An Absolute Victory

[grantcart]

There is nothing minimal in this victory.

This is what we won:

Even though the Republicans won the House and have a significant majority there they have yet to advance a single bill.

They invented a new metric: Judge them by what they undo, by what legislation they can get repealed.

They have yet to repeal a single bill.

Mired in their impotence their fratricide has erupted and they bet the farm on getting Obamacare repealed and then simply delayed.

They lost the farm, the tactic of closing the government and not paying the bills.

They got nothing, except more civil war.

Tonight our caucuses are absolutely united and theirs are absolutely divided.

In January we will have another chance to pressure them to pass a real budget, increase revenues and get away from the sequester.

We will enter that engagement 100% united while they will be festering in hatred, and the hatred that started aimed at our President, then to our representatives, and then to every one of us has now been trained on each other.

They have adopted the Dick Cheney tactic of shooting your friend in the face.

We now have a real chance next November and only one issue matters: 218.

And the wonderful cherry on the top of this wonderful dessert is to listen to Senator Schumer openly compliment the great work of Senator McConnell, which as we all know, will simply undermine his reelection campaign and provide perfect sound bites for his Tea Party challenger.

It is a great and delicious victory. We will be able to recruit a stronger class of congressional candidates for Republican held seats and the Republicans will find it almost impossible to attract non Tea Party candidates to run against Democratic seats.

And if all of that is not enough the Republicans have just initiated a great campaign to start aggressively raise campaign funds that will be used against other Republicans in primary contests.

It is absolutely true that we have not crossed the line winning the race, but we just lapped the other guy who was seen to be arguing with himself as we passed him by.

One of my favorites sayings:

Sometimes the good guys do win.

[Scootaloo]

1. Now here's the tricky part...

Getting Democrats to capitalize on this. Our party, its leaders and its base have some kind of crippling problems.

1) Our leaders tend to "forgive and forget." While perhaps a reasonable enough approach, it stops being so when dealing with consistently unreasonable people. Congress is no longer a body of colleagues working towards a shared goal, if taking different paths. It's one contingent trying to preserve the nation at loggerheads with another contingent eager to destroy it. Our leaders, both in the Legislative and Executive, need to clamp their teeth on this shit, and never let go. hammer it constantly, drag the Republicans through their own shit constantly. don't give an inch, don't let them get away with a single damn thing. Things are already hostile, so there's no worry of that suddenly happening.

2) Our base has this weird thing where we seem to think that the president is the most important person in government. Democrats roll out in gigantic herds every four years to elect a new president - there's little trouble getting out the vote for a presidential year. However, the other election cycles, Democrats are... less enthusiastic, even though the House and Senate actually matter much more, and for longer, to say nothing of state and city politics. it's a little ironic that a party centered around Power Of The People tends to focu on a single charismatic person and pay less attention to representatives, but there it is. People need to get out there and get people to the polls for non-presidential elections. it's crucial, especially with problem #1, as we're seeing that even a great democratic president can't get much done with an intransigent congress arrayed against him.

3) From top to bottom, Democrats - and liberals as a whole - seem to have a real aversion to propaganda and the use of it. we seem to favor doing like John Kerry, explaining all the facts one after another, rather than just condensing and zipping the argument out there. propaganda does NOT mean "lying," it is simply a method of persuading. While facts are certainly important, a litany of them doesn't win people over - good rhetoric, sharp imagery, and memorable wit do. And somehow, the illiterate gibbons of the Republicn Party are master of utilizing propaganda, both true and false, while we're lagging way behind, picking through those nuggets and arguing fact-by-fact like 7th-graders poking through owl pellets to identify the bones.

[grantcart]

3. Good points

1) I believe that we will remain very united because we are completely united against the Sequestering budget, and that will be the next battle line.

2) I predict that the next big issue will not be budgets but immigration reform. It will continue to unite us and divide the Republicans. It also goes to the heart of turn out. If we simply can get the Hispanic turn out the same as White/AA it would have a big impact on the turn out question.

