They need to stop working only 3 days a week, stop fundraising, and get the job done. If they can't, we'll figure out how to move on to the people who can. They better recognize that this landslide is a repudiation of Trump, NOT an indicator of support for Dems. They still have to win that.
"As soon as they return in January, they can get to work on a budget that ends funding for ICE in its current form, restores Medicaid and SNAP funds, reinstates Affordable Care Act subsidies, and reverses huge tax breaks for the rich. Given the mandate they received, half-measures and weak compromises with the Trump regime would be an affront to the voters who just elected them."
I can never understand why Jennifer Rubin has not been hired as a Democratic consultant and strategist.
If Dems take her advice, they will get re-elected. She reads the mood of the country without all the background noise and whirlwind of poop flying around in D.C. (provided by Steve Bannon et. al. )
Agreed, but Dems should, first, before doing anything else, set the example and send the message that they hold themselves accountable: propose and pass a bill banning stock trading by Congress and the President. Dare “republicans” to vote against it. Dare Trump veto it. Show the world who they (dems) and they (the regime and its brown shirts) are.
ALL Federal political appointed jobs (Cabinet officers and the like, Federal judiciary and the like, etc) should include a personal & close family stock trading ban as ONE PART of a binding employee ethics code. Violations of the employee ethics code must be grounds for dismissal with loss of benefits like Federal retirement accounts & prosecution plus a permanent ban on future Federal employment.
I agree. A bill banning stock trading by members of Congress and the administration should be a priority. It would send a clear message: There’s a new power center in town and we are going to pursue actions that benefit democracy and the American people.
Because she was a reactionary critic of Democrats and Obama in particular for many years. Go look throught the Wash Post archives for ther column, "Right Turn." It's only since Trump that she's recognized the threat MAGA has posed to democracy, and, to her great credit, changed her tune. Loudly and sincerely. But she does have history.
I too am a former republican to my great shame. I voted for my first Democrat when I voted Ann Richards in as Governor of Texas. I have moved from Texas and now live in a blue state, but am so proud of Texas taking the reins of government away from the Republicans.
Looking back over the last 70 years I realize that the intellectual and political orientation that Eisenhower held disappeared after he left office and Republicans have never been the same since. I think it was because he was a real "warrior" (unlike Hegseth) and he understood the price of war and the price of the authoritarian worldview.
Why are you so sure they won't do any of this? Cynicism on the left is one of the most poisonous things Democrats face and one of the road blocks to progress.
Unfortunately, campaign financing will have to be reformed in order to reduce time spent fundraising. Yes, this coming Congress must perform to gain legitimacy.
Getting big money out of politics has been tossed around and it's time to do it. A first step would be to roust the corporate lobbyists and their financial bribery from the halls of Congress. Government by corporation is not what the founders intended.
I recall when Nancy Pelosi took over the gavel from Paul Ryan, and announced they would be working 4 days week instead of the previous 1 1/2, a Republican from Georgia (I forget his name) whined that she was "anti-family" because congresspeople would now be unable to spend as much time at home with their families.
Yes, in Brazil voting is compulsory. You can turn in a blank ballot but you must show up.
In the most recent election it was a big scandal when many public buses were not available on election day in a large city, supposedly because hundreds of them had been plastered with partisan stickers (illegal on election day).
However, voting was also compulsory during Brazil's dictatorship period. People grumbled about it being required but ineffective in bringing about change, which took several decades to achieve.
So, compulsory voting can be a valuable tool in expanding people's rights but is not a fix in and of itself. Still, imagine how Republicans' heads would explode being required to consider enfranchising every eligible voter!
I would like to see a contest started, maybe by Congress, to set up a competition between states to get the highest voter turnout, with maybe some kind of prize, a grant or funding attached.
His comments yesterday that "the American people don't want us to get even. They want us to get things done on their behalf" and that he will "let the chips fall where they may," are very concerning, and seem to miss the basic fact that he now has a mandate, really an obligation, to pursue accountability and justice. Describing this as 'getting even' sounds an awful like the 'look forward, not backward' lines we've heard before.
