Its Got to Be Asked: When We Dems Held the House and Senate....

[KoKo]

Last edited Tue Oct 15, 2013, 07:52 PM - Edit history (1)

WHY were WE not as POWERFUL as this Congress?

Anyone have any ideas about this? My first thought is that "We are Nicer than the Repugs and the Rabid Dogs Frothing at Mouth Repug TeaPartiers."

But, we Dems here on DU did see the RISE OF THE TEAPARTY..

SO WHY did OUR DEMS with the NETROOTS WE BUILT....let us down so badly with not doing the Procedural Rule Switches and the Parliamentary Maneuvers that the Republicans have seemed to MASTER!

Any thoughts about this? When Nancy Pelosi "Measured the Drapes" for her Leadership of the House and we were so THRILLED.... WHAT HAPPENED?

Help me here with the History. I was here and lived it ....but the "Shock Doctrine" of these years since Clinton Impeachment and Bush II Stealing an Election because of the USE Supreme Court has FRIED my Memory!

WHY DID OUR DEMS NOT DO WHAT THESE REPUGS DO! We on the LEFT were the NETROOTS INSURGENTS .......but...our PARTY did not do SHIT FOR US!

WHY?

EDITED...TYPO's and Quotation Marks and Rushing.

[Agnosticsherbet]

1. (1) We are not willing to destroy the system if we don't get exactly what we want.

(2) They were there to govern, not force an ideological agenda on everyone.
(3) Democrats are not as disciplined as Republican when it comes to enforcing ideological purity.

[Avalux]

2. Because Democrats don't act like Republicans.

That's why I am a Democrat. I wouldn't associate with a political party that pulled shenanigans like this. They are truly sociopaths and it's impossible to predict the depths to which they'll go.

[FarCenter]

3. That was when ACA and Dodd-Frank were passed.

Pretty much with only the Democrats majority vote.

But it is easier to block things that to put new things forward.

[treestar]

23. Exactly, that's why it's a false equivalence

It would never occur to Democrats to use government shut down for leverage - they don't want to see a shutdown. It doesn't go with Democratic goals. Whereas it can for extreme Republicans.

[babylonsister]

4. Wow, the drama!

Link to help refresh your memory; and you're right, we are too nice, but do we really want to be like them?

http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/425315/nancy_pelosi%3A_the_most_effective_speaker_of_the_house_in_history

Nancy Pelosi: The Most Effective Speaker of the House in History

[KoKo]

11. Thanks...I was going to do a Wicki Background but it didn't seem worth the bother

and you know i've been here with you all these years. It just get's kind of tiresome to do some research for a post and now one knows WTF you are talking about...nor do many care.

But, I have to hope people like you and I still care because we have a legacy of fighting for Truth to come out and trying to hold our Dems feet to the fire.

WE FAILED!

[TheDebbieDee]

5. We had a few Senators and Congressmen from red states

that held out on every issue til the repukes had their input in EVERY piece of legislation.

Mary Landreui, Blanche Lincoln, and several other Dems whose names escape me.

[smokey nj]

26. Joe Lieberman, the Nelson twins, and Max Baucus were a few others.

The biggest mistake Democrats made in 2009 was leaving the filibuster intact. At the time, it was the ONLY weapon Republicans had. It was extremely irresponsible to leave it laying around where they could get their hands on it.

[TheDebbieDee]

31. Yes, Nelson from Nebraska (I think) and Baucus..........

Baucus was the traitorous Dem that built a lot of the booby traps into the ACA.

[JoePhilly]

6. Because we are not sociopaths. I'll explain ...

Dems believe that the government can be a force for good.

The GOP sees government as something bad, unless they are in charge, and can leverage it to make a quick buck. And they don't care who gets hurt in the process.

The GOP looks at it this way ... "when Dems are in control, we want to stop government from doing much of anything. When WE the GOP are incharge, we'll work to weaken the government while simultaneously workign to steal as much of the tax money as we can."

That model doesn't work for the Dems. They want the government to actually do good things. Which means they need a real majority across the board, and for an extended period, to clean up the messes the GOP makes, even before we can start to make progress on other issues.

We work to build things up, they work to tear them down. This is why we can't act like them.

