this post was submitted on 07 Apr 2024
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You also cited that they've purportedly had several instances where they could have passed it at will when there has been realistically 1 viable time just 4 years after the original SC ruling.
https://www.history.com/topics/us-government-and-politics/history-of-the-filibuster
A brief history of one of the biggest obstructions and also notably important tools at the disposal of the Senate. Interestingly enough one of the few times that the rules on it where changed actually was at the behest of the Democrats to allow for placing judicial nominees without the Republicans getting in the way. Actively doing away with it or making significant modifications has been kicked around for a while but outright removing it would all but nullify any input by the minority party. By forcing a 60 vote barrier to things you set the table for either working with people of different stripes (not a bad idea, we did use to get a lot more done that way) or if you happen to be in a space to have those 60+ all yourself then you can consider that a free ticket and strong demonstration of the will of the voters.
I'm sure that they're probably held to a higher standard of performance than their Republican counterparts who tend to come from poor states with low educational standards. The R's can be bought off for a relative bargain price to be sure, so less pressure to get on the ball.
The point of my comments is that neither party represents the people, my focus is only on the Dem's because they market themselves on that platform.
The only real difference between the parties besides that marketing is that the Dem's make excuses when they can't pass a popular (with the people) bill. They put the blame on the Republicans and do little to find a way to make it happen.
As someone affected by these bills, I really don't care why they can't do what we want, only that they aren't doing it. As an elected official, if it's not possible, they need to make it possible. I guarantee this is the standard they are held to by those who fund their campaigns.
I understand the reasons they give for not being able to pass certain bills, but that doesn't mean they aren't excuses. A government should be run by the people and for the people. When it's not, you're seeing the minority party actually controlling the majority party and it's a matter of a power imbalance. D and R can and do work together when they want to, but neither of them does this for us.
I'm not disagreeing with you because I misunderstand how the US government works, it's because I understand and disagree with how the government works. The system needs to be changed and the parties with the power to do so are not enacting meaningful change. The only way to change a system is through leveraging power and the only power the people have is numbers.
So why apologize for them? Why buy into their excuses and defend their actions?
I don't so much look to defend the D party as it stands, but rather the functional operation of the nation. The D's are a far broader scope than the R's and frankly I'd have loved to see something like a Sanders/AOC ticket created for president, but that's not happening soon.
The Republicans have long been the party of NO. For them, a government de-fanged and paralyzed is a perfectly good thing, it would let the rich and businesses pillage and plunder unchecked. Let them oppress whomever they wish and force arbitrary rules on vulnerable populations at local and state levels where party plays a much smaller role. Matters like Roe and Dobbs wouldn't exist without pressures from national level lelft-ish parties.
The Democrats often as not get the short end of the stick on deals in an effort to get anything whatsoever done. The ACA was a fairly large accomplishment given the opposition in play seeking to protect the existing middlemen and preclude those damn poor people from taking care away from the rich. They often give up things in exchange for protecting some group, the 'fine you can keep the 47 round clips on your guns, but you have to stop shooting migrants for fun' sort of deals.
We would all likely be better off if the existing parties where shattered up and the entire system overhauled to provide a more proportional representation, however that's not in the cards as things stand. The other potential problem there of course is that the R's would likely end up with maybe 10% libertarian, 20% boring basic conservatives, and the remaining 70% insane swastika wearing nuts. The D's on the other hand would end up with a dozen tiny slices of varied groups who all want some very specific thing with great fervor. Where that to happen then the larger few groups born out of the R's would run rampant over society more than they already do.