We should have learned already from Merrick Garland's failure (and others) what happens when there is no real, public, and prompt, accountability.
Senator Raphael Warnock had a much better response. When asked whether Democrats should focus on affordability or corruption on CNN, he replied “The American people sent a clear mandate again. They are suffering under these costs… but we can walk and chew gum at the same time… this is the most corrupt administration in American history, and it is literally costing the American people.”
ps - I have heard the National Popular Vote Compact come up a number of times in the past day now....keep talking about this! - and keep making the connection between affordability and corruption.
I am also alarmed about Jeffries’ comments. Is he looking over his shoulder at corporate donors rather than the millions of voters in front of him? I have felt for a year that we needed new Democratic leadership in the House and Senate. For me, this comment proves it. Tell your Senators and Representatives that We the People want new Congressional leadership with a spine in January. If you do not, we may get stuck with the same old Democratic effort to appease and work with this crooked, immoral crowd of Republicans. Shades of 1930s Germany “working” with Hitler.
For me, this is only his latest action that proves he isn't the leader we need for the moment. His laughable excuse that he secretly met with Jared Kushner to discuss 'affordability', his standing firm on positions way out of sync with the Democratic base like M4A, his continued acceptance of support from crypto execs AIPAC and big Wall Street donors...
Unfortunately, I think it is still very likely he will be majority leader, so the next task for everyone is to keep pushing him. Hopefully he saw the winds change already in his hometown with Mamdani's ascendance...it was Zohran that really made 'affordability' the keyword of the election cycle into the national lexicon.
He is exactly the person we need and we will make you eat your words. There was clearly some sort of viral effort yesterday to turn people against Jeffries ad Schumer, which would create chaos, confusion and undermine everything we won Tuesday. Some have suggested it was started by Russian bots.
'Some' suggesting it was 'Russian bots' is a hilarious dismissal of the obvious, broad and long term criticisms of both Jeffries and leader from large segments of the Democratic base.
These criticisms are not new, despite any pearl clutching about some recent 'viral effort'. It's now at the forefront of many voters minds, especially given comments like those made by Jeffries yesterday.
Claiming that a contest for leadership after the strength and breadth of this week's vote would 'create chaos, confusion and undermine everything we won Tuesday' is also ridiculous. That is how democracy works. Both of them can and should be challenged to defend their positions under scrutiny. Simply following leaders by anointment is what authoritarians do.
I'm not, because most people looking to be "alarmed" take something out of context and don't look at ALL the things he's said and most of all what he has been doing for months to prepare for taking over the House. Are you aware for instance that he and Jamie Raskin have been making plans for Supreme Court reform? Among other things. Or that he and Robert Garcia, who will head the Oversight Committee, have been making plans to hold a vast range of people accountable. Saying you don't want to 'get even" is exactly the right way to frame it. Voters don't want you to go after people to "get even" but to hold people accountable for their actions.
Yes, everyone here is aware of the many things Jeffries has done and hasn't done. We are aware of his acceptance of major funding support from Wall Street interests, from AIPAC, from big tech PACS...aware of his support for the crypto friendly GENIUS Act last year, aware of his support for data center proliferation until very recently (even now, he only supports tepid reform and loose regulations), aware of his current opposition to Medicare For All despite supporting it earlier in his tenure...aware of his refusal to endorse Mamdani until the meaningless 11th hour, even though Zohran overwhelmingly won in Jeffries's Brooklyn district .....now Jeffries uses the term 'affordability', which Mamdani nearly singlehanded brought into the national conversation, all the time.
And no, to leave it at dismissing 'getting even' is not the right way to talk about this, at all. In that same interview, one host practically hands Jeffries the opportunity to clarify his comments, saying 'Democrats, may not want retribution, but they do want accountability' , making the obvious distinction that you seem to miss, and then the host quotes Garcia's comment that the GOP better 'lawyer up'.
