while counting their money and protecting the misery engine that powers this country.
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u/I_am_the_darkness_99 9h ago
Oh really. Because Democrats gave me fantastic healthcare that saved my life. They forgave billions in student loans. They made weed legal in all blue states. They got us half a trillion dollars to fight climate change. They created the CFPB that has stopped tens of billions of dollars in corporate fraud. They fixed the entire nations infrastructure with high paying union jobs that are still keeping the economy afloat today (barely though, given what we let happen by refusing to vote for Kamala for the world's dumbest reasons).
Tell me. Who do you support that has done more for me than Democrats? I can't think of a single leftist who has done something to make my life better, for example...
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u/Important-Factor-552 13h ago
We went thru this with biden.
It is time for them to pay hell. Get these rotten maga moles out of the way
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u/AINonsense 13h ago
Count those chickens, over and over.
People say hubris, I say hooey. What could possibly go rong?
Srsly.
Get everyone you know to check their registration and vote. Vote early. If you use a postal vote, take it to a drop box. Do not trust the USPS.
Get everyone you know to do the same with everyone they know.
Focus especially hard on non-voters, the ‘maybe’ voters, the ‘protest’ voters, the ‘send-a-message (from the couch)’ voters and the waverers. Do whatever it takes to get them out and into the polling booths.
Get them to vote early, too.
Vote.
Vote, vote, vote.
VOTE
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u/AndorianBlues 12h ago
If you're making a lot of money from being a career politician, why exactly would you want win the majority and do the hard work?
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u/Floreat_democratia 10h ago
Nixon, Reagan, Bush. Nobody changed a thing, and their policies are still active.
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u/ThrowingTonsils 9h ago
We just need to get Dems back in a powerful majority. This is why I no longer abide hard-left whinging over their pet issues and "22~ out of hundreds of Dem reps saying things we don't like so let's burn it all down," bullshit, when this entire nation is at stake. I will not be bothered on a single progressive issue again until we retake a majority.
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u/marsisblack 8h ago
Sure, because dems are ruthless? Phhtt. Theyll screw themselves over, they try to be bipartisan with a group that wants them dead, theyll fight amongst themselves, they won't want to piss of the republicans and theyll do nothing. Theyll then complain how hard it is to govern because the gop isnt nice.
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u/rahul91105 6h ago
I want democrats to rule with same impunity with which Trump and his cronies do.
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u/Sagefox2 6h ago edited 6h ago
Okay but Donald JOHN Trump has the power of veto so other than lame ducking the president they can't do much. Which I'm voting because if he isn't a lame duck president everything is cooked. But that isn't enough for reddit.
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u/Fartenstein65 6h ago
Independent here. I so badly want to believe the Democrats will go on a tear and make things right but I feel there are still way too many establishment Democrats that will stop it from happening because their billionaire owners will stop them. Please prove me wrong Dems.
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u/cAnDYmanBMF Europe 13h ago
Unfortunately, if they want results fast, the only way would be by taking a page from Tramp's book and bypass at least some of the democratic processes, but I'm not sure that's the best way to or that it wouldn't further diminish trust in the American democracy around the world.
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u/gplusplus314 12h ago
We need chaotic good. When the law is broken, don’t let the law get in the way of doing the right thing.
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u/ianjm 12h ago edited 12h ago
Congress doesn't control any agencies so they don't really have any equivalent of an Executive Order they can use to tell an agency to do something, whether or not that thing is illegal.
What they could do is use the Inherent Contempt power to throw people in jail if they fail to appear, lie or don't reply to a subpoena. Inherent Contempt does not rely on the DOJ, Congress holds the power directly. Plus conviction is a trial held in Congress with a simple majority vote to convict.
Bonus, it's outside the President's pardon power.
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u/GreySoulx 11h ago
But don't they have very limited means to enforce this off Capitol grounds? Congress doesn't really have their own police force or the power to arrest people, so how do they actually accomplish this in practice?
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u/alabasterskim 9h ago
Don't the folks that actually enforce the contempt come from DoJ though?
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u/eat_my_ass_n_balls 11h ago
Trust and respect for American democracy can’t get any lower
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u/cAnDYmanBMF Europe 11h ago
With Trump in charge? It most definitely can, though I don't relish the thought.
