General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhat should be the Democrat's agenda if they win back the House and keep the Senate?
And, maintain the White House?
Should they try to work in a bipartisan way with the Republicans?
Or should they try to clean up some of the mess that the Republicans have created with their blocking and filibusters? How would they do that?
If they are fortunate enough to have the people put them back into the drivers seat as they were in 2008, what should they do?
Politicalboi
(15,189 posts)Legalize Marijuana, and recognize gay marriage federally throughout the US.
PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)Republicans will only have 10 seats up for election: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_elections,_2012
They could modify the Senate rules on filibusters at the beginning of the next Senate, but they also could
have done the same at the beginning of this one and Reid passed on that.
kentuck
(111,110 posts)Then wouldn't filibusters be much more difficult? Cannot the majority change a rule by simple majority?
PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)For example they could change the rules to make people that want to filibuster actually stand up and talk for as long
as they want to filibuster instead of as it is now where they just have to threaten to filibuster.
There was a lot of discussion about making changes at the beginning of the current Senate (much speculation in the
media and several DU threads) but it came to nothing.
kentuck
(111,110 posts)Well, it has come around and now it is time to go around...
libinnyandia
(1,374 posts)10 % of the population can stop the Senate from doing anything.
spartan61
(2,091 posts)and it didn't work. Now it is time to go full force and bring back the bills that were blocked and filibustered by the rethugs because they wanted to "make Obama a one term president." In many cases they were bills first proposed by the rethugs, but when Obama supported them, they were now voted against and to hell with what the American people wanted. I worked hard on the Obama campaign in 2008 and plan to work even harder this time around. I can't imagine our country with Romney in the White House. I'm afraid it would be bush on steroids.
OffWithTheirHeads
(10,337 posts)KatyMan
(4,211 posts)Outlaw everything the right wingers accuse them of wanting to outlaw.
gratuitous
(82,849 posts)Oh, unless you mean that perhaps they learned their lesson from the 2009-10 debacle? In which case, letting the Bush tax cuts expire. I'm okay with paying a little more if the wealthy are paying the same percentage more. We could finish off those two wars we're still prosecuting, and get the hell out of Iraq and Afghanistan. Probably save a lot of money right there. Maybe they could make the Department of Labor work a little more forcefully on behalf of Labor, and protect every worker's rights.
Most of all, I'd like to see the Democrats govern like Democrats, and at least pretend that the voters who voted them into office matter to their political fortunes.
anti-alec
(420 posts)and they do not get treated as equal. They are now a third class citizens, next to the child molestors.
Fix filibusters so that if they intend to filibuster, they must do it in its entiriety and in its proper format. Any attempt to threaten filibuster will be forced to do a real filibuster. No more 60+ majority crap. Reid needs to be smacked upside the head for that idea.
Republicans will be forced to sit in a corner, quietly and electrodes attached to their parts and every time they think right-wing, they get automatically shocked until they call it quits. Then the electrodes can be removed. Surgically. Without anethesia.
Also, finally, move all the Republicans and the tea partiers into Northern Marinara Islands where it's still an US territory, but they're ignoring just about every law that the US enacted. Once every right-wing fuckwits are there, declare Northern Marinaras annexed to Iran.
FarCenter
(19,429 posts)Dismantle the Military Industrial Complex.
Arkana
(24,347 posts)MisterP
(23,730 posts)zbdent
(35,392 posts)Enough Senate Dems will cave to the Repug filibuster, under pressure from the "liberally-biased corporate media".
And no, I'm not counting the "independents", or even Joe Lieberman, in that 62 ... (I believe JL isn't running again ... GOOD!)
Lawlbringer
(550 posts)Just being him is a crime against humanity.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)jus-theFACTS
(15 posts)YellowRubberDuckie
(19,736 posts)Sounds like a good place to start.