Jeffries dances around any actual actions toward accountability in response, where he says 'let the chips fall where they may' and instead pivots back to his same very general vague talk about 'affordability'.
The voters that just gave the Democratic Party a mandate want a lot more than this milquetoast approach. If he can't do better than this, he will help lead the Dems right back to failure in two years.
Again, Warnock was on the right track, and was much more clear in his response. Jeffries has a way of meandering around a topic that we have all heard many times in the past.
I called my representative to insist that the next Speaker focus on accountability and justice. The word revenge should be avoided, but every Democrat in Congress should talk about the need for accountability and justice for the tremendous harms we've all suffered.
Some people have lost their lives, others their livelihoods and others their freedom. We've all lost money and we want it back.
I think it was Robert Hubbell and his column wrote about those issues, especially about women and reproductive issues. There’s so many issues to talk about, but he did mention those..
But no mention of reproductive rights in this posting on The Contrarian. This is one of the main issues that must be addressed & codified into national law. No Ifs, ands, or buts.
Now is the time for the Democrats to be bold! Bold in leadership. Bold in their agenda. Bold on vision!
Do what needs to be done. Move forward. Stop the reconciliation talk, the bi-partisan teasing. Just get to work at investigating, holding people accountable, cleaning up the mess and addressing the real issues we, the people, are facing and struggling with. Lead for God’s sake. Lead without fear! Show your courage and spine! If that makes you uncomfortable, then step aside and allow real leaders to emerge!! Now get going!!
I hadn’t really heard about the national vote compact! The fact that it’s so far along and only requires a bit more is very encouraging. It sounds like a wonderful thing, and I for one would work on pushing that!
Yeah, its' been out there for a while, but a bit under the radar. Even if those states do get on boar, it will be fought tooth and nail in court....but its the best hope to kill the chokehold of the Electoral College, and this is the best chance ever it might come into fruition.
Yes, it is not as secure as a constitutional amendment, but we’ve seen how difficult those can be to get through. And this one would be extremely difficult, I imagine. It’s better than nothing, and if we can control the process for longer than just two years, there’s a good chance it could stay for quite a long time.
I do not think it is as wonderful as it sounds. Imagine you voted for Kamala in a state that went overwhelming for her, and subsequently your votes are given to Trump because he won the popular vote. In my opinion this is not the way to get rid of the electoral college. It will face fierce resistance--and, imo--rightly so. But worse, it will turn a lot of people away from the Democrats and we will lose them. Not what we want.
This "As soon as they return in January, they can get to work on a budget that ends funding for ICE in its current form, restores Medicaid and SNAP funds, reinstates Affordable Care Act subsidies, and reverses huge tax breaks for the rich" and this: give public broadcasting the money Trump withheld.
The hard work has only just begun. Not only must the new Congress deliver for the American people, but 2028 will be on us before we know it. We must continue to say "never again" to the excesses and corruption of the trump era.
Agreed, mary thiel. I'm not going to waste time on a purity-search for a new Speaker. Let's stay united and see what we can get done, rather than already start nit-picking.
we need to recall that there is a LOT of money in the budget if the 2025 and 2017 tax cuts are reversed. Where would that leave us? With the tax rates of 2016. Were taxes so oppressive, was the economy so hobbled by them, that they cannot be reversed? Not for a moment.
And while they're at it, restore the capacity of the IRS to administer taxes (they were on the verge of allowing most people not to have to calculate their taxes, the IRS would do it from employer-submitted info then check with the taxpayer) and to audit those who need it. The Republicans have systematically and effectively hobbled its ability to collect taxes that the law still imposes.
Those two measures would give a lot of flexibility for useful measures like the ACA subsidies and SNAP restoration and might allow reduction of the deficit as well, with no more pain than people had in 2016.