3) I agree. We tend to want to disagree and find every shade. Its a result of having lots of impassioned smart people. But sometimes we need to simply link arms and sing ""I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night" (well not me I can't sing Happy Birthday in tune) and build a cohesive group identity. But even tonight in the middle of a significant win there are a dozen thread lamenting that it is a tarnished victory at best or a loss at worse.

[IrishAyes]

28. Doesn't matter if you can't sing. You can think and write.

I, on the other hand, sing like a nightingale.

Take your pick!

[IrishAyes]

30. In short, no more bringing library books to knife fights, right?

Hey, 'he' wasn't the first person to use that expression!

Wish we could merge Kerry's intelligence and character with what's-his-name's in-your-face fire when needed.

Oh, wait, that combination does remind me of somebody... oh, yeah ... the President. Even if I were his opponent, an unthinkable concept, I'd quake at the thought of being called on the carpet by him. He takes bad guys to the woodshed!

[Scootaloo]

36. he does. Watching the debates, both elections, was like watching a judo master

But... the president's one guy, and he has a busy day.

[IrishAyes]

37. I agree with you in the other post, btw.

Time for us to pile on the opposition. Run 'em outta town on a rail. (We probably don't need the tar and feathers, though - they've taken care of that themselves, looks like.)

[grantcart]

49. "busy day"

exactly and he wants to work on actual not manufactured problems.

[ProSense]

2. It's simply obtuse to claim to not know this or it's willful ignorance. n/t

[Cha]

4. This is a Total Victory for Us! I am so Happy.. not only for

Last edited Wed Oct 16, 2013, 11:18 PM - Edit history (1)

me personally(don't have to worry about what I'm going to do without a SS check next month).. but for all the Millions and Millions of people who would be losing their Lifelines for who knows how long. I know how crazy the teabaggerklan is. cruz was whining that the Senate blew it for them.. so thank Goodness for the Senate(Women Senators!)

And, to all the People who will be going back to WORK from their Furloughed JOBS.. How victorious do you think they feel. Nothing like having a job and money coming in.

And, the Silver Lining? That's obvious.. the absolute fury so many feel at the [font size=lg]GotOurPaychecks[/font] attemping the Coup to Bogart our Country and our PAYChECKS!

All the points you made were excellent, grant. Now we have a year to get back our House and with a Winning Attitude we can do it.

Thank you for your great thread, grant! And, I will allow myself to celebrate this victory after all these horrible weeks of devastation by the terrorists in the House and ted freakshowcruz

"And the wonderful cherry on the top of this wonderful dessert is to listen to Senator Schumer openly compliment the great work of Senator McConnell, which as we all know, will simply undermine his reelection campaign and provide perfect sound bites for his Tea Party challenger."

Brawawaa.. Senator Schumer... oh, and Senator McConnell

Oh, and this guy..



H/T babylonsistah http://www.democraticunderground.com/110218385

[BornLooser]

32. "GotOurPaychecks"

Flawless

[Cha]

35. It's not mine.. I stole it from FB..

[sheshe2]

5. I agree, this is an absolute victory for the Democratic party!

To deny it is like denying climate change.

You can't deny the truth when it is standing in front of you.

Thanks grant.

[NYC_SKP]

6. Recommended! nt

[enough]

7. "Even though the Republicans won the House and have a significant majority there they have yet to

advance a single bill."

Here you have a simple one-sentence idea that could bring them defeat. Thanks!

[panader0]

9. This stands out

[freshwest]

8. It's a very personal one for those I care about. Thanks PBO and Democrats! Stay united through 2014!

[Cha]

10. Another Victory, grant..

Bobfr @Our4thEstate TY @SenatorReid Beyond avoiding default, legislatively preventing the validity of US debt from being questioned again is an enormous VICTORY3:05 PM - 16 Oct 2013
2 Retweets Reply

http://theobamadiary.com/2013/10/16/heads-up-president-obama-statement/#comments

And, I hear Rachael did a great segment on everything the teabaggerklan LOST in this deal!

[grantcart]

11. She was great and she just called the NJ Senator's race for Senator Booker.

[Cha]

12. Do you have a synopsis of what they LOST?

Just like to have a taste before I see it when available.

