DU POLL: Do you have more faith in the new congress than the last one? For example, will more get

[RKP5637]

accomplished? Will there be more bipartisanship?

As for me, I think we're in the same rut, but I'm curious what DU thinks. I know, it's a broad brush again, but I'm thinking in real generalities.

8 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	Yes
	2 (25%)
	No
	5 (63%)
	It's going to be far worse if Cantor is house leader.
	1 (13%)
	Maybe, if Boner is gone as house leader.
	0 (0%)
	Oh no, not another one of your polls.
	0 (0%)
	Can't answer this one, do you have another?
	0 (0%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[MannyGoldstein]

1. Elizabeth

Warren

[RKP5637]

5. I love Elizabeth Warren. Imagine if we had a whole congress of Elizabeth Warrens ... and some

of the others too. Elizabeth Warren gives me hope for the future.

[onehandle]

2. Nope. Lazy 2010 Obama voters set up a permanent Republican majority in the House.

As long as it is +1 Republicans Congress will do nothing.

[MannyGoldstein]

8. WWLBJD?

What would LBJ do?

Hint - he'd crush a few Republicans to show them who's boss.

[RKP5637]

9. Yep! LBJ took no SH**. The dems are lucky he was a dem and not a R. n/t

[MannyGoldstein]

12. Which is what we need now, IMHO. nt

[RKP5637]

18. Exactly!!! Some politicians just don't get it unless you kick back hard. They see

compromise as a sign of weakness. It's been a long time now, but in my corporate studies I once took a course on negotiations and dealing with different personalities, and they stressed compromise is NOT always successful. That sometimes it just will not work and actually weakens ones position.

Sometimes thinking back LBJ (to me) was a bit like J. Edgar Hoover. They both knew how to work behind the scenes and dirty politics. As they used to say about LBJ, if the R's didn't go along with him he called them into his office and banged their heads together. Something like that ...

[sabrina 1]

13. It was Independents who refused to support Blue Dogs in 2010 after feeling

betrayed by Dems on many important issues. Progressive Dems did vote however reluctantly as all the reports show. Maybe they should not have since they are constantly accused of staying home anyhow.

Most Progressive Dems remained in office thanks to those progressives who did go out to vote in 2010.

But when our party betrays those who vote for them, as happened after the 2008 election, people who are not motivated by Party Loyalty will refuse to give them another chance.

We were told constantly, as an excuse for, eg, the betrayal on the PO, that it was the fault of the Blue Dogs. So voters got rid of them. I never believed that frankly. It is up to the leadership of a party to get the votes and if they wanted the PO they would have had it.

But when a party fails the voters, they pay the price and so do all of us. The responsibility for the 2010 disaster lies at the feet of the Dem Party Leadership, the DLC/Third Way that has infiltrated the Big Tent. That is what we have to change in order to keep left leaning Independents on our side.

[w8liftinglady]

3. We have some powerful young guns in the house and the senate.

They aren't going to just "sit back".

[sabrina 1]

4. Yes, progressive dems gained nine seats in Congress reducing the influence

of the Republicans by a pretty considerable margin. Alan Grayson is worth ten weak Dems all by himself eg.

The Senate has gained some pretty progressive members and I hope they do not get caught up in whatever seems to be in the water in Washington.

We are in better shape with the new congress than this lame duck Congress which is the remnants of the 2010 election.

[RKP5637]

7. I really love Alan Grayson. He gives me so much hope, and he's not afraid to

speak up. Too many democrats smile and tuck their tails in, but not Alan Grayson. To get this country moving forward for "we the people" we need bold action, not band-aids.

I really think the masses of America are getting fed up with the republicans, and IMO this is the time for democrats to really move forward, show a strong vision for the future and show the masses that "we the people" are far stronger than the 2% and their big-buck contributors.

Yea for Alan Grayson!

[forestpath]

6. After all the betrayals by Democrats this week -

even Sherrod Brown and Tom Harkin said they may vote for SS cuts - I do not trust any Democrat. Period. Ever again.