Jen, I am presupposing that like the demonic party that just got whomped, and for years turned to the Heritage Foundation and the Snidely Whiplashes of that nefarious think tank to draft the brutal and violent blueprint for how to ruin America and turn it into a dictatorship catering to oligarchs and Israel, that our new group of Democrats with lots and lots of young blood, will turn to well-informed, democratically minded, politically pure folks like yourself to draft the blueprint for a benevolent nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice FOR ALL!
I agree they need to go full out and get all of these things done as well as finally getting the ERA fully ratified. And they need to work full weeks the majority of the year. Actions speak louder than words and if they get the jobs done, that would speak volumes for their campaigns.
They need to stop working only 3 days a week, stop fundraising, and get the job done. If they can't, we'll figure out how to move on to the people who can. They better recognize that this landslide is a repudiation of Trump, NOT an indicator of support for Dems. They still have to win that.
"As soon as they return in January, they can get to work on a budget that ends funding for ICE in its current form, restores Medicaid and SNAP funds, reinstates Affordable Care Act subsidies, and reverses huge tax breaks for the rich. Given the mandate they received, half-measures and weak compromises with the Trump regime would be an affront to the voters who just elected them."
I can never understand why Jennifer Rubin has not been hired as a Democratic consultant and strategist.
If Dems take her advice, they will get re-elected. She reads the mood of the country without all the background noise and whirlwind of poop flying around in D.C. (provided by Steve Bannon et. al. )
Agreed, but Dems should, first, before doing anything else, set the example and send the message that they hold themselves accountable: propose and pass a bill banning stock trading by Congress and the President. Dare “republicans” to vote against it. Dare Trump veto it. Show the world who they (dems) and they (the regime and its brown shirts) are.
ALL Federal political appointed jobs (Cabinet officers and the like, Federal judiciary and the like, etc) should include a personal & close family stock trading ban as ONE PART of a binding employee ethics code. Violations of the employee ethics code must be grounds for dismissal with loss of benefits like Federal retirement accounts & prosecution plus a permanent ban on future Federal employment.
I agree. A bill banning stock trading by members of Congress and the administration should be a priority. It would send a clear message: There’s a new power center in town and we are going to pursue actions that benefit democracy and the American people.
It already is. Follow the news.
Because she was a reactionary critic of Democrats and Obama in particular for many years. Go look throught the Wash Post archives for ther column, "Right Turn." It's only since Trump that she's recognized the threat MAGA has posed to democracy, and, to her great credit, changed her tune. Loudly and sincerely. But she does have history.
I too am a former republican to my great shame. I voted for my first Democrat when I voted Ann Richards in as Governor of Texas. I have moved from Texas and now live in a blue state, but am so proud of Texas taking the reins of government away from the Republicans.
A lot of us do. I stayed an Eisenhower Republican for many years before changing my voter registration and just embraced being a social democrat.
Looking back over the last 70 years I realize that the intellectual and political orientation that Eisenhower held disappeared after he left office and Republicans have never been the same since. I think it was because he was a real "warrior" (unlike Hegseth) and he understood the price of war and the price of the authoritarian worldview.
Yes, the fact that she had the integrity to change based on facts (as did many never-Trump Republicans) only enhances her credibility.
I also started out as a Republican (saw the light in the early 90s).
Respect for those who saw the direction to be wrong and changed is admirable. Critical thinking and willingness to admit mistakes is a good thing.
Why are you so sure they won't do any of this? Cynicism on the left is one of the most poisonous things Democrats face and one of the road blocks to progress.
Yes, do we need to condemn them before they even start?
Unfortunately, campaign financing will have to be reformed in order to reduce time spent fundraising. Yes, this coming Congress must perform to gain legitimacy.
Getting big money out of politics has been tossed around and it's time to do it. A first step would be to roust the corporate lobbyists and their financial bribery from the halls of Congress. Government by corporation is not what the founders intended.