Another Dem WIN Senator Booker!

[Cha]

14. Got It!

H/T Heather MC http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023867124

To Freaking LOSERS and the Silver Lining they gave to GOTV2014!

[babylonsister]

13. A thing of beauty!

I'm pretty happy tonight, despite what has been lost by so many. I'm happy our Dems drowned the teabaggers, and got a good amount of rethugs to join them.

[Cha]

18. Ain't it so, babylongsistah..

It could have been sooo much worse if not for our Fighting Dems!

Oh and including this guy..



H/T babylonsistah http://www.democraticunderground.com/110218385

[Zorra]

15. The most important win of all may be in how unpopular this debacle has made the republican party.

If we can keep them down near to how far down they are today, we may be having a wild nationwide Democratic Party party on election night 2014.

It may be a good idea to continually mass reinforce just how totally uncool it is to be a republican these days.

[Starry Messenger]

17. That's what I think too.

I really hope it's a blowout.

[joshcryer]

16. Yep, they were obliterated.

And the Democrats who stood firm, who faced the abyss, and held their ground, they should be recognized for this 100%. Call your Representative. Tell them you're proud of them. Tell them you're behind them. Tell them you want them to keep fighting.

[grantcart]

19. good advice, just as it passes.

[upi402]

20. here's what we "won"

Health care

$20 million cut from the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Programs
$10 million cut from the World Trade Center Health Program Fund
$168 million cut from Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
$75 million cut from the Aging and Disability Services Programs

Housing

$199 million cut from public housing
$96 million cut from Homeless Assistance Grants
$17 million cut from Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS
$19 million cut from Housing for the Elderly
$175 million cut from Low Income Home Energy Assistance

Disaster and Emergency

$928 million cut from FEMA’s disaster relief money
$6 million cut from Emergency Food and Shelter
$70 million cut from the Agricultural Disaster Relief Fund at USDA
$61 million cut from the Hazardous Substance Superfund at EPA
$125 million cut from the Wildland Fire Management
$53 million cut from Salaries and Expenses at the Food Safety and Inspection Service

Obamacare

$13 million cut from the Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan Program (Co-ops)
$57 million cut from the Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control
$51 million cut from the Prevention and Public Health Fund
$27 million cut from the State Grants and Demonstrations
$44 million cut from the Affordable Insurance Exchange Grants program

Education

$633 million cut from the Department of Education’s Special Education programs
$184 million cut from Rehabilitation Services and Disability Research
$71 million cut from administration at the Office of Federal Student Aid
$116 million cut from Higher Education
$86 million cut from Student Financial Assistance

Immigration

$512 million cut from Customs and Border Protection
$17 million cut from Automation Modernization, Customs and Border Protection
$20 million cut from Border Security Fencing, Infrastructure, and Technology

Security

$79 million cut from Embassy Security, Construction, and Maintenance
$604 million cut from National Nuclear Security Administration
$232 million cut from the Federal Aviation Administration
$394 million cut from Defense Environmental Cleanup

[Puzzledtraveller]

21. Hey, don't be a kill joy

Our team has the ball, you are a team player aren't you?

[grantcart]

25. Thanks for the kick

[progressoid]

45. Stop it!

This was an epic win for us!


You'll appreciate this win better with these:

[alcibiades_mystery]

22. The multiple postings telling us not to be happy or celebrate are incredible

Some people feel better when they lose. It's pathetic, but par for the course.

This was a major ass-kicking. Give it an unqualified clap and move on. Jesus.

[Puzzledtraveller]

23. So, what did we gain?

I said this was like watching a movie and pausing it for a few weeks and coming back to it, it's still the same movie. We are going to go through this again.

[alcibiades_mystery]

27. PFFFFFFFT

Stop enjoying losing.

[IrishAyes]

24. Re: Schumer's obvious compliment

Method in his 'madness'! With friends like that!

I almost fainted from the quiet sarcasm of Reid referring to McConnell as 'my friend'. I know it's traditional terminology, but the sarcasm in that soft voice was delicious. You know how I love sarcasm.

