We're Screwed

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/10/bet-on-a-gop-senate-majority-112329.html#.VFGSyIpHbv4

Well maybe a 2014 GOP victory make a 2016 Dem victory more likely. But I doubt it. Not with Hillary running.

I got this Move On mass e-mailing featuring Joan Jett talking about women's reproductive rights.

Quote :

Holy smokes. The right-wing is medieval. It just cannot be in charge. Come on. This election is ours to win, if we do the work. Will you make get-out-the-vote calls today?  

Yes, I'll Sign Up!
Dear MoveOn member,

If this weren't an email, I'd lay out my full—uncensored—fury at Republicans and right-wing forces that hold women down, keep us subservient.

But it is an email, so I'll say my piece as politely as I can: This election is ours to win, if we do the work.

As I see it, politicians make laws that put women's bodies and our paychecks into their hands.

But we're not just a voting group to be courted by ad execs. Women, and the men who stand with us, are the majority.

And when we show up and vote, women win.

Come on. Right now. If you want to prevent a Republican takeover of the U.S. Senate, sign up with MoveOn right now.

Will you help get out the pro-women vote on November 4?

Yes, Joan. I'm in.

Let me give you three good reasons to be outraged:

From 2011 to 2013, there were more laws passed to limit women's reproductive rights than in the previous decade.1
Senate Democrats have brought the Paycheck Fairness Act to the Senate floor four times since 2011, and every single damn time the act has come up for a vote, Republicans have blocked it.2
And, if you're not swinging from a light fixture yet, I'm here to tell you that there are Senate candidates who could win who are against access to birth control, paid family sick leave, and the Violence Against Women Act—and they don't take seriously the issues of rape and domestic abuse.
Holy smokes. They're medieval. They just cannot be in charge. In a second, they'll be dragging out the stocks.

We should be on the streets, pounding on GOP doors, demanding the equality and dignity that are due to us.

And I'm with you, raising my voice with yours.

But right now, our fight is at the ballot box, and our common work is voter turnout.

Come on. Click this link. Please. Do it.

MoveOn's got voter turnout all figured it out. When you sign up, you'll call progressive voters whom they've identified as unlikely to vote unless they have a call from you. Yes, you.

Midterm turnout is historically low. But MoveOn members are changing that with millions of person-to-person calls. Your actions right now will help decide who controls the Senate.

There are roughly 80 hours between now and when the polls close on Election Day. I need you to give three of those hours to MoveOn. I'll be so grateful when you do.

Because if you care about women's rights to control our own bodies and our own paychecks, then you've just got to care about this midterm election.

Please. Sign up now. Don't sit this one out.

And when you sign up, click this link and dance around your room to a video I made with friends. Because you're fighting back. And you're totally awesome.

Better yet, get everyone you know to call with MoveOn and dance together.

And think of me dancing with you.

Thanks for all you do.

–Joan Jett*

P.S. As you might know, I relish my "bad reputation" as an outspoken woman artist. If I had a bat large enough, I'd bust us right through the glass ceiling that sits on women's heads. In making the video I hope you watch, I realized that I have something better and more powerful than a giant bat: I'm a woman, and I have a vote to cast. Join me today in reaching more of our sisters.

Frankly I dont understand why the Dems haven't played this card more strongly -- women's rights are under assault all over the country, and if they can get out the vote they're a substantial demographic.

Democrats are normally quite good at governing, but lousy at getting elected.
Republicans, on the other hand, are very good at getting elected, but have little or no ability - or even interest - in governing.

Which is odd because elections are won by getting a majority of votes, and the conservative right* will always be a minority.



* - I make a distinction here between "Republicans" and "the conservative right" because they weren't always synonymous. Dems and liberal left either.

"elections are won by getting a majority of votes"

Well, yes and no.

In 2012, there were more votes cast for Democratic Representatives across the country, but the Republicans won 33 more House seats than the Democrats did.

More than once, the presidential candidate won with a majority of the electoral votes but less of the popular votes.

Having two Senators from each state gives an advantage to the small states; control of the Senate requires far less than a majority of the nationwide popular votes.

Gerrymandering and voter-suppression laws (no matter what they are called) distorts the population's desired outcome.

So, while vote-counting may determine the outcome of single elections, the meaningful results - who controls government - is determined by electoral lunacy and reprehensible maneuvering.

