Betwixt and Between
The Dems find themselves trapped betwixt and between. They had the largest turnout in history based mostly on two things:
1. Get rid of the orange pestilence.
2. A bunch of promises made about finally enacting beneficial legislation around immigration, minimum wage, voting rights, the environment, social justice, racialized policing and immunity, and more.
I, for one, desperately wanted numba 1 and numba 2.
Now they find out something the rest of us have known since Obama: The Goppers have no interest in governing, being good partners in governing, doing anything for the benefit of society at large rather than just for their wealthy donors, or anything else.
There stated agenda from the top down in the Senate is to prevent the Dems from doing anything at all. Even investigating the insurrection on Jan 6th.
Currently in the Senate, with the mere anonymous threat to filibuster, any Gopper can hijack any piece of proposed legislation and require a 60 vote threshold in the Senate to move the bill forward. In other words, the minority in the Senate right now can tie the hands of the majority in the Senate and prevent most of the legislation the Dems are trying to enact from ever moving forward. Or being passed and becoming law.
The solution? Well, this is where it gets tricky for the Dems. There is a serious calculation that has to be considered.
Many would say ‘then get rid of the filibuster!’ The Dems could literally do that right now. The filibuster is not a law. It’s a Senate rule. Which means the majority party in the Senate can change the Senate rules in any manner it chooses.
That is….if they could get the troublesome Joe Manchin and our rogue Senator from the Az I can’t wait to vote out Kyrsten Sinema to both vote to eliminate the filibuster, at least on certain kinds of bills.
With the filibuster gone, the Dems could enact most of their legislation on a 51–50 vote with the aid of the Vice President. Assuming again Manchin and Sinema come along for the ride.
The challenge with both is they still have this naive belief in doing business on a bi-partisan basis. With a bunch of folks who tried to overthrown the government and install a dictator. Silly right?
So. You might ask why don’t they just do that then, alter the filibuster, and keep their election promises? Two reasons:
1: The Senate loves its traditions and rules and believes it keeps things civil. No. That’s not a joke.
2. More importantly, and the Dems should really think this one through, what if they lose the Senate in the 2022 midterm elections and the Goppers are a put back in charge?
Are they ready to live for years under Goppers leadership without the ability to stop any legislation Trumpists and others bring forward?
What if a Ron ‘Shortstuff’ DeSantis wins the White House in 2024. Are they ready to have absolutely no power to effect change for those next 4 years?
That’s the Anguish of The InBetween. What to do…what to do?
Kill the filibuster, pass all their legislation, and hope in the 2022 and 2024 elections, the Dem/Moderate/Independent voters come out in hordes of gratitude for what they accomplished?
That’s one bet. Risky. Not sure what the odds are.
Or keep the filibuster and keep trying to do bi-partisan bills with the Goppers running the risk of never passing any of the commitments and promises they made to make government work for the people again?
And then deal with the massive dissatisfaction in their own party and risk losing the Senate in 2022 and the White House in 2024 because of distrust and disinterest from their own voters?
Betwixt and between I tell ya!
Either path is full of sticks, rocks, and thorns. And a few wild things. I’m not sure I have an answer for them. I do know that they are running out of time to get shit done. So they better caucus and decide on which bet they’re going to lay down. Because you can’t just sit at the table and not bet.
