Questioning American Politics?

[luv2]

Did our continental plates shift? Did we just decide to become a country that establishes a selected monarchy on the will of a few? What happened to voting? What happened to our elected officials? Do they blindly follow the party? Do political parties not hold elections anymore? These questions have unfolded since President Joe Biden stepped down from the democratic election. It's up to us, the concerned American citizens, to question and demand answers about this shift in our political landscape. 
When did America become a monarchy? The " hierarchy" in the democratic party forced a democratically elected President who won the primary to step down from office. The time to decide was a year ago. However, they did nothing, and we, the people, are in a situation that we never asked. I am demanding answers. To some of these valid questions?

 

[toomuchbaloney]

luv2 said:

I am struggling to support Vice President Harris because I feel she hasn't made significant contributions to improving the country. Can you provide a list of five pieces of legislation she has passed as the tie-breaking vote in the Senate? Rather than focusing on criticizing the Republican leadership in the Senate, it seems she hasn't actively advanced any meaningful legislative agenda that could benefit the country. Given this, I question how she would effectively lead as President. I also wish the Republicans hadn't nominated Trump, as I would have considered voting for them under different circumstances.

She's been the VP. It wasn't her job to forward legislation and I get noticed the past 4 years.  She was a good senator and successful AG and DA. Is her success as a VP measured in the activity of the Senate?  

She is well educated and experienced and had been an important member of one of the most successful presidencies in history.  It's natural to assume that she is also capable of assuming that role in the near future.  

What have you seen or heard from Harris that you believe will be off putting for the groups that you mentioned?  Right now she is getting lots of media bump for her enthusiastic, joyful and forward looking campaign.  

[toomuchbaloney]

luv2 said:

Instead of concentrating on the shortcomings of presidential leadership, I want to focus my efforts on flipping Congress to a Democratic majority to advance meaningful legislation. This situation feels reminiscent of the 2016 presidential race with Hillary Clinton. 

Of course it's reminiscent.  It's a competent and qualified woman running against a liar, fraud and cheat who is also quite a bit of a misogynist.  He can't really run against her record so he is going to crucify her personally. Since Trump is pathological in his dishonesty, he has no reservations about just making stuff up or exaggerating things to the point of absurdity.  

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

luv2 said:

I am struggling to support Vice President Harris because I feel she hasn't made significant contributions to improving the country. Can you provide a list of five pieces of legislation she has passed as the tie-breaking vote in the Senate? Rather than focusing on criticizing the Republican leadership in the Senate, it seems she hasn't actively advanced any meaningful legislative agenda that could benefit the country. Given this, I question how she would effectively lead as President. I also wish the Republicans hadn't nominated Trump, as I would have considered voting for them under different circumstances.

Quote

Vice President Kamala Harris (D) has cast 33 tie-breaking votes in the Senate:

https://ballotpedia.org/Tie-breaking_votes_cast_by_Kamala_Harris_in_the_U.S._Senate

Perhaps the most significant one is the Inflation Reduction Act.  But I suppose you can say most of the weren't significant pieces of legislation.  But apparently her 33 is a Senate record.  

Also note that on occasion things didn't reach her because of Machin.

I would agree with TMB here that it's not the VP's job to advance an agenda, but to have the back of the President's agenda.  Pretty much every eight years, sometimes four, we have to vote in a President whose resume doesn't include being an effective president.  This year we have a choice between taking a chance on someone whose resume doesn't have "President" on it and one who has it on his resume.  The choice still remains quite clear who I am going to choice without reservation.  

I do have concerns given how widely divided our country is, and with people like "The Squad" and Marjorie Taylor Greene and Jim Jordan who can be effective anyone can be under these conditions.  We're a real hot mess of a country.

[luv2]

According to AP news, "Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell"  has defeated U.S. Rep. Cori Bush in a Democratic primary in St. Louis. This is very good news because we need more centrists elected to Congress. We, the people, need elected officials who can see both sides of an issue and help create fair solutions

  https://apnews.com/article/missouri-congress-election-bush-bell

[luv2]

Tweety said:

https://ballotpedia.org/Tie-breaking_votes_cast_by_Kamala_Harris_in_the_U.S._Senate

Perhaps the most significant one is the Inflation Reduction Act.  But I suppose you can say most of the weren't significant pieces of legislation.  But apparently her 33 is a Senate record.  

Also note that on occasion things didn't reach her because of Machin.

I would agree with TMB here that it's not the VP's job to advance an agenda, but to have the back of the President's agenda.  Pretty much every eight years, sometimes four, we have to vote in a President whose resume doesn't include being an effective president.  This year we have a choice between taking a chance on someone whose resume doesn't have "President" on it and one who has it on his resume.  The choice still remains quite clear who I am going to choice without reservation.  

I do have concerns given how widely divided our country is, and with people like "The Squad" and Marjorie Taylor Greene and Jim Jordan who can be effective anyone can be under these conditions.  We're a real hot mess of a country.

The system is so broken that it led to the creation of MAGA Republicans, formerly known as the Tea Party, and The Squad, liberals who are often unwilling to consider other perspectives. For example, AOC's opposition to Amazon's HQ2 in New York cost the city billions of dollars in potential economic benefits. This demonstrates a lack of understanding of the broader implications of their actions.

 

President Biden appointed Vice President Harris as the immigration czar. How many times did she visit the border? How often did she visit the states impacted by border issues, not for fundraisers, but to see firsthand the effects of transporting people across state lines? Has she addressed the vulnerabilities of the northern border? As head of the Senate, how frequently did she push the immigration issue? I wish she had called out each member of Congress for not coming to the table and worked on passing bills to address this critical issue for America, forcing leadership to vote on meaningful solutions.