I recall when Nancy Pelosi took over the gavel from Paul Ryan, and announced they would be working 4 days week instead of the previous 1 1/2, a Republican from Georgia (I forget his name) whined that she was "anti-family" because congresspeople would now be unable to spend as much time at home with their families.
Amen, brother!
" A House majority of, say, 258 seats and Senate majority of 54 or 55 or 56 (!) seats can accomplish things that narrower majorities could not."
Also, nearly 50% of eligible voters went to the polls on Tuesday.
Just imagine what this country would look like if that number was 95%, in every election.
There is at least one country that REQUIRES all citizens to vote or pay a fine. Interesting approach.
Yes, in Brazil voting is compulsory. You can turn in a blank ballot but you must show up.
In the most recent election it was a big scandal when many public buses were not available on election day in a large city, supposedly because hundreds of them had been plastered with partisan stickers (illegal on election day).
However, voting was also compulsory during Brazil's dictatorship period. People grumbled about it being required but ineffective in bringing about change, which took several decades to achieve.
So, compulsory voting can be a valuable tool in expanding people's rights but is not a fix in and of itself. Still, imagine how Republicans' heads would explode being required to consider enfranchising every eligible voter!
Australia is one of these countries that requires voting.
I would like to see a contest started, maybe by Congress, to set up a competition between states to get the highest voter turnout, with maybe some kind of prize, a grant or funding attached.
Let's hope Hakeem Jeffries gets the message.
His comments yesterday that "the American people don't want us to get even. They want us to get things done on their behalf" and that he will "let the chips fall where they may," are very concerning, and seem to miss the basic fact that he now has a mandate, really an obligation, to pursue accountability and justice. Describing this as 'getting even' sounds an awful like the 'look forward, not backward' lines we've heard before.
We should have learned already from Merrick Garland's failure (and others) what happens when there is no real, public, and prompt, accountability.
Senator Raphael Warnock had a much better response. When asked whether Democrats should focus on affordability or corruption on CNN, he replied “The American people sent a clear mandate again. They are suffering under these costs… but we can walk and chew gum at the same time… this is the most corrupt administration in American history, and it is literally costing the American people.”
ps - I have heard the National Popular Vote Compact come up a number of times in the past day now....keep talking about this! - and keep making the connection between affordability and corruption.
I am also alarmed about Jeffries’ comments. Is he looking over his shoulder at corporate donors rather than the millions of voters in front of him? I have felt for a year that we needed new Democratic leadership in the House and Senate. For me, this comment proves it. Tell your Senators and Representatives that We the People want new Congressional leadership with a spine in January. If you do not, we may get stuck with the same old Democratic effort to appease and work with this crooked, immoral crowd of Republicans. Shades of 1930s Germany “working” with Hitler.
Indeed.
For me, this is only his latest action that proves he isn't the leader we need for the moment. His laughable excuse that he secretly met with Jared Kushner to discuss 'affordability', his standing firm on positions way out of sync with the Democratic base like M4A, his continued acceptance of support from crypto execs AIPAC and big Wall Street donors...
Unfortunately, I think it is still very likely he will be majority leader, so the next task for everyone is to keep pushing him. Hopefully he saw the winds change already in his hometown with Mamdani's ascendance...it was Zohran that really made 'affordability' the keyword of the election cycle into the national lexicon.
He is exactly the person we need and we will make you eat your words. There was clearly some sort of viral effort yesterday to turn people against Jeffries ad Schumer, which would create chaos, confusion and undermine everything we won Tuesday. Some have suggested it was started by Russian bots.
'Some' suggesting it was 'Russian bots' is a hilarious dismissal of the obvious, broad and long term criticisms of both Jeffries and leader from large segments of the Democratic base.
These criticisms are not new, despite any pearl clutching about some recent 'viral effort'. It's now at the forefront of many voters minds, especially given comments like those made by Jeffries yesterday.
Claiming that a contest for leadership after the strength and breadth of this week's vote would 'create chaos, confusion and undermine everything we won Tuesday' is also ridiculous. That is how democracy works. Both of them can and should be challenged to defend their positions under scrutiny. Simply following leaders by anointment is what authoritarians do.
