What do Progressives/Democratic Socialists want from the House in 2019-2020

Ok, so Democrat’s control the house. They have the ability to pass legislation. They have the ability to subpoena people. They have the ability to put Republican opposition and maybe Democratic opposition on the record for/against legislation.

What do the progressives want to see Pelosi do with this power? What goals are you hoping to see?

What will piss you off most?

What they will do is send bill after bill to the Senate and refuse to compromise on any of them, all the while blaming the GOP for not getting things done. It's a trick both parties favor.

What they should do is what every party in control of one or both houses should do: Work toward enacting laws they believe are in the best interest of the American people and, if necessary, agree to compromises that will get them something they want rather than insisting on everything they want and getting nothing. If it helps the Republicans to some extent, so be it.

You're wrong.

Almost all of them campaign on getting things done.

Just Democrats?

Watching 45 and his supporters talk about the dangers of impeachment and how they want the Dems to pursue it (with varying outcomes depending on the speaker) is truly fascinating.

Finn dAbuzz wrote:

What they will do is send bill after bill to the Senate and refuse to compromise on any of them, all the while blaming the GOP for not getting things done. It's a trick both parties favor.

The question is will they avoid putting forth bills that have a good chance of passing because they are afraid it will make them look like they are cooperating with the enemy?

I think Democrats have reached a point in identity politics/management where they avoid cooperating with anyone deemed the enemy, i.e. anyone outside their club, because they want to shun and remove anyone from any position and replace them with someone who is malleable to their team social pressures.

It may well be that they are no longer about policy but rather they are only about maintaining a system of power that facilitates centralized control by way of a network of people who are maleable to the correct channels of communication.

Then you should write as if you do.

They are certainly not going to start off with a bill that has a good chance of passing because it already contains compromises. The question is whether or not they will be willing to compromise to get something passed that may not be 100% of what they want but meets a lot of their wishes.

If they don't compromise, their bills won't get passed into law, but I don't think they will have been motivated to not bend because of a fear of appearing to be working with the enemy.

What we seem to now have is a broken government where most things of importance are getting done by Executive branch fiat. This is not good for the country and is due in part to too much time and resources being spent on waging political wars through committee investigations. I don't have any hope that it will change anytime soon, and I have reached the point where I believe all we will see in the future is periods of stagnancy and rancor from a divided government to periods of laws of which only half the country approve being shoved down the throats of the other half.

I'm not at all sanguine about the future of this nation as I see no way in which the deep divide that exists can be bridged, and it's only getting worse with each year.

I think you’re probably like those horses in the park who have their vision restricted and can only look in the direction their handler wants them to look.

Democrats will have the power to run a new investigation into Russia’s meddling once the new Congress takes office in January. But they shouldn’t wait. Instead, they must demand now that Whitaker grant the Mueller investigation full independence, effectively making Mueller his own boss.

Democrats should also send a message to career officials by making clear that anyone that participates in this effort to obstruct justice will be held to account, whether that’s the President, his acting Attorney General, or other DOJ officials.

Should it become clear that Mueller is not able to investigate—whether that’s because Mueller is fired or his investigation is being strangled or because Mueller resigns in protest—Democrats in congress will have to pick up where Mueller left off. They will need to hold immediate hearings into whether the President is abusing the power of his office to obstruct justice and whether his campaign did indeed conspire with Russia. They will need to immediately subpoena documents and records related to the investigation, such as any report prepared by the Special Counsel, witness lists, any information that was transmitted to the Special Counsel’s office from another government agency, and any materials related to the decision by the Acting Attorney General to overrule the Special Counsel on the filing of charges related to any individual or group. They will need to hold public hearings, including calling Mueller, as well as key figures in the investigation like Donald Trump Jr. to publically testify. They will need to demonstrate to the American public that this is a clear abuse of power and then they must take steps to hold Trump accountable.

There will be a debate if this is politically the best course, as this might be seen as distracting from a more, prefered messages. But this goes beyond politics. If Trump is able to get away with killing an investigation into him, in effect showing that the rules don’t apply, that he is above the law, he will feel emboldened to get away with so much more.

This is how democracies often die. An elected leader uses their position to eliminate the checks on their power, and when they’re not stopped they eliminate additional checks. This can happen here, just as it is happening elsewhere. Fortunately, a buffer now exists in the form of a Democratic Congress. But they have to be ready to act.