The Inflation Reduction Act resulted from congressional leadership. This underscores the importance of electing a Congress that truly represents the people and prioritizes the country over the party. America is no longer just an idea; it is the principal example of what democracy can achieve when we all work together.

[toomuchbaloney]

luv2 said:

The system is so broken that it led to the creation of MAGA Republicans, formerly known as the Tea Party, and The Squad, liberals who are often unwilling to consider other perspectives. For example, AOC's opposition to Amazon's HQ2 in New York cost the city billions of dollars in potential economic benefits. This demonstrates a lack of understanding of the broader implications of their actions.

 

President Biden appointed Vice President Harris as the immigration czar. How many times did she visit the border? How often did she visit the states impacted by border issues, not for fundraisers, but to see firsthand the effects of transporting people across state lines? Has she addressed the vulnerabilities of the northern border? As head of the Senate, how frequently did she push the immigration issue? I wish she had called out each member of Congress for not coming to the table and worked on passing bills to address this critical issue for America, forcing leadership to vote on meaningful solutions.

The Inflation Reduction Act resulted from congressional leadership. This underscores the importance of electing a Congress that truly represents the people and prioritizes the country over the party. America is no longer just an idea; it is the principal example of what democracy can achieve when we all work together.

Biden didn't appoint Harris as the "immigration czar" and what she was tasked with addressing wouldn't have been served by visiting the border.  

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/07/29/fact-sheet-strategy-to-address-the-root-causes-of-migration-in-central-america/

Harris was VP and Senate president when comprehensive immigration and border control bill was passed through the Senate, it didn't require a tie breaking vote.  Trump killed that in the House.  

 

[nursej22, MSN, RN]

luv2 said:

 This is very good news because we need more centrists elected to Congress. We, the people, need elected officials who can see both sides of an issue and help create fair solutions

 

Do the constituents of a congressperson deserve to vote for someone who shares their views and values? Or do you want them to vote for the candidates that agree with you? 

Yes, if would be great if everyone could easily agree, but one person's fair solution could be unacceptable to another. I can understand why someone dependent on fossil fuels would balk at the push to renewable energy, or why gun enthusiasts are fearful of losing their firearms. 

[nursej22, MSN, RN]

luv2 said:

 

President Biden appointed Vice President Harris as the immigration czar. How many times did she visit the border? How often did she visit the states impacted by border issues, not for fundraisers, but to see firsthand the effects of transporting people across state lines? Has she addressed the vulnerabilities of the northern border? As head of the Senate, how frequently did she push the immigration issue? I wish she had called out each member of Congress for not coming to the table and worked on passing bills to address this critical issue for America, forcing leadership to vote on meaningful solutions.

 

I know this is going to sound snarky, but you seem naive about how government works.

The VP serves as the President of the Senate, but does not serve in a leadership role. That is up  the majority leader (currently Schumer), and the minority leader, 

( McConnell). And the archaic rule of requiring 60 votes to advance a bill out of committee, aka, filibuster, stops a lot from getting done. 

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

I do think the Biden-Harris administration ration urged congress to bass border reform.  Not sure what Harris's role in the republicans failing to pass that bill should have been.  I will agree that perhaps not visiting the border was poor public relations because obviously it seems important to people.

While the border being overrun with immigrants, and many illegal immigrants getting through as they have my entire lifetime, is an issue and it's worse under the Biden-Harris administration, and somewhat of a failure on their part.  I also think the people at the border are doing the best they can and people like the governor of Texas and Florida shipping them off are using them as pawns in their agenda.  They've created the border as issue #1 and Fox reporting "crime and chaos" at the border is overblown.

luv2, I appreciate your comments and criticisms.

For me there are only a few candidates.  I voted for Obama after he said marriage was between a man an woman.  As a gay man, that was not a stance I wanted but looked at the over all picture at a time when there were only two candidates.  I took the good with the bad.  Harris is far from perfect, has issues and failures and stances I might not like.  It's always been like that when I vote.  Again, at the end of the day, there's only two candidates that matter.

 

[nursej22, MSN, RN]

Tweety said:

 

I do have concerns given how widely divided our country is, and with people like "The Squad" and Marjorie Taylor Greene and Jim Jordan who can be effective anyone can be under these conditions.  We're a real hot mess of a country.

I disagree that we are a hot mess of a country. There have always been divisions, and extreme views. 

I recently traveled along the west coast and see lots of new businesses, new infrastructure going up, and people, in general, seeming content. 

I am heartened by the rallies that Harris and Walz have been holding, that seem so joyful, as opposed to the hatefulness of the GOP candidates. 

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

nursej22 said:

I disagree that we are a hot mess of a country. There have always been divisions, and extreme views. 

I recently traveled along the west coast and see lots of new businesses, new infrastructure going up, and people, in general, seeming content. 

I am heartened by the rallies that Harris and Walz have been holding, that seem so joyful, as opposed to the hatefulness of the GOP candidates. 

 

Yep, most of us are hopeful and thriving.  I've seen the city in grow leaps and bounds, very little conflicts.  

I've talked before how we've come so far but if feels different now.  Perhaps "hot mess" is too harsh an assessment, but we're not well.  Case in point, we elected Trump.  

In my opinion and we can disagree that's okay.

[luv2]

nursej22 said:

Harris is not the nominee yet, officially. Primaries and caucuses choose the delegates who then choose the nominee. The delegates were elected, and they will in turn, elect a nominee. 
During the general election in November, all citizens may cast a vote. 
As for me, I have no party affiliation, so I had no say in choosing delegates. My state is so small, that it has role in the final electoral count. It's always been this way. 
 

It is either VP Harris or former President Trump. This is hard place meet rock.