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u/Churchbushonk 13h ago
No. They need to get to work and expunge the SCOTUs of members taking money from people and organizations they sit on cases for.
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u/Simple-Truth9822 10h ago
They won’t. They never do. They talk big prior to elections then do absolutely nothing. They had 4 years to prosecute 1/6 and did nothing. Feckless do nothings.
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u/Junior_Wrap_2896 14h ago
I'd love to see Dems step up to the plate and clean house.
Not gonna hold my breath though.
What do they say about the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing, expecting different results.
Really hope Dems will prove me wrong this time.
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u/Important-Factor-552 13h ago
Oh they will clean house alright.. Problem is they go after what's left of our representation instead of their fascist pedo colleagues.
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u/IGetBoredSometimes23 13h ago
Yep. They did it for four years under Biden and that's why they lost.
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u/BearTimberlands 11h ago
That’s right. All of this is the dems fault. The GOP never deserve and blame or accountability. They are expected to be a monolithic party but the big tent democrats are the true villains. I know, maybe we should elect fewer of them again to show them a message. We’re willing to die before we accept 50% of what we want. /s
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u/Visual-Slip-4750 12h ago
I certainly hope so. If it is the same dem leadership imo, that shows they too have been screwing around, intend to keep inside stock trading and will not name names on the Trump/Epstien files. Clark the whip is not to be trusted. She is a clone of Pelosi. I wonder how her stock portfolio is doing. Left the dem party in Mass as the dems party here has used dirty and untruthful ads in the past and they eat their own. WAF’d!
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u/GreenShinobiX 12h ago
"Advice and consent." If Dems take the Senate, the Judiciary Committee should not move one single judicial nominee out of committee for two years. Just a complete shutdown of confirmations at the district and appellate levels. Obviously no SCOTUS justice would be confirmed.
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u/pchs26 12h ago
Ensure everyone has ballots in their hands for the general /preserving oversight of our voting structures. our economy, righting the job loss ship so people aren't faced with absolute life altering devastation. Public health, we have an actual shot that can prevent the organ damage and other horribly unique issues with catching covid, that needs to be prioritized in 2027 that everyone who wants it can getting vaccinated to protect them and their family from the insanity.
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u/Memory_Less 12h ago
Hell to pay!? If laws are not changed and systems improved they will allow a worst version in the future. Yes, they must use every legal means to go after the illegality of the GOP, Epstein files and everyone connected etc.
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u/ObscurePaprika 11h ago
It’ll just be another roll-over shit show and talk about how “it’s time to heal the divide and for all of us to come together as Americans.”
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u/kinkgirlwriter America 11h ago
Court reform is job 1.
Also, this article is a bit of a mess. You don't answer "What do we do now?" with a general statement:
Second, and related, with Democrats holding a sizable piece of power in Washington, the failures of policy driven by the reckless Trump and his administration could be blamed on them—and it is a sure thing that hundreds of millions will be spent by Trump allies to try to pin the problems on the Democrats. Americans already think Washington isn’t working; if it looks like Democrats are a part of the problem and not of the solution, that could have brutal consequences in 2028.
Second, the sky is blue is not a to-do list item...
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u/EdieVv 10h ago
Dems Knew about Project 2025. They had 40 years to come up with a counter plan, and Didn't. Instead, they worked across the aisle. I've watched the entire political spectrum shift far right over the last 45 years. The only candidates that can pull it back to true center are the Progressive/ Dem Socialist candidates. I will be voting, and I will vote for any Dem or Ind over MAGA. HOWEVER, That does not end the fight. WE need to keep pressure on those corporate Dems after the election. Constantly. Calling their offices, showing up to town halls, emailing them...etc..etc., EVERY DAMN DAY to let them know that we won't let them status quo their way through. None of us can afford to travel extensively to put pressure on in person, but they hear from Millions of us Every Day, it will have an impact. Chuckie Schumer and Hakim Jeffries are both running as leaders agsin. That can't happen, and a good place to start.
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u/Sudden_Party_7918 10h ago
If they try to go back to what they consider norms, we need a plan to protest and when I say protest I mean millions daily. Organizing should be happening now. They will not be able to ignore us when 2028 is right around the corner. We must demand new leadership.
