I believe it affects committee assignments as well. Senior senator gets preference if they both want to sit on the same committee.
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Nah, don’t give MItch a pass on this idiocy. Given Ossoff’s margin, everything mattered. MItch was so fucking greedy he lost the senate majority over a few hundred billy.
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It’s still so surreal what has happened.
Remember in 2008 when Obama won everything? He even won Indiana.
Well, he lost Georgia by more than 5 points. He was closer to winning Montana than Georgia.
And now Georgia is going to have two Democratic senators.
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Look at all that power. Everyone on that list helped personally helped flip the GA Senate seats from red to blue via reverse jinx. I couldn’t be more proud of my efforts.
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If anyone likes seeing conservative tears:
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I think this gets the country real COVID relief that was being obstructed by the minority. $2000 to start and a real chance at retro pay as the pandemic worsens throughout 2021, probably in conjunction with targeted unwinds of the worst of the Republican tax cuts. Support for people means a chance we actually can lockdown.
That money for the people policy should be broadly popular enough to help with at least 2022 elections.
Also a giant results for places like NYC which are facing a grim future without Fed support. 50/50 means likely limited local aid, but still way better than the alternative.
Plus judges and all that, Breyer should be retiring ASAP.
The bigger swings at policy aren’t coming, but good day for the country and at least a chance to build on this in 2022 and put bigger initiatives in play.
Now put Joe Manchin in a bubble, if he dies we are all fucked
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We’re not getting the Bernie Sanders agenda passed anytime soon, but I think some realistic options on the table for the next two years are:
- Stephen Breyer replaced by a 40 something liberal.
- More COVID relief $$
- Tax hike on the rich
- Federal Minimum Wage increase.
- Student Loan Debt relief.
- Perhaps some incremental progress on climate change, whatever that looks like.
The filibuster still looms large. If Manchin is steadfast against it, that will limit a lot of this, other than maybe the tax hike. I fully expect the republicans to filibuster anything and everything because they are complete assholes.
If anything this puts the republicans back in their comfort zone. The minority party that can bitch, whine, and complain without having to actually do anything. The strategy seems to work for them.
My hot take on what really went wrong in 09-10 was that people are finicky and expect lawmakers to have a near singular focus on the issue of the day. Focusing on health care reform in the midst of a global recession and mass unemployment was unpopular. This time around the focus should be on COVID relief and ending the pandemic. Anything else will be seen as a sign they are NOT doing that, and the dems likely pay a price. The good news is that COVID should be long in the rearview mirror come 2022. As much as I would love to see Trump in handcuffs, I think the dems making any public moves not involving COVID until the pandemic is over and unemployment back below 5% may be a political mistake.
Those pesky Italians
It’s been a long 12 years with Mitch at the helm, either as chief obstructionist or chief rammer and jammer. He burned down lots of Senate norms, which the Dems no longer have to follow. Gridlock was a guarantee with a Republican minority, and it no longer is.
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I really hope the dems have learnt their lessons. I’m not at all optimistic. The GOP will just straight up continue to argue in bad faith and I fear like Obama Uncle Joe will keep giving them the benefit of the doubt for the next 2 years.
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Honestly just being able to pass a huge covid relief bill along with State and Local bailouts will be huge because it will help the economy, which greatly increases the chances of dems holdiing the white house in 4 years. Such a bill will be massively popular.
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Even some CDC guidelines on how to run a vaccination program would help at this point, but yeah, this is a huge development for those of us who want to get covid under control.
FYP
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shout out again to lil jon for doing this in 2014
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New Voting Rights Act and DC/PR statehood are the agenda items Dems should be laser focused on. They’re popular on their own, they fit neatly into Biden’s post-Trump unity message, and they build a foundation for stable progress, rather than another cycle of overreach and backlash.
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I think I mentioned this during the GA recount but it bears repeating: the GA film and tv industry deserves some serious kudos here, no doubt the influx of these workers has helped shift the balance of power in the state.
And yet another hearty EL OH EL to handing massive tax breaks to a bunch of rich folks who don’t need it, and it resulting in the hilariously unintended consequence of helping you lose BOTH your red seats in the US Senate and your EC votes going to JOE BIDEN!!!
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