Thirteen circuits, thirteen seats

[Mr. Scorpio]

It’s an existential imperative.

[dalton99a]

1. It is the only way to stop the monsters

[KPN]

8. THIS. We can twiddle thumbs, play the violin, etc., while ....

or we can do what is necessary.

We didn't put the nation here, we shouldn't worry about how they respond to us protecting it and ourselves. In circumstances like these, "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself". Regardless of what we do, how we react to them, we know we are going to be faced with a long period of "troubles". Better save our nation by doing what is necessary than losing it out of worry that they will respond in like fashion and we may lose. We are going to lose if we don't anyway. It's that simple.

[LongtimeAZDem]

2. Agreed

[ck4829]

3. K&R

[Otto_Harper]

4. Actually, I think it should be 26 seats

There are some that would say this is over the top, and that this might invalidate the court, but, given what we have just seen, it is imperative that the court be stopped in its tracks from dismantling the entire judicial history of the US in a single session. Load the court with a large number of young, rational justices who have actually demonstrated a knowledge and respect for jurisprudence. Then the occasional idealogue they manage to shove onto it later will be of no consequence.

[wyn borkins]

18. I Fully Agree With You, In That

We 'otto' make it 26 seats, with 2 justices from each 1 of the 13 circuits

And I'll keep 'harper'(ing) on that until it happens, hopefully soon(ishly)

[NQAS]

5. Agreed

I'm too lazy to look this up, but what are the logistics for making this happen?

I love Obama, but I was disappointed in his "we have to look forward" attitude. He may have been right, or he may have changed the course of American history if he had looked backward and investigated 9/11 more thoroughly and Bush's wrong-headed wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And I love Joe Biden. What a guy. But he has more than a half century working within the system that he now leads. That system has 9 supreme court justices. That system has legislators on both sides of the aisle reaching compromises. That system had Democrats and Republicans who, outside the halls of Congress, were friends. Unfortunately, that world no longer exists. The Republicans have spent 50 years getting to where we are now. They all played from the same playbook and sang from the same sheet of music (and other metaphors). Now, Republicans only hate. They hate everything, especially Democrats, and they want Democrats dead. They want Joe Biden dead. They want women back in the kitchen. They want anarchy. Chaos. Corporate control.
You don't fight this with the Joe Biden equivalent of kumbaya.

Whatever the Democrats have to do to get Manchin and Sinema to play ball, they need to do that. I have no idea what that is, but someone does. And the operating policy is No holds barred. They need to put every possible resource in play to get Warnock and Kelly elected and to keep/expand Democratic seats in Congress. They need to hang the abortion issue around the necks of Republicans. And they need to hang dirty air and water around the necks of the supreme court and the republicans/fascists who enabled that to happen. And 13 Supreme Court justices is part of that. Put the Democrats of the J6 committee to work on this, as they seem to understand no holds barred (regardless of whether anyone is indicted).

[OrangeJoe]

9. I think we might see 13 Justices

If the Republicans take the House, Senate and White House in 2024 I wouldn't be at all surprised that they expand the Court to 13 seats and appoint 4 new justices. They will cover their asses by saying that the Dems wanted to do it so we can't complain. They also will eliminate the filibuster if they get a Senate majority.

[Hav]

13. Those who propose this expansion now

would surely be in favor of repubs doing it. After all, it follows their own logic of thirteen circuits, thirteen seats.

[OrangeJoe]

21. No

Clearly the people proposing an expansion of the court have the goal of correcting for the LYING during their confirmation hearing committed by the 3 most recent justices. However, we can be assured that McConnell will go ahead with this if he can just like the Republicans will cast aside the filibuster if it hinders their goals.

[NQAS]

23. Which is why it is incumbent on dems to do this

As orange joe notes, if dems mention it now and dems don’t do it republicans will take this as tacit approval for them to fo it if/when they are in the majority.

[Novara]

6. Do you guys think if there was a Pelosi instead of a Schumer ...

... leading the Senate, there'd still be two holdouts to modifying the filibuster?

I don't. That woman knows how to get her caucus in line. Schumer seems pretty hapless to me.