I'm not, because most people looking to be "alarmed" take something out of context and don't look at ALL the things he's said and most of all what he has been doing for months to prepare for taking over the House. Are you aware for instance that he and Jamie Raskin have been making plans for Supreme Court reform? Among other things. Or that he and Robert Garcia, who will head the Oversight Committee, have been making plans to hold a vast range of people accountable. Saying you don't want to 'get even" is exactly the right way to frame it. Voters don't want you to go after people to "get even" but to hold people accountable for their actions.
Yes, everyone here is aware of the many things Jeffries has done and hasn't done. We are aware of his acceptance of major funding support from Wall Street interests, from AIPAC, from big tech PACS...aware of his support for the crypto friendly GENIUS Act last year, aware of his support for data center proliferation until very recently (even now, he only supports tepid reform and loose regulations), aware of his current opposition to Medicare For All despite supporting it earlier in his tenure...aware of his refusal to endorse Mamdani until the meaningless 11th hour, even though Zohran overwhelmingly won in Jeffries's Brooklyn district .....now Jeffries uses the term 'affordability', which Mamdani nearly singlehanded brought into the national conversation, all the time.
And no, to leave it at dismissing 'getting even' is not the right way to talk about this, at all. In that same interview, one host practically hands Jeffries the opportunity to clarify his comments, saying 'Democrats, may not want retribution, but they do want accountability' , making the obvious distinction that you seem to miss, and then the host quotes Garcia's comment that the GOP better 'lawyer up'.
Jeffries dances around any actual actions toward accountability in response, where he says 'let the chips fall where they may' and instead pivots back to his same very general vague talk about 'affordability'.
The voters that just gave the Democratic Party a mandate want a lot more than this milquetoast approach. If he can't do better than this, he will help lead the Dems right back to failure in two years.
Again, Warnock was on the right track, and was much more clear in his response. Jeffries has a way of meandering around a topic that we have all heard many times in the past.
It’s one thing to frame your opportunities for reform right after the election, and another when you are actually handed the power to make changes.
I called my representative to insist that the next Speaker focus on accountability and justice. The word revenge should be avoided, but every Democrat in Congress should talk about the need for accountability and justice for the tremendous harms we've all suffered.
Some people have lost their lives, others their livelihoods and others their freedom. We've all lost money and we want it back.
Call your rep today.
And if Jeffries said the opposite, everyone would be bitching about that
i didn't read anything on women/abortion/pregnancy care.
i am dropping by to express myself on an important issue
this 👇
go away @hakeem-jeffries.bsky.social
and you too @schumer.senate.gov
we do NOT want ICE we do NOT want aipac
get rid of big $$ in campaign elections
we do want our refund on all he stole from us as taxpayers!!!
I think it was Robert Hubbell and his column wrote about those issues, especially about women and reproductive issues. There’s so many issues to talk about, but he did mention those..
But no mention of reproductive rights in this posting on The Contrarian. This is one of the main issues that must be addressed & codified into national law. No Ifs, ands, or buts.
ICE and AIPAC are not connected issues. Stop with the AIPAC already. It's anti-Semitism. ALL superPACS need to be reined in.
Now is the time for the Democrats to be bold! Bold in leadership. Bold in their agenda. Bold on vision!
Do what needs to be done. Move forward. Stop the reconciliation talk, the bi-partisan teasing. Just get to work at investigating, holding people accountable, cleaning up the mess and addressing the real issues we, the people, are facing and struggling with. Lead for God’s sake. Lead without fear! Show your courage and spine! If that makes you uncomfortable, then step aside and allow real leaders to emerge!! Now get going!!
Require Blanche to turn over the Epstein files in full or face impeachment and likely conviction.
I hadn’t really heard about the national vote compact! The fact that it’s so far along and only requires a bit more is very encouraging. It sounds like a wonderful thing, and I for one would work on pushing that!
