Democrats have done a shit ton in the 4 years of the last 30 that they've had majorities in both houses and the presidency. But sure let's just ignore all that and play into the literally right wing propaganda that "Democrats don't do anything when they have power".
Also, it's really frustrating that I see so many people both being upset Democrats are only doing political theatre stuff because they want them to do something with a minority that has next to no power, but also see people say that Democrats need to do more political Theatre. Often I see this from the same people.
Obama had full control of both houses for 133 days, including the Holiday break.
He needed 60 seats in the Senate to stop Republican fillibusters. Ted Kennedy had a seizure during Obama's inauguration dinner and never returned to vote, but didn't step down. He eventually died, and was temporarily replaced by Paul Kirk on September 24, 2009, but in the Special Election for Kennedy's seat, the Tea Party won and the Senate majority was no longer fillibuster-proof as of February 4, 2010.
It's almost like it's harder to fix things than it is to break things. Also, fixing things is booooooooooooring, so much so that it's never covered by news outlets who act like they live and die by viewership counts. The only things that do get covered is "some dem SLAMS some repub over some controversial issue", so we only hear about utterly meaningless nonsense that portrays the dems as weak incompetent failures. Well, they are failures, after all they did lose to fascists in what should have been the easiest win in history, but let's not derail this into a debate about the Last Election.
Yep, there is a lot of this rhetoric today. From a comment I did earlier.
Right now, it goes like this:
- Republicans and/or Trump do something fucking crazy that’s not only never been done before, but probably illegal.
- Everyone shouts frantically, “WhY areN’T tHe DeMS doINg ANyThiNG!” while saying in a rational, quiet, tone, “That’s just how Republicans are.”
- Repeat
If only the dems knew about what Trump would do well ahead of time and planned for it instead of sitting on their hands.
Democrats didn’t do shit. Democrats didn’t codify Roe v Wade when they had a majority. Democrats didn’t improve public transportation. Democrats deported the most people in the history of the country. Democrats financed the genocide and constantly blocked any efforts at ending it. Democrats tripled the budgets of cops during the BLM protests. Democrats are a right wing party that only care about their rich donors. There are reasons why MLK, Malcolm X and the Black Panther Party all hated the Democrats.
Democrats have definitely not done enough and done some shitty things. They also passed the first infrastructure bill in 15(?) or so years under Bidens first 2 years. They passed a bill fucking saving the economy during both Obama's and Bidens first 2 years, providing stimulus and saving a collapsing economy. They passed the Dodd Frank act in Obama's first 2 years that regulated Wall Street even if it wasn't enough, it still significantly helped shit. They passed the the ACA which, while not perfect, mandated insurance companies to cover people with preexisting conditions which got healthcare for tens of millions. It expanded Medicaid which, despite being refused by red states, in the states that accepted the funds it provided relatively cheap healthcare to tens of millions. They passed the first bill that has ever had any climate change initiatives in it during Bidens first 2 years and Harris campaigned on doing more. They introduced the EV tax credits that have got people to buy non gas producing cars at massive rates, even if not enough. They increased the minimum wage in 2009 and tried to again in 2021. That only failed because they simply didn't have the votes. They could have gotten rid of the parliamentarian if they wanted but then it still wouldn't have had the votes even for a simple majority so it wouldn't have mattered. They invested in expanding trains across the country but because of trump being elected last year that'll probably be cut.
They have passed plenty of really progressive legislation that died in the Senate because of the filibuster and Republicans refusing to vote for even the most basic things. They could have tried to get rid of the filibuster but to do that they need a majority of the Senate to vote for that rule package and 2 Democrat senators refused to because they're assholes. They could have fixed much of that if they had been given by the voters a larger majority in the Senate so they could have tanked those 2 senators votes.
Democrats should have done more. They should be doing more when they have power. They have run on progressive policies time and time again, however, and even though they're not as progressive as they should be and still have some shit policies, that doesn't mean they do nothing.
If not for the ACA I wouldn't have healthcare, I have a preexisting condition and that law mandates insurance companies to keep me on. I also happen to live in a state with expanded Medicaid which has given healthcare to tons of people I know when they could only afford the cheap stuff. Should there have been a public option? Absolutely, health insurance shouldn't be a for profit industry.
But to say they did "nothing" is to directly say you either, refuse to acknowledge anything positive they have done because it wasn't perfect or because they also did shitty things, or that you simply aren't paying attention enough to know they did positive things.
Listen, you're a .ml user. That makes me assume you're a communist, which is completely okay in my book. Ya know the only time in American history that communists have had any amount of influence in American society? It was under FDR because they went out every primary and every year to vote for progressive and leftist Democrats to have representation in government just as much as non communists. Earl Browder was the leader of the party at the time and he pushed for supporting Democrats and it worked. They didn't run candidates during the election years because FDR was their candidate. Browder correctly realized and stated that American parties are coalitions. If communists, of which I am one too, want to get a seat at the table, want to be able to actually influence policy instead of just twiddling our thumbs and yelling at fucking walls without getting anywhere, we have to vote in the primaries for progressive leftist Democrats and change the party. We have to be consistent voters. There will never be a third party that takes root, it will never happen, but that doesn't mean we can't have a seat at the table and work towards moving the Overton window back left by voting in primaries and voting out establishment Democrats in favor of people with better views who will do more. This is how we as leftists had power under FDR, its how we helped introduce more socialist policies. We had a seat at the table and were able to influence shit. We need to be able to recognize that that was a time when we had the most power, acknowledge why we had any, and do what we can to get back there.
Scene: A democrat and republican sharing an apartment.
Democrat: we need a new dishwasher
Republican: No, we are not paying for a dishwasher
Democrat: washes dishes in the sink
Republican: sets the apartment on fire
ML: democrats suck
You’re blind if you can’t see what the democrats have done with a majority.
.ml user