[grantcart]

40. It dripped all over my living room carpet!

[IrishAyes]

47. That's okay.

You've both got enough honey in the Irish bank that I'd offer free cleaning service anytime.

So, let 'er (d)rip!

[Gore1FL]

26. "They have adopted the Dick Cheney tactic of shooting your friend in the face. "

LOL! Well said!

[grantcart]

39. They got pretty good at it too!

[blkmusclmachine]

29. See you all back here in 60 and 90 days for the Sequels to this mess.

[grantcart]

31. At which time the sequester comes up again for another big hit.

And which gives us an even better opportunity to frame the 2014 GE.

Why do you think that the House tried to sabotage it?

[DevonRex]

33. I enjoyed everything but the missing paychecks.

People don't realize we didn't get paid for the last 2 weeks in September plus the 2 weeks of October. Lord only knows how long it'll take to straighten all this mess out either.

Even so, I've watched those stupid Republicans self destruct with joy.

[grantcart]

34. I know, I know, I know.

For me I lost 6 weeks of income because I sell supplemental plans to federal employees and for some reason people don't like to consider purchasing more benefits when they aren't getting paid.

We just got things rebuilt from the Sequester furlough insanity.

It is a big hit but I am glad they didn't compromise. I want to make sure that we never go through this again.

[DevonRex]

38. Same here. We didn't want any compromise at all.

Not even to allow them to save face. They can't save face with this. Not at all.

[Cha]

41. I'm so glad it's over, Devon.. sorry, for

what you had to go through with the missing work and money. You and everyone else who were so adversely affected by the complete terrorism of our government by those who followed cruz off the cliff.

[yuiyoshida]

42. Absolutley

[madokie]

43. Yes we won

My inbox is loaded with thanks from different organizations congratulating us for standing up to the puklicons and winning this battle. To me who won is the President, I give him all the credit, of course his knowing many of us out here had his back had to help too.

I think a lot of our President in case you didn't already know that.

As a youth I often wondered if Americans would ever elect someone other than a white man as President and I'm here to tell you I am proud that I was one of the votes that did just that. Now that feels good.
Now its time for a woman to occupy the oval office and thats what I'll be putting my efforts towards in the near future.
Hopefully it'll be Sen Warren. I really like her, as much as I liked O at this same juncture in his climb to the top.

[uponit7771]

44. They did NOT lose the farm, they will happily do this again next week and be hated by moderates and

...they wont have to care about moderates because of unmitigated gerrymandering in the house.

Maybe the senate cons might have to care slightly

[deutsey]

46. What can we do to put pressure on Congress between now and the next deadline

to prevent this from happening again?

[grantcart]

48. write a letter to your congressman.

Not an email or phone message.

They know that if they get one letter that there are 5,000 others who share the same sentiment but didn't write.

This has the biggest impact.

[librechik]

50. Sure. Til mid February. n/t

[grantcart]

51. At which time the impact on the sequester for the defense department doubles

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/sequestration-still-matters/2013/10/14/c83c2580-3428-11e3-80c6-7e6dd8d22d8f_story.html


Should sequester continue, the House’s fiscal 2014 defense figure would have to come down $47.9 billion, while the Senate’s would have to drop $54.1 billion, according to the nonprofit Bipartisan Policy Center.

Subsequently, the center says, “the impact of the defense sequester . . . will double in fiscal 2014 and triple in fiscal 2015 compared to fiscal 2013.”

The report found that if the defense sequester caps were not changed, between the Reagan administration defense budget and the end of the sequester in fiscal 2021, ground divisions will drop from 20 to six, Air Force fighter and attack planes will drop by 1,632 aircraft, and Navy ships will drop by 338, with the aircraft carrier force declining from 15 carriers to seven in 2021.

[Progressive dog]

52. It was a victory

and if the Republicans are stupid enough to pull that stunt again, they'll be guaranteeing that they will lose the one thing that they care about come November.

[IronLionZion]

53. We still have to beat those assholes in the elections

They have no problem spewing pure bullshit, but our side struggles to share our truth in a way that appeals to voters. There's a PR war that has hopefully turned in our favor but its an ongoing war and for some reason our side just hasn't been very good at promoting our message.