this post was submitted on 13 Sep 2023
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The Pennsylvania Democrat recalled his time serving as a Hillary Clinton surrogate in 2016, even after he supported Bernie Sanders in the primary.

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[–] maporita@unilem.org 25 points 1 year ago (5 children)

The key to getting progression policies passed is voting for Congress. Having a democratic President, whether it's Biden or someone else, doesn't matter if we only have a razor-thin majority. We just get held hostage by people like Manchin. We need solid majorities in both House and Senate to achieve anything.

[–] KillAllPoorPeople@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Not even needed to be honest. Blue states need to swing their dick around and demand shit, but blue state politicians aren't doing anything. I know this isn't the most palatable comparison, but slave states, leading up to the Civil War, swung their dick around and got concession after concession from free state politicians even if they didn't have nearly enough votes to get legislation they wanted and could have been shut out by simple majorities. Blue states and blue state politicians really need to get some fucking cojones or the US is heading down a path it's never going to come back from.

[–] PP_BOY_@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

I know this isn't the most palatable comparison, but slave states, leading up to the Civil War, swung their dick around and got concession after concession from free state politicians even if they didn't have nearly enough votes to get legislation they wanted and could have been shut out by simple majorities

This is literally what MAGA politicians are doing right now. I've said it before, but it's humiliating watching the Democratic Party losing "the game" by insisting on playing by the rules when the opposing team is openly bragging about cheating.

[–] farngis_mcgiles@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

dems had a majority when obama was elected and did nothing with it

[–] maporita@unilem.org 4 points 1 year ago (3 children)

They only had a majority in both houses for 2 years and still managed to get the ACA passed which was pretty significant. Even Trump couldn't undo it. Also in fairness to Obama he was focused on staving off financial collapse for a good part of his first term.

im not impressed with them passing a conservative healthcare plan from the 90s that is basically just free money for healthcare companies and still leaves millions of americans without healthcare. the dems didnt even stave off financial collapse they bailed out huge banks and other corporations while doing absolutely nothing for the american people

[–] Cryophilia@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

They only had a filibuster proof majority for a few months actually.

[–] thoro@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

The ACA was a Heritage Foundation health care plan that acts as a de facto subsidy for private health insurance. The best we ever get is still conservative.

[–] mycorrhiza@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago

the key to getting progressive policies passed is direct pressure. widespread strikes and organizing.

[–] K1nsey6@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago (4 children)

California has a bullet proof super majority and they can't provide a livable wage, affordable housing, universal healthcare which includes dental and mental healthcare, or address homelessness other than hiding them from view. If a state like that can't provide, why should be trust it to happen at the federal level? Dems could hold everything but 1% of Congress and they would blame that 1% for everything they didn't do

[–] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I live in CA. Our homeless people have Medi-Cal, which includes dental, vision, and mental care. We have a zoning issue that the NIMBYs aren't budging on, though I think I have found a workaround involving right of first refusal. Once we fix the zoning issue, our housing costs will come down dramatically.

Also, remember we only "own" about 1/3 of the land out here. Most of the state is Federal land operated by the BLM

[–] banneryear1868@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

K I'll go tell the tent cities that everything is actually going really well for them lol.

Private healthcare loves the ACA + Medi-Cal cause it keeps their costs high and guarantees tax dollars can pay it. These companies often sell off their debt for fractions of it's value cause they know they're not going to get it all back, and they only need a small percentage to turn a ridiculous profit. This is the system these tax scheme substitutes for public healthcare help maintain.

[–] Cryophilia@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

Dude, compare California to a non Democratic majority state, not to the perfect utopia you want.

Of course California has problems. If they solved those problems, there would be other problems.

But California has massively fewer problems due to the untouchable Democratic supermajority in the state.

Parts of California even have ranked choice voting.

[–] theuberwalrus@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The major difference between the federal government and state governments is the fact that the federal government is the source of all money. They can spend it into existence. California cannot.

[–] K1nsey6@lemmy.world -3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

None of the things that would improve the quality of peoples lives better would cost the state a dime. Requiring businesses to pay a livable wage will increase state revenues and a stronger economy. Requiring universal healthcare would increase productivity and provide preventative care which lowers costs to the state, employers, and employees.

[–] theuberwalrus@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It seemed that your original comment boiled down to, if a state can't do something, how can the federal government possibly do it, and I gave a major reason why. Also, healthcare isn't free unfortunately, and since it cannot be tied to employment, it would have to come from the government.

[–] K1nsey6@lemmy.world -3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

it would have to come from the government

The government can regulate coverage and medicine. The core infrastructure is already in place through Medicare and Medicaid in every state.

[–] theuberwalrus@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Yes, the money for those programs come from the government. Thank you for agreeing with me.

[–] Deftdrummer@lemmy.world -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Proof positive of failed democratic policy. Do you need more examples in other states?

[–] K1nsey6@lemmy.world -2 points 1 year ago

Texas, Kentucky, Alabama, and all other red states are shit too.