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Journal by DeathMonkey
Shit's gonna change. No matter what. Probably tomorrow.
The unique experience is actually right now when everything hasn't resolved yet.
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
Now KEN and BARBIE are PERMANENTLY ADDICTED to MIND-ALTERING DRUGS ...
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 06 2020, @03:20PM (6 children)
I think the biggest changes we'll see in the short term probably involve how the pandemic is handled. I really expect two things here:
1) Biden will provide clear and consistent guidance to the governors and actually lead. Trump has pretty much declined to lead and provided inconsistent guidance, leaving a messy patchwork of policies at the state level. States complained that they don't have the resources they need. I expect Biden will be better here.
2) Scientists will be free to provide guidance again and it will be welcome. Dr. Fauci will be taken seriously by the new administration. He'll be allowed to freely speak to the press. For that matter, the Biden administration would listen to climate scientists, too.
That said, I suspect DeathMonkey was referring to the election results. Biden is now ahead in Georgia and Pennsylvania. That changed overnight. We'll need to wait and see Trump's response, but I can't imagine it'll be anything good.
As for the Senate, there's some hope, but Democrats will have to compromise with moderate Republicans. If it's 51-49 and Biden is president, Democrats really would just need Susan Collins to vote with them. Depending on the issue, they might be able to get support from a few other Republican senators like Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney, and perhaps a few other moderate senators. Rand Paul may side with the Democrats on a few issues. This helps with confirmations and a certain types of bills like the federal budget, but it almost certainly wouldn't allow Democrats to pack the courts or eliminate the filibuster on legislation. But short of having 60 Democrats in the Senate, something that was never realistic in this election, it was always going to take the nuclear option or compromise with moderate Republicans to advance a lot of legislation.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 06 2020, @05:59PM (2 children)
Yep, I agree. I voted for Obama twice but one of the things that I found irritating about him was his inability to get bipartisan support. To be sure, much of the problem was the Republican strategy of making sure that our first African-American President would be a one-term President but I think Obama could have helped himself by being a bit less adversarial in response; he shouldn't have been quite so eager to snap at that bait. I'm hoping that Biden will do better on the bipartisan front. What we need right now is for Biden to be the Democrat version of Ronald Reagan. Reagan at least knew how to effectively reach across the aisle to get things done.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 06 2020, @08:49PM (1 child)
That's likely, as he ain't an uppity nigger who got too big for his britches. amirite?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 06 2020, @11:04PM
I fear that there may now be a bit too much truth in the room. Unfortunately, Moscow Mitch was never going to let that <dripping sarcasm>damned negro interloper</dripping sarcasm> in the White House negotiate anything. Of course, Biden is not Obama, so that changes the dynamic quite a bit. Even better would be if Mitch were to just have a quick heart attack and die already. For the sake of the nation, of course.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by DeathMonkey on Friday November 06 2020, @08:16PM (2 children)
I think they've called it for runoffs in both the GA Senate races.
So we won't even know who controls the Senate until those are resolved. Amazingly, it looks like Dems have the mid-term advantage these days. Trump really did get his people out, I guess you gotta give that some credit.
A margin of plus 1 or 2 in the Senate doesn't do shit for Dems unless we get rid of the filibuster. It's only useful to Republicans because all they want to do is block everything. Republican's jobs are a lot easier because their agenda is to literally do nothing.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 06 2020, @08:52PM (1 child)
You are seeming to forget the most important thing that Republicans did to screw themselves if they lose power. They held a vote to send the vote confirm ACB to the full Senate against the rules of the Senate and committee. They then voted on the floor to ignore that particular violation. Now the Democrats are given the gift to turn around and do the same thing whenever they want.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Saturday November 07 2020, @12:15AM
I'm not sure who ended the filibuster for Judges Trump has been abusing but now it's our turn!