Hard to say what a good hard and fast limit would be.
And, it is only going to be an issue for the party that institutes it, as the other party could remove it when they have the majority.
Any filibuster rules need to be either constitutional, or somehow written into legislation (which I’m not sure how that would work, or if it even could)
Assuming that he is voted down, then that means that when he did get vetted, he was found wanting.
Those who knew who and what he was voted against him. The rest thought that the knew who and what he was and voted for him.
If he had held an actual public office, rather than just playing a rich guy on TV, then he’d have an actual record for people to look at, to see how he would use the powers granted to him by those he represents.
If he ends up being re-elected, then I’ll agree that a vetting won’t do any good. But, in the hopeful hypothetical of the OP, he is not, that is because people do know who he is and rebuked him for it.
You don’t know what the actual term of a Senator is but want to dictate who can run for office?
Then you suggest a milquetoast standard that would allow the local crossing guard to run but not someone with a Phd who didn’t do any public service.
The entire idea just rubs me the wrong way. And I’ve always loathed Trump.
I conceded the point in my post #55 on the basis of my own weak reasoning.
The true issue is the vulnerability of a grossly ignorant electorate, one that can no longer distinguish fact from fiction (Q-Anon) or reason their way through fairly straightforward choices (the guy who uses Birtherism as an election tool and grabs women by the genitals, or the woman who has served well and faithfully in government for much of her adult life?).
I view Fox “News” and its spin-offs as one of the biggest and most challenging issues to be addressed. How do you stop a 24-hour propaganda outlet from adversely influencing voters to vote against their own best interests and to despise fellow Americans with whom they disagree more than Russian oligarchs, and to instead advance the interests of the Federalist Society and those Russian oligarchs?
Biden was in the Senate long enough to know how to play hardball. Red states whose senators won’t cooperate. Reduced infrastructure money for you. That federal facility is going somewhere else. It’s not like these states are up for play.
Way too much federal money goes to red states based on how much taxes they pay. Who can complain about them evening this out?
Sorry, mistype, I meant 6-year term.
And as mentioned in my previous post, I already conceded the point. Although not on anything you wrote. Your nasty adversarial tone is not conducive to persuasion.
Make it so that “checks and balances” does not require the President to be an honorable man/woman in order for it to work.
Seriously, I’ll vote for the next candidate who promises that.
I’ll drink to that. It’s a sensible compromise. It isn’t exactly what either side wants…and thus is probably wise.
Alas, I fear that the majority would just waste time at the beginning of each Congress with a bunch of “poison pill” legislation to force the minority to burn up their filibusters. So we’d be back to where we started, but with time wasted.
Ugh…valid point. Sigh. “Never mind.”
That is certainly true. What’s also true is that will be the day the Republican Senate majority leader, whether McConnell or someone else, will eliminate the filibuster if it is still around. The first thing Schumer needs to do is if the Democrats take the senate is to eliminate it.
Good point.
Go for all the marbles and propose a constitutional amendment:
It may not pass, but even introducing it will spark the discussion.
Joe Biden is fairly called a career politician.
I don’t think one can fairly say that about Hillary Clinton.
However I agree with you on the main point. Plenty of dictators in history were former regional leaders or members of legislatures.
It‘s a mistake, I think, to look to recent history, and a sample size of one (DJT), as a guide to what to worry about in the longer term.
Somehow put teeth into congressional oversight of the executive. That McGahn couldn’t be compelled to testify under subpoena is ridiculous.
Without reading seventy-one replies before I POST, there are a few points I would like to make - apologies if someone already covered it and phrased it better.
Making the offer is good business, Biden is still campaigning on bringing the country together. Try to do so, you guys (the Dems whom I fully support now despite my current party affiliation) hold the moral high ground. Continue to do so, don’t be hypocrites just because they were when they were in power. Unite the country and let all voices be heard. Remind American that compromise used to be our strength – not seen as weakness. (Emphasis on living your personal beliefs - not on legislating your personal beliefs.)
Some Republicans will be on board, perhaps many by the time of inauguration. As soon as Trump loses a new spin will be put on things and he will be the problem – not the party, not conservatism. Even FOX News will help with this (although in a divisive and harmful way no doubt). What is more, Trump will help unite the country by being himself and giving conservatives and the dipshits who supported him a reason to abandon him and blame the very things they once loved about him for his own defeat.