Quote :

The biggest criticism of the electoral vote system is that it is possible for a presidential candidate to win the popular vote and lose the electoral vote. That is, more Americans voted for the candidate but he or she still lost. While this is rare, it has happened 4 times:
* George Bush (electoral vote winner) vs. Al Gore in 2000: Al Gore won the popular vote by 543,816 votes
* Benjamin Harrison (electoral vote winner) vs. Grover Cleveland in 1888
* Rutherford B. Hayes (winner) vs. Samuel J. Tilden in 1876: Tiden won the popular vote by 264,292 votes
* John Quincy Adams won the electoral vote in 1824 but lost the popular vote to Andrew Jackson by 44,804 votes in 1824

and I don't count the Bush win because of the kerfuffle in Florida.

After the 2012 election, a lot of Republicans started pushing for states to change their electoral college vote allocation from winner-take-all to assigning EC votes by Congressional district results. Had the votes been allocated that way, Romney would have won the election, with Obama still having a significant majority of the popular vote.

Time to get rid of the electoral college. It was a stupid idea from the start.

Nothing's gonna change the rules as long as the Republicans hold the House, Senate and the majority of state legislatures and governorships. They'll have to fuck up big time, probably another Great Depression before power shifts enough to restore democracy.

Good video on the history of federalism:

http://www.diffen.com/difference/Anti-Federalist_vs_Federalist

Yep, the nation got screwed last night.  I just hope it doesn't fuck up my retirement plans -- the rest of the world can go to hell as far as I care.

Now that the Republicans are on the hook for fixing all the shit they broke, and have nobody they can blame if this DOESN'T happen, it should be entertaining if nothing else.

The Republicans always blame someone else for their hideous fuck ups, no matter who has control.

The fact that you're near retirement should give you pause about a right-wing power grab. The Republicans would love to eliminate Social Security and Medicare.

I will never understand how so many people can vote for these assholes who have ideologies which are directly opposed to the policies that those same voters need. In-fucking-credible.

Well I hate to say it but I guess we are assuming too much intelligence on the part of the average voter.

I suspect what goes through their minds is something more akin to:

OBAMA BLACK OBAMA BAD OBAMA STEAL MA GUNZ

Quote :

"The Republicans, of course, have turned against Obama, and the Democrats have also turned against Obama...Gas under $3 a gallon. Unemployment under 6% -- whoever thought? Stock market breaking records every day. No wonder the guy is so unpopular."

—
David Letterman

NoCoPilot wrote:

Frankly I dont understand why the Dems haven't played this card more strongly -- women's rights are under assault all over the country, and if they can get out the vote they're a substantial demographic.

Because you actually have to give a shit all the damn time to do that and the Dems don't.

The more I notice, the more I see they have really embraced classism. Obamacare satisfies enough people partially- without really addressing those of us who work but are below the poverty line (thus thrusting us out of Medicaid's reach)- that we will wait longer for real universal healthcare because the call isn't so great because so many of you have actually done well under it.

Wealthy progressives have left us (the working poor) behind- even "done us wrong".
I feel like whether we are talking feminism or gay rights or rights to abortion I feel like time and time again the middle class, the "haves" have gotten theirs and left the voting booth or the protest and left us poors standing there with empty hands wondering where our voice just went. There is just so much classism in the liberal movement right now and I am in no way convinced it's intentional but it is there, and any mention of it usually is responded to with "well, it's better than nothing."
It seems to be the very pedagogy of the have-nots that "it's better than nothing."
I feel like Obamacare was a way to cover the people who could donate, the people who were assets while not really worrying about those who don't have enough to count. I feel like it was a really velvety band-aid that won't really help the people who need stitches but will look damn good on those who didn't need a band-aid anyway. And I feel like it's another in a long line of betrayals by the Democrats (let's talk Clinton's welfare "reform") who seem to feel as though we will vote for them when they show up with our fried chicken and malt liquor once every four years.

We're getting crushed out here.
We have no jobs, the jobs that are there are not paying. We actually don't have health care, we don't have mental health care, we don't have resources to help even when we see a problem. The Republicans sure are courting our vote. They court it every time we show up at a food pantry (to volunteer or get) they court it when I go ask for help with winter heating. Where are the Democrats? Or even better, the socialists. Where was the fight for real universal healthcare? What is up with the incredible amount of ass kissing Obama has done with the corporate world? The Democrats are like an abusive relationship, their argument boils down to "where ya gonna go?" I know what that crap looks like. They think all they have to do is show up and we will turn out and vote for them because what else are we gonna do?

Jenni,
I agree that the Affordable Care Act is deeply flawed. And I won't attempt to defend the Democratic Party. But if the Republican governor of Mississippi had not rejected the ACA's expansion of Medicaid, you would undoubtedly be receiving medical care under those provisions of the act.