Compare this to building a house. Building a house is very hard to do. You need plans, skilled workers. But to tear one down, you don't need special tools, or even skilled labor.

Or take remodeling a kitchen. Tearing out the old one is EASY. Putting in all the new cabinets and appliances is much harder, and takes longer (if you want it to function correctly and look right).

The GOP are the drunk tenants who wreck the place ... Dems are the remodeling crew that has to come in and fix it all.

[treestar]

24. Wow, good analogy about the house building

[DireStrike]

7. There are only two possible explanations.

1) Democrats are all extremely naive. Despite the Republicans getting away with these tricks for at least a decade (that I've been watching), and getting their way every time, the Ds just will not give up their chivalrous attitudes. No matter how many times the Rs call them commies and liars, they will never retaliate. They are the perpetual Charlie Brown. They think this holds up the dignity of American government. They may be right, but the country will still collapse eventually when it's dragged all the way to the right.

2) Democrats are tools in a kabuki theater designed to provide an outlet for leftists so that we will never organize enough to accomplish any of our goals.

[leftstreet]

12. +1 to No. 2 n/t

[KoKo]

13. On Point #1...they brought in Lakoff (sp) to help them FRAME ISSUES for DEMS

during Bush II's Administration...and we had the Rise of NETROOTS...Howard Dean "Meet Up's," "Buzzflash, Media Whores Online" ..... PLUS Activism all Over on the Ground, and "Democratic Underground" and "Daily Kos." Then Firedoglake, Josh Marshall (the MuckRaker..lols) and the Birth of the BLOGOSPHERE. There was so MUCH PROGRESSIVE in the Blogosphere at that time... We Dems on Left were Riding High!

It didn't seem to matter once the screws came down on us.

So....possibly your #2 is the Stark Reality that really most of us don't want to think about. It's like "Whistling Past the Graveyard" to think that could be the TRUTH OF IT...

But........

[blkmusclmachine]

8. .

.

[rainy]

9. Corporate financed politicians and

Corporate owned media both of which never would have allow the true voice of the progressive to be heard or taken seriously. We would have been cremated if we even hinted at pulling this crap. The tea party was funded with big dollars to stop Obamacare and that is still their goal. They get away with everything even the worst behavior imaginable because they are useful tools. Look how bad it had to get before some of the media would even tentatively call them out.

[PeteSelman]

10. Because the things we truly need to do are inimical to the owners' interests.

That's why we didn't end trickle down, why we didn't get card check, why single payer wasn't even considered, why there were no repercussions for war crimes and Wall Street.

The baggers openly work for the owners and not the People. The democrats try to hide it.

[KoKo]

14. We didn't UNDERSTAND...that they DON'T and NEVER NEEDED US?

After all these years....that could be. We just were too innocent to realize it?

[KoKo]

18. I could go with you there...what you say...but, not popular

around here...even though there's such a Clear Ring of Truth to that most dire of the alternatives.

That's why I did this post and asked these questions.

For YEARS...DECADES NOW...we Dems are told if we WORK HARDER/TRY HARDER/ELECT MORE AND BETTER DEMOCRATS and DONATE....that "THINGS WILL CHANGE."

DID THEY? Does it mean we didn't "Work Harder/Try Harder/Elect More and Better Dems and Donate?

Seems to me a lot of SPIN AND DISINFO manipulating the Clueless ...to me.

But, then, I'm so disgusted by what's going on that I do feel we need to look BACK before TeaParty and CLEAN UP OUR OWN HOUSE!

[Tx4obama]

15. Because at that time it was the Senate that was the problem. We didn't have 60 votes for very long..

And in the Senate the republicans were obstructing everything and we needed 60 yes votes for cloture and we did NOT have 60 democratic senators for very long - only for 72 but if you take out the holiday recesses then it was only 20+ days.

The article on the link below states we had a super majority 72 for days (but it was really less than that) see the comment down below under the article...

Here: http://www.winningprogressive.org/democrats-had-a-filibuster-proof-senate-majority-for-72-days-during-president-obamas-first-term

[KoKo]

16. Why were these Seasoned Veterans not able to do what Boehner/Graham, others and

Tom DeLay, McCain and now Ted Cruz, Bachman and the rest have managed to accomplish?