Some will disengage and be neutral so neither helpful nor opposing good policy. And a good chunk will remain as … shortsighted and misinformed and improper and what is the word??? ?? Maybe ignorant (?) as they have been for the last four years. But their protests and ignorance will be limited to voting every now and then – four years most likely, but two years down the road at soonest. There will be no rallies for them to flock to and spew ignorant, uninformed FOX inspired talking points at news reporters after the election.
Obviously Trump supporters do not think for themselves – or at all for the most part. Just give them a new narrative they can support (or at least not hate) and they will be fine for the duration of the Biden administration. The narrative just has to be simple and easy to understand and sound a bit like hearkening back to the good old days of glory for the U.S. of A.
Last thought: Since Biden and other Democrats raised SO much money this month, would it be rude to offer to pay for Trump to hold another town hall on NBC networks? Just tell Trump’s campaign that every time their candidate addresses the American people Biden’s numbers go up so our campaign strategy is to get him more air time. (We just hope there are still people who will tune in to watch him!)
Sure Trump still has sincere supporters now, but I have to believe half the people who watch him do it because of why I watch him – there is nothing like a train wreck to spice up a boring day and every time Trump opens his mouth it is a train wreck.
He is a sinking ship, but the rats who support him are too… let’s say distracted to notice yet. Once he loses they will abandon ship with reckless abandon. I predict by next March or April (maybe by January 21) some conservative talking head will say: “What Trump? He was never one of us anyway, he was never conservative and he was never truly a Republican. Look how he spent like a Democrat and …”
Okay, my real and true last thought (sorry, I get carried away). Being closely associated with a few Trump supporters, I have an additional suggestion. Whatever criteria you want to require for a presidential candidate (what any military volunteer goes through at least), I further suggest voters should have to take an intelligence test of some sort. If you cannot explain two sides of ANY argument on any issue you are not well enough informed to vote. I routinely tell trump supporters that I understand their argument, I just disagree with it. If they can explain any other point of view I will drop the matter. Sadly, their understanding of the opposing view often boils down to: “The Democrats are trying to make us a Socialist Nation dammit!!”
They were dangerous because their leader was unpredictable and they were too stupid to see he was ruining every single thing that was good and decent about this country. Yes, there are a few true believers, but a whole lot of them just got caught up in a group think gone amok. They are (and I know a ton of them) easily frightened and reactionary, unable to process anything they did not know in their youth, and they absolutely cannot think for themselves. Just create a narrative that Rush Limbaugh can tolerate – and they become invisible. Yes, they will wander from room to room in their own homes sprouting absurd theories; but if there is any nationalistic cause that Biden can put out - some initiative that sounds all apple pie, baseball on a summer evening, and especially “the one superpower left on earth”, they will only grumble about socialism – not openly fight it.
After the election, our strength is in our ability to get along will be the important lesson. Because you are right about them being power hungry and vicious. They would kick you to the curb if they won, be better than they would be and win them to your side. How hard can it be? Trump did it and he is an … well some believe he has cognitive challenges.
Do need to take the Senate however, no argument from me on that score.
Biden signs an Executive Order declaring the Republican Party a hate group/terrorist organization on the same level as the Ku Klux Klan or the American Nazi Party. Like the Klan or the American Nazis, they are permitted to exist, but are no longer a force to be reckoned with in American politics.
Hey, we can hope, can’t we?
-“BB”-
The top priority should be ending the pandemic. There will perhaps be a few vaccines that have cleared trials in early 2021 and the administration will have to decide which ones are the most suitable and arrange for their manufacturing and distribution. It will be one of the most complex and important tasks ever undertaken by the federal government, requiring close co-ordination with every state and local government and the creation of public trust, possibly in an environment where Trump is still raging about the election result.
Once that is done reviving the economy should be the next priority and if the Republicans don’t play ball on that, ending the filibuster.
These are probably my top 5 as well, but the first two bullet points should have precedence. A functioning democracy is a prerequisite for the other points, and the hundreds of thousands (if not millions in the past century or so) who have died early due to sub optimal health care is both greater than those thus affected by injustice, and easier to tackle than income inequality and climate change.
I guess for the other 3 we should adopt the low hanging fruit as a start, such as re entering Paris, commissions for police reform, de-emphasizing the war on drugs, and rolling back the recent tax giveaways.