Our democracy is on life support and we dither. We must NOW :
- SAVE the social safety net for working families by paying for it through a new billionaire wealth tax now.
- PASS voter protection reform now.
- END the filibuster now.
- BREAK the logjam blocking POTUS judicial, administrative and diplomatic appointments now.
- INCREASE corporate minimum tax rate to 15% on profits greater than $1B thus generating hundreds of billions in tax revenue over 10 years. This is just the tip of the change we need to save our democracy. Any other ideas ?
Please share widely!
Your item (1) appears to be on track at the moment. This, if enacted, could be the most far-reaching of all the contemplated changes.
Your item (2) may be able to pass after being rejected by GOP. This is Mr. Manchin’s bill. It may pass if a suitably crafted carve-out to the current filibuster rules is passed.
James Carville has correctly pointed out multiple times this year that your item (3) does not have the votes. Period. The best way forward is to reform the filibuster in a way that Mr. Manchin and Ms. Sinema will support.
I don’t know what constraints govern your item (4). I don’t know if Mr. Schumer can do it unilaterally or if he needs a majority vote of the Senate.
I think the Senate should be aggressively investigating what material the intelligence agencies have on the GOP and what Mr. Garland is doing to bring insurrectionists to justice.
Number 4 is actually continuing apace, but less prominently reported.
Sinema just announced she’s OK with increasing tax on billionaires.
On #3, I would start with abolishing the filibuster then negotiate down to carve outs and talking filibuster reform if necessary.
On #4. Question ? How many of POTUS ambassadorial nominees have been approved by the Senate to date?
ANSWER : 2 Ambassadors to Mexico and the United Nations. That’s pathetic.
On #4 : We didn’t even have a friggin Ambassador to Afghanistan to help coordinate the evacuation of Americans and our friends and allies!
On # 5, Sen Warren said : “Manchin has been behind this for a long time.”
On # 5 : “It could raise as much as $400 B” Sen. Angus King ( I – Maine )
It’s more than that.
Of the 800 most important positions a president has to fill — Pukes have blocked all but 189 of them as of today. That’s less than 25%. Pathetic. Reform the G..damn filibuster now!
First, has Biden submitted nominations for all 800? Second, many of these are holds, I believe, which simply deprives unanimous consent. Yes, it’s tedious, but I would just take roll call after roll call. There is no requirement that confirmations be unanimous. (Did something happen today to make you as angry as you sound?)
He’s doing pretty well on the courts, it seems.
I wouldn’t abolish it, just make it real again.
Wouldn’t it be easier just to cave in and then say that it was only the “purists” who wanted paid family leave or a tax on billionaires? The leadership can’t find any knives to bring to this fight because the knives are still in the backs of various progressives.
I’ll be looking forward to what you have to say after the results of the 2022 midterms are finalized.
Let’s take the $1.75 Billion and tell the voters that IF we can hold the House and Senate in 2022, we can get the other $1.75 Billion. It’s that simple.