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u/Red_Carrot Georgia 8h ago
Pass an actual budget, one with every thing that would be popular. Who cares if it is unrealistic since Trump will never sign it.
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u/Aurora_Gaspipe Washington 8h ago
Joe Biden knew he had a lot to do, then he went ahead and picked Merrick Garland for AG.
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u/NocturneSapphire 7h ago
Did they use every tool at their disposal in 2020?
Was there hell to pay with the base?
The answer to both questions is "no".
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u/Question_It_All_3000 6h ago
I doubt it. I will just be told they’re better than the alternative and to vote for them anyways.
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u/Scary_Mountain130 6h ago
No. Our jobs are the things we do to make a living. The Democratic Party spends literally billions of dollars to win elections. Their consultants are highly paid. It is their job to put forward candidates that will motivate people to get out and vote. Kamala lost because people stayed home. There was no democratic primary process. When there is one, they put their fingers on the scale for their preferred neoliberal who isn’t a danger to the donors.
I voted. You voted. We’re engaged. You can’t blame the unengaged who have learned that life keeps getting worse regardless of who wins. Voter blaming ensures we will continue to lose because the party refused to look inward and reevaluate if their policies are even popular anymore.
They aren’t. And research shows that popular support has about a 20% influence on policy where elite and capital support has an 80% influence regardless of party. If you’re going to argue that voting solely our responsibility you need to explain how we’re going to reverse that rule.
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u/Z_tinman 5h ago
2008 all over again. How many people who caused the worldwide financial crisis were put in prison? One.
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u/A_Nonny_Muse 4h ago
Isn't it getting to be about time for Nancy Pelosi to take impeachment off the table... again?
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u/CrawlerSiegfriend 2h ago
At this point I'll be happy if they just completely freeze the government in place and block absolutely everything until Trump is out of office.
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u/giantroboticcat New Jersey 13h ago
Anti-corruption bills is the only meaningful thing Dems can really try to push for that has a chance to bypass a veto.
I don't care about investigations that go nowhere. The economy is obviously worthwhile but until Dems control the presidency, nothing meaningful can really happen on that front beyond stopping the bleed.
But I think Republicans would be a bit hesitant to come out against anti-corruption bills. But with that said there are Democrats who are engaging in their own corruption so it's not something I really expect, just something I wish would happen.
I'd like to see the FBI actually funded and tasked with investigating and indicting politicians and corpo execs for white collar crime the way our street police go after drug dealers.
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u/MilliesBuba 12h ago
Putting Democcrats in charge of congress is a first step but I am afrid that the effect of this is being oversold. They can halt passing Trumps legislative agenda but much of that is not being passed now anyway. They can have all the hearing they want and I hope they do, but what happens ehen they issue sup subpoenas and no one shows up? Well, they refer that person to the DOJ and guess where that's going to go. So people who expect things to change immediately will be disappointed leading back to the idea that Democrats won't do anything when, in fact, they still won't have the power to really do anything until 2028.
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u/jmarinara Pennsylvania 4h ago
There absolutely will be hell to pay. It will be the end of the Democratic Party. People like me are voting, volunteering, and donating because we want action and accountability for the fascists. If we don’t get it, I assure you we’ll go elsewhere.
That said, we do have to be reasonable. Not everything can be a top priority and there is a limit to the power we’ll have. But what we can do, we must, and what we can’t do we must push for the power to do.
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u/PopBulky7023 3h ago
They need to use every possible tool. All of them, all the time to maximum effect. And they need to actually do politics and make a scene of it and make people feel like their vote translates to something.
I didn't switch over from voting republican for some mealy mouthed centrist platitudes.
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u/Zestyclose_End_7526 2h ago
Narator: they won’t do shit. DNC and democratic leadership will hem and haw about how their hands are tied and they can’t get anything positive/things that improve Americans lives. But will make sure that Isreal gets billions of weapons
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u/NimusNix 10h ago
Which base? The whiny one online or their voters and volunteers who show up hell or high water? Because they are not the same.
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u/SchroedingersWombat 8h ago
Jeffries needs to go away.
Shumer needs to go away.
This is not a time for half-measures by weak leaders.
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u/Patterhead02 8h ago
Yes, raise taxes and bring in illegals to spend our tax money. Real strategic stupid.
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