We need a majority in the House, a supermajority in the Senate, and the Presidency to govern. They

[andym]

In theory they need only 40 votes in the Senate to block everything we do and potentially take apart the federal government. Right now they have more than that: 47 seats in the Senate and a 48 seat majority in the House.

They are held captive by ideologues who wish to disassemble the federal government ("Government is the problem.") We are represented by people used to compromising to get things done.

How can we solve unemployment or even reasonably think about solving long-term solvency problems (some of which could be solved by National Health Care to hold down medical costs) in the current situation?

It is not possible at the moment.

How can we sell a vision of how to fix things? We need bold leaders who will explain the problems clearly and why our solutions are better than the GOP's. In response these leaders we need strong demonstrations of public support. We need this now or the situation may get even worse (especially if the GOP gets enough power to implement their own solutions. In the case of Republican majorities, it is highly unlikely that 40 democratic votes in the Senate would block the funding of government to try to get their way. The only thing they could do is block further tax cuts (if they had the will to do so).

[ingac70]

1. Supermajority means shit with Blue Dogs. n/t

[andym]

2. Supermajority of progressives would be much betterr

but can we convince voters in say Louisiana or Nebraska to cooperate?

Otherwise your correct, we'll see something like we was with HCR, where Senators Lieberman and Nelson could diminish the legislation.

[Freddie Stubbs]

11. Liberals need to get off of their asses and run in GOP-dominated districts

[nenagh]

3. Seems to me that many Repubs on TV have had media training....

They seem to out-talk many of the Dems unfortunately..

[andym]

5. Agreed. They tend to have a more unified message as well. nt.

[jwhitesj]

12. I agree

It seems the biggest roadblock of liberalsim in America is the fact that liberals can't agree on a single message. It was easy for the tea-party movement. They have one unifying message of "No Taxes." We need to find some common ground on which to work and push forward that one message that unites us. We can squable over the finer details later.

[Horse with no Name]

16. If you listen closely...you can figure out what the message for the day is

because they repeat it over and over and over.

[andym]

17. Agreed, their message appears to be coordinated

I wonder how they are doing it (and not being called out for mindlessly repeating synchronized talking points)

[Horse with no Name]

18. Easy

every morning, a memo is sent out to the media friendlies, anyone that is their paid mouthpiece on TV, party leaders, on down the chain and told what message they want to get out that day.

It is repeated over and over and over and over and over.

Until the people who are only peripherally paying attention get sucked into the meme and then the meme becomes truth.

And then it is facebooked, emailed, repeated during the day as fact (because they heard it on the teevee--it has to be true, right?)

They've been working on this for a very long time and Democrats feel that they are above these coordinated type attacks on the human psyche. That is why we are losing.

It is simply...mind control.

That is why everything has a catchy little phrase..."up or down vote", "spreading democracy", "obamacare" et al.

Same premise why we teach kids nursery rhymes. It is easy to catch on to it. Same methodology.

[Liberal Veteran]

4. We also need the factions in our own party to stop insisting on holding us hostage.

Ben Nelson, Max Baucus, etc.

They did a super job of dragging out the health care debate to the point that they cost us any kind of momentum and put the debate into a net negative where political capital is concerned.

[andym]

7. Agreed

they cost us any chance at meaningful HCR. Medicare could have been expanded to 55 if not for Lieberman (who had previously supported the idea publicly.) At least that would have led down the real road to holding down medical costs and solving the long-term solvency issues. The idea is to eventually get one payer to force reasonable medical prices down the throats of the providers.

[Initech]

6. I'm hoping this whole phone-hacking scandal shuts down Fox News.

Then people will wake up and realize that we've been fucking lied to the last ten years.

[Oceansaway]

8. they're all Corporate Owned A$$holes...nt

[andym]

10. Weren't many of the 88th and 89th congresses that passed medicare and the civil rights act

also in the pockets of big corporations, especially the military industrial complex?

[craigmatic]

9. It's easy for them because they don't intend to govern.

[glinda]

13. Yes. Does no good to have a good President with not enough push behind them.

[MadHound]

14. No, what we need is a party with a spine,

And members of that party willing to fight down and dirty like LBJ.

[Gregorian]

15. I think this was why impeachment was off the table.

Am I wrong about that? We had discussions, and I'm pretty clear that we didn't have the votes. So instead of a protracted quagmire in the Senate, Pelosi just dropped it.