[dalton99a]

7. Schumer... Schumer ... Who is Schumer?

[Colbert]

15. Only one

... Manchin would become an independent, but caucus with the GOP

[electric_blue68]

22. There was an "incident" sometime after drumph took office when Sen Schumer got angryish, or used...

stronger wording, or both at the same time (I think in the 3rd year of drumph), AND sooo many people got upset at the Senator!!!

It was him being unusually forceful that was surprising, and I didn't think he needed to apologise.

In fact it definitely was after June of 2020 bc I read about it on DU, and I only got on here in early June of '20.

[KPN]

10. Hell yes.

Here's what the GQP is doing while we debate internally about the ramifications of playing hardball ....

[link:https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/wisconsin-s-conservative-high-court-hands-gop-another-weapon/ar-AAZ3Svv|

They change the rules at every level whenever they can't get what they want with the current rules and we debate whether it is wise to do so. Infuriating, discouraging and disheartening frankly. No wonder the millennials and GenZ have given up on the two party system.

[Fla Dem]

11. 13 Circuits, 13 Seats. Should absolutely be a campaign slogan going into the Nov elections.

Short, to the point and meaningful.

[hay rick]

12. The supreme court needs to be reformed or rendered irrelevant and harmless.

If I have to choose between protecting the earth and discarding the constitution in its current form and implementation, it's an easy choice.

[NotASurfer]

14. This is the kind of systemic issue that used to result in an Amendment

Good luck getting that through the Senate, let alone enough states, today. You'd at least make Justices reconfirmable every decade and limit the number of Justices that could be appointed during any 4-year presidency, kind of the way Presidents have been term-limited in reaction to FDR.

[RANDYWILDMAN]

16. The Senate is a cluster

too many states are rubber stamps for RW politics and they are blocking the wheels of progress !

[H2O Man]

17. Recommended.

[LiberalFighter]

19. And reduce their pension when they retire.

They should not be receiving 100 percent what they received while working.

All 870 federal judges receive it when they retire.

[Lonestarblue]

20. If Dems gain a net of at least two seats this Fall and hold the House, I want them to be brutal.

Three seats would be preferable. Here is my wish list.

1. Expand the SC to 13 justices.
2. Get rid of lifetime appointments and set term limits throughout the federal judiciary.
3. Evaluate the work load of each district court, which has been an issue for some districts for years, and add new judges as needed to address the work load. Confirm new judges ASAP but certainly before 2024.
4. Add PR and DC as states, and do this in January so they have time to prepare for the 2024 election.
5. Pass a new voting rights act that outlaws the gerrymandering of districts for federal elections, sets consistent standards for vote by mail procedures, creates a uniform (and simple) design for mail ballots, establishes automatic voter registration at age 18, and sets rules for how and when voters may be purged from voting rolls; e.g., no voter’s registration may be revoked within 12 months of a federal election. I’m sure more could be added, such as restoring the rights of federal prisoners to vote without financial restrictions upon release from prison.
6. Pass a personal rights law that codifies access to abortion (including telehealth for accessing medication abortion and birth control such as the pill, or even make the pill an OTC med), LGBTQ rights, and outlaws state sodomy and miscegenation laws that are making a comeback in Republican states.


Sometime during 2023 or early 2024, lower the age for Medicare eligibility to 55 or 60, eliminate the Social Security cap on earnings to be taxed, and pass universal healthcare to be phased in over a period of time to adjust for employer plans. I’m sure I could think of more, but these are all important to prevent the destruction of rights and our democracy. I would like to see Democrats in the House have these bills all lined up and ready to go (except maybe for healthcare, which is a real bucket of worms) when the next Congress is sworn in on January 3, 2023. I have faith that Pelosi could get such a monumental task accomplished but not so much for Schumer.

As a long-term goal that probably could not be achieved in my lifetime, two new Constitutional amendments should be proposed: (1) clearly codifying the personal rights to abortion and LGBTQ rights in the Constitution, and (2) changing the makeup of the Senate to be more representational so that a state with a small population does not get outsized control. Every state would have at least one Senator, with medium states getting two, and large states getting three—all based on population. While that would give a blue state like California one new seat, it would also give red states like Texas and Florida new seats.

What would you add to my initial list of 7?