[sabrina 1]

10. But don't forget the Progressive Caucus they have been up front in opposition

to the President's proposal to cut SS benefits. I do trust them but we need so many more of them. However THEY have the support this time of all the Progressive Organizations who for a while, were willing to remain silent even when the Dem leadership was willing to 'compromise' with Republicans. But not any more. There is huge mobilization now behind the Progressives in Congress which should have happened long ago.

[forestpath]

14. I've gotten 2 emails from the Progressive Change Campaign Committee this week

regarding my congressman (Gerry Connolly, VA's 11 District who is a Democrat), asking me to thank him for whatever he said he would do about SS. I had already called his office twice about it before I got those emails and got nowhere. So I called his office again to ask exactly what he'd done or said, and they claimed to know nothing about it and would not give me a straight answer about how he would vote. He's not in the Progressive Caucus so where did this organization get this information about him that I was not able to get, you know? I am so sick and tired of getting the run around. It has a cumulative effect on my cynicism and inability to believe anyone. Maybe there are some trustworthy Dems in the House...if there are I just hope they can do something, but honestly I have my doubts.

[customerserviceguy]

11. It's pretty much the same Congress as the last one

Yes, we gained a couple of Senate seats, but we're not filibuster-proof yet. And the few House seats we gained aren't much to talk about. In any case, if memory serves me correctly, they're seats in swing districts that blow one way or the other, whatever the prevailing political wind is. We're not going to see those new Democratic members do anything to jeopardize their chances when Obama isn't at the top of the ballot in two years.

[sabrina 1]

15. We gained nine seats in the House and several in the Senate and we have the WH.

We are in a much better position than we were after 2010. If the Republicans had this advantage, they would push through what they wanted. However with the Third Way firmly entrenched in the Dem Party now, we have a huge problem. That is what we are now working towards fixing. They need to go back to their own party as they do not belong in the Dem Party. The Big Tent was not meant to include Republicans, they have their own party.

[customerserviceguy]

17. The Rethugs have shown a willingness to hold together

when extremism is up before them. The only reason Boehner lost was that he tried to move the tea party off of their ideology, he forgot who he was dealing with.

The only way that there is a vote in the House for anything that can be sent to the President is if seventeen Repukes come over to our side on any bill, and there will likely be a goodly number of separate bills to deal with the various parts of the fiscal cliff. That's a lot of defections, especially when the seventeen know that they will be primaried by Grover Norquist and the tea party.

The ultimate mutally-assured-destruction weapon that the GOP has is a refusal to raise the debt ceiling. It means that with taxes fixed even at the Clinton-era levels, spending HAS to be cut to stop borrowing. They'll take the position that it is the only way they have of stopping a "rogue" President.

[woo me with science]

16. I'm pretty sure they have a room like this

for anyone who strays too far from the corporate line.

[RKP5637]

19. OMG, that movie really freaked me out when I first saw it when first released and

we were all a bit high.

[Tx4obama]

20. In 2012 we had 17 female senators. In 2013 we will have 20. Possibly 21 if Hawaii Gov...

appoints Ms. Hanabusa to the late Inouye's seat.

In my opinion the 113th Congress is already better

[RKP5637]

21. K&R !!!

[Jack Rabbit]

22. The Senate will be a little better, but the House will be the same old same old

It won't matter who the speaker is. Under Speaker Cantor, the Republicans will simply be more unabashedly nihilistic and obstinate than they were under Boehner. Since Boehner can't control the caucus, what difference will it make if he's the speaker or not.

The House is likely to pass a crock full of right wing manure that nobody else will have anything to do with. The Senate won't pass it and even if it did, the President won't sign it.

Which means nothing will get done. Which means we're fucked.

[BlueCaliDem]

23. Yes! The true masters of the GOP, Big Business, will force them to play ball

and so they will play ball. They'll work together with the Democrats to get things done.

The bottom lines of their Corporate Masters will demand it of them.