Yeah, its' been out there for a while, but a bit under the radar. Even if those states do get on boar, it will be fought tooth and nail in court....but its the best hope to kill the chokehold of the Electoral College, and this is the best chance ever it might come into fruition.
Yes, it is not as secure as a constitutional amendment, but we’ve seen how difficult those can be to get through. And this one would be extremely difficult, I imagine. It’s better than nothing, and if we can control the process for longer than just two years, there’s a good chance it could stay for quite a long time.
Robert Reich has been pushing it. It is easier than a constitutional amendment. But a later legislature could rescind it.
I do not think it is as wonderful as it sounds. Imagine you voted for Kamala in a state that went overwhelming for her, and subsequently your votes are given to Trump because he won the popular vote. In my opinion this is not the way to get rid of the electoral college. It will face fierce resistance--and, imo--rightly so. But worse, it will turn a lot of people away from the Democrats and we will lose them. Not what we want.
This "As soon as they return in January, they can get to work on a budget that ends funding for ICE in its current form, restores Medicaid and SNAP funds, reinstates Affordable Care Act subsidies, and reverses huge tax breaks for the rich" and this: give public broadcasting the money Trump withheld.
They must get rid of Citizens United- corporations are not we the people
The hard work has only just begun. Not only must the new Congress deliver for the American people, but 2028 will be on us before we know it. We must continue to say "never again" to the excesses and corruption of the trump era.
A powerful morning article. Thank you!
Focused investigations that pave the way for state criminal prosecutions of members of Trump's RICO enterprise would be a start.
Dems need to unite. Take down the corrupt autocrats, not the Democrats. Circular firing squads brought 2 terms of a depraved sociopath & his RICO enterprise. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/11/04/us/politics/hakeem-jeffries-what-to-know.html?smid=url-share
Hakeem Jeffries is an extraordinary leader on the side of Democracy & justice for all.
I disagree. I believe he is a good man, a good orator, but Jeffries is not the strong leader the Dems need in the House.
I wonder if the public has any idea of what the speaker is required to do, and what they accomplish.
Jeffries is always below the radar, so we seem to k ow little about whether he accomplishes anything, behind the scenes.
I’m not esp. invested in him, but if Pelosi anointed him as her successor, there must be a reason why.
Agreed, mary thiel. I'm not going to waste time on a purity-search for a new Speaker. Let's stay united and see what we can get done, rather than already start nit-picking.
we need to recall that there is a LOT of money in the budget if the 2025 and 2017 tax cuts are reversed. Where would that leave us? With the tax rates of 2016. Were taxes so oppressive, was the economy so hobbled by them, that they cannot be reversed? Not for a moment.
And while they're at it, restore the capacity of the IRS to administer taxes (they were on the verge of allowing most people not to have to calculate their taxes, the IRS would do it from employer-submitted info then check with the taxpayer) and to audit those who need it. The Republicans have systematically and effectively hobbled its ability to collect taxes that the law still imposes.
Those two measures would give a lot of flexibility for useful measures like the ACA subsidies and SNAP restoration and might allow reduction of the deficit as well, with no more pain than people had in 2016.
Jen, I am presupposing that like the demonic party that just got whomped, and for years turned to the Heritage Foundation and the Snidely Whiplashes of that nefarious think tank to draft the brutal and violent blueprint for how to ruin America and turn it into a dictatorship catering to oligarchs and Israel, that our new group of Democrats with lots and lots of young blood, will turn to well-informed, democratically minded, politically pure folks like yourself to draft the blueprint for a benevolent nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice FOR ALL!
So glad Fetterman has been rendered irrelevant. Now he can defect to the GOP and good riddance.
I agree they need to go full out and get all of these things done as well as finally getting the ERA fully ratified. And they need to work full weeks the majority of the year. Actions speak louder than words and if they get the jobs done, that would speak volumes for their campaigns.