WHY They all got their training in how to do this from Lakoff...(they had to bring him in they were so clueless..(as they told us)...and YET the REPUG POWER that's been there was allowed to FLOURISH while we were told to just keep giving our Dem's Elected ANOTHER CHANCE...because they were the GOOD GUYS AND GALS!

WHY

[DireStrike]

17. When I first heard the term "up or down vote"

it was some Republican demanding it on TV before I was even politically aware.

The next time I heard it was like... last week, talking about the shutdown.

The only time Democrats will say "bad" things about Republicans is when the country is about to collapse. Literally. That was an enormous election and the Democrats should have SMASHED the republicans on TV all through 2009 and swept them aside. But no, they decided we needed 60 votes to accomplish anything. Chivalry won and everyone else(except the republicans) lost.

Did they say anything about that asshole holding up senator Franken? I sure didn't hear it.

Edit: And not only did they not say anything bad about their esteemed colleagues on TV, they spent a year negotiating Obamacare with people who called the president a kenyan muslim communist who pals around with terrorists. They threw away progressive goals like a public option in exchange for zero votes.

And on, and on.

Oh, and we will never have a majority that big again. Maybe in 20 years. You think these poll numbers are gonna hurt the Republicans? Lying works. The Democrats blew their only chance. And boy are they relieved.

[KoKo]

21. Chivalry...I'm not sure...maybe it is...

I've come to think they all are in the same bed ...just on opposite sides of the blanket in a Twin Bed.

But yeah.....it does seem

On ....and ...On ...and On.....

[KoKo]

34. We had the Clinton Years of Impeachment...we Should have Been

"Ready to Roll" and it might not have come to this.

Then we had the Bush/Supreme Court Selection...We WERE THE NETROOTS....The "50 State Strategy" ....we Made Pelosi Speaker of the House...First Woman......and then.......

WHAT?

[ProSense]

19. You mean

"WHY were WE not as POWERFUL as this Congress?"

..."powerful" enough to act like terrorists? "Powerful" enough to alienate 74 percent of the country?

"WHY DID OUR DEMS NOT DO WHAT THESE REPUGS DO!"

Maybe because Dems aren't lunatics?

There is a difference between being "powerful" and threatening to blow up the economy.

[SamYeager]

20. We don't believe in buring the village in order to save it. n/t

[KoKo]

22. But...when would you figure...that there's a Time Limit on the Crap we are seeing

from those holding our Government Hostage? I'm not for burning Villages...but, why does a small percent of people funded by Incredibly Powerful Billionaires get to hold our Government Hostage.... And, our Dems in House and Senate (the Older Ones) just NEVER SAW THIS COMING?

How can that be.. These are Old Dem Savvy Folks ...many of them part of the 60's-70's Civil Rights Movement.

YET...they "just didn't see it coming?" When the "New Progessive Left Warned and Warned them about what was coming and the last Decades of Elections gave the HISTORY starting with REAGAN?

[rustydog]

25. Because our Democratic leadership lacked Balls, backbone,integrity and courage of conviction

They always threatened to end the filibuster. Didn't. When Pelosi took the house speakership, She told all America Impeachment of Bush was off the table. They allowed the 60-vote rule and still kept the filibuster which Republicans have used at historic high levels..

Repugnants scream impeachment if a Democrat passes gas. Democrats demur and let a war criminal leave office to rewrite history.

[bluestate10]

27. Because Democrats respect majority rule and the Constitution, republicans don't. nt

[pnwmom]

28. We didn't see the rise while we had majorities. The rise caused us to lose

the House majority.

[JaneyVee]

29. We only had 24 days of super majority.

[Drew Richards]

30. The DLC happened...i.dont.wish.to.say more or i'll vomit

[kath]

32. Yeah, there were all those damned DLCers/DINOs/BlueDogs that fuckin' Rahm Emanuel

Helped put in office, often sabotaging progressive candidates in the process.

[KoKo]

35. DLC was Clintons ....Renaissance Weekends of Study Groups,

Hilton Head Island. The thought was that Dems were losing elections because we weren't "Business Friendly Enough." How did that work out?

[DefenseLawyer]

33. I can report with certainty

That our powder is still dry.

[KoKo]

36. Indeed...... n/t

[Poll_Blind]

37. ^ This. nt

PB