It's certainly true that there is no progressive option when it comes to voting. There is one right-of-center, business-friendly, not-too-friendly-to-poor-people party. There is one bug-fuck crazy, extremist right-wing party. There is nothing left of center. And the American public thinks this is normal.

_Howard wrote:

But if the Republican governor of Mississippi had not rejected the ACA's expansion of Medicaid, you would undoubtedly be receiving medical care under those provisions of the act.

I completely agree.
However, did any of us- me, you, Lisa, anyone- think for one second that if they were handed a way around giving the poors health care they wouldn't use it?
That's my issue. It was a completely foreseeable consequence.
At the time the Dems had two of the three branches of government. I feel strongly that they could have either a) pushed way harder for actual universal health care that would be binding and apply to all of us or b) rewrite the thing so that the asshole Republicans couldn't take what they were giving to us.

I don't have power.
Neither do any of the people this situations leaves behind.
But instead of fighting, they sold us out and took the easy route.
That is how I feel.
I expected to be fucked by the Reps. I completely expect what the governor did. Surely the Dems knew too. I didn't expect to be left in the dust by my own party. I didn't expect the Dems to just sit down and take it and then tell me how much I should like it.
I also feel like our lame duck president could issue a few executive orders and take care of some shit- or at least try.

I mean what would you have done? Seriously. I think if you or I had really read that bill the way they did I think we could have come up with a way to do the deal without giving the Rep governors that out. I think if you and me had done healthcare, we can call it Howardcare, I think we could have gotten all the people covered because that would have been our priority- as opposed to re-election or big pharma or whatever got in the way.

It makes me mad. Partially because I think my dumb ass could have done better. And if a Mississippi housewife can do better than you, you got some issues. But also because I'm just tired of this made up bullshit. It's all fucking made up. Money, the cost of a Tylenol in the ER, the court who sits up there and decides if I have to lose my house to pay for that Tylenol. It's all fucking made up and I'm sick to death of this made up shit deciding real things, like people's life or death.

I don't want to do this anymore. I do not agree to uphold these people's constructs. I do not agree to respect their fake bullshit. I want to be real. I want to do real things. I want to see people allowed to be real. I find this society heartbreaking and soul crushing.

I agree with all you've said, Jenni.

There are no valid economic reasons why the government can't simply pass a one-line law that says everyone qualifies for Medicare.

They also need to pass a federal law defining who qualifies for Medicaid - essentially making Medicaid a federal program, rather than 50 state programs. As the federal government provides most of the funds for Medicaid, I think they certainly have the right to do that.

Two simple laws that would make a huge difference.

_Howard wrote:

Two simple laws that would make a huge difference.

Amen to that!

_Howard wrote:

There are no valid economic reasons why the government can't simply pass a one-line law that says everyone qualifies for Medicare.

Medicare payments are capped, although it is a very high cap.  The drug companies pay a lot of money to Congress to prevent those caps from being applied to everybody.

NoCoPilot wrote:

_Howard wrote:

There are no valid economic reasons why the government can't simply pass a one-line law that says everyone qualifies for Medicare.

Medicare payments are capped, although it is a very high cap.  The drug companies pay a lot of money to Congress to prevent those caps from being applied to everybody.

Are you talking about caps on drugs?

Besides, this is not an economic reason; it is a political reason.

Stop. You're shocking me. <yawn>

richard09 wrote:

It's certainly true that there is no progressive option when it comes to voting. There is one right-of-center, business-friendly, not-too-friendly-to-poor-people party. There is one bug-fuck crazy, extremist right-wing party. There is nothing left of center. And the American public thinks this is normal.

That's what happens when you live in an economic oligarchy, rather than a democracy.

And why aren't there people in the streets? In the sixties or seventies, there would have been massive protests about some of the shit that's going on now? Do the young people today think that posting a few snarky comments on the internet is sufficient?

In the sixties and seventies we were getting our asses shot up in Viet Nam. That got our attention!

Yut today care about issues but they feel powerless against the behemoth that is the military-industrial-government complex. There is no avenue around it.

NoCoPilot wrote:

In the sixties and seventies we were getting our asses shot up in Viet Nam.  That got our attention!

And today we have Iraq and Afghanistan, and it looks like more to follow. If there was a draft, that would get many young people of their asses. But, that's for a (relatively) short-term problem.

In the sixties, we also had movements for civil rights and women's rights (most people forget that until the seventies, birth control for women was only available to married women in most states). And there were still strong unions pushing for safe working conditions and adequate compensation.

I get tired of hearing pundits and other blowhards dismissing the actions of the young people in the sixties as nothing more than sex and drugs. What might this country be like today if there had been no protests in the sixties?