GOP Will Take Control of Senate: What Now?

[antimony]

Biggest Winner- Mitch McConnell. He achieved a life long dream to be the king maker. The countries future and future of several GOP presidential hopefuls now rest in his hand. His speech as majority leader-elect was everything Obama's wasn't- conciliatory, honest and direct. he soundly rejected the Reid style of senate leadership.

I hope Mr. Cecil Turtle gets exactly the same sort of exemplary cooperation from the new Democratic Leadership in the Senate, that he displayed over the last few years.

3rd place winner- American people. Minimum wage increases and decriminalized marijuana were winning items where ever they appeared on the ballot. One promises a better life for some 300,000 minimum wage workers in the affected states and one a life with more personal agency and liberty.

Yeah, something that the GOP voted against.

[zraver]

I hope Mr. Cecil Turtle gets exactly the same sort of exemplary cooperation from the new Democratic Leadership in the Senate, that he displayed over the last few years.

Thats neither fair nor accurate. Reid broke the senate, it had nothing to do with Republicans who were merely doing what the opposition party has always done-oppose. If you look at the Dems when Bush had majorities you see the same behavior. The Senate did not actually become dysfuntional and then non-functional until Harry Reid dropped all pretense of playing be any rules but his. Then after the 2010 elections he pulled the nuclear trigger and shut the senate down. 400 bills from the house denied a vote all due to Harry Reid not the Republicans.

Yeah, something that the GOP voted against.

Don't be so sure about that. In Arkansas (min wage increase) the state went redder than it has ever been and those same GOP voters pushed the wage increase to an super majority win.

[bonehead]

LOL the national pendulum swung to the right. How long before it swings back? 6 years? 8? Give those bums the keys to the country for a bit then give it to the bums on the other side. American politics at its best. I really wish the voters would wake the hell up and break this vicious cycle.

[antimony]

Yes, I am aware of all those efforts at pulling wool over the eyes.

You intimate that Republicans are opposed to equal pay for women and protection for immigrant victims of domestic abuse. Is that truly the case?

No, please re-read my post. I say that Republicans are opposed to "Opposition/ dilution of Equal Pay laws". Whether that means fear of lawsuits for businesses or plain dislike of equal pay for women or something else, is not for me to decide or care about. The end result is that women will have a bigger uphill battle for equal pay.

WRT equal pay, the 14th amendment as well as other laws on the books already make it illegal to pay women less than to men for identical work, skill and tenure. What you are referring to is a bill that would allow women to petition administrative courts to force companies to reveal their payroll records without any evidence that they are the victim of gender pay discrimination.

This is a lawyers' bill, because law firms will profit handsomely from filing these petitions. Opponents of the bill point out that, in addition to laws already on the books outlawing gender pay discrimination, women who have evidence they are being discriminated against have legal remedies including suing in court.

But this latest bill would result in thousands of fishing expeditions as lawyers seek court orders to allow them to freely rummage through years of company pay records, the cost of which would be a burden on smaller businesses. Where there is no evidence of prior discrimination, this amounts to an unreasonable search and seizure. This is another effort by progressives to help a narrow class of citizens at the expense of the Constitution.

And yet we have this:

Microsoft's Nadella: Women Should Trust 'the System' on Pay Raises - NBC News

On stage with Maria Klawe, president of Harvey Mudd College, Nadella was asked what advice he had for women in the tech industry who aren’t comfortable asking for a raise. Nadella replied in part: “It’s not really about asking for the raise but knowing and having faith that the system will actually give you the right raises as you go along. And that, I think, might be one of the additional superpowers that quite frankly women who don’t ask for a raise have, because that’s good karma. It’ll come back because somebody’s going to know that’s the kind of person that I want to trust, that’s the kind of person that I want to really want to give more responsibility to. And in the long term efficiency, things catch up.”

Come on Jad, we all know exactly what salary negotiations go like. The employer will try to go with the lowest that they can possibly get ahead with, within the specific salary/ wage band. Women, who anyway think that they are less likely to be hired for whatever reasons, there is a desire to give in. And this decision comes back to haunt them at each and every stage, (unless they get internal raises, which they are not supposed to ask for because of Karma and shit) as even in future they are not likely to get more than 10% of their current earnings. Even If I assume that you are right (and I don't think you are) about this lawyer-friendliness of this legislation, did they propose any alternatives or did they leave it to the Constitution, Motherhood, Apple Pie and the American Eagle.

As for domestic abuse of immigrants, the whole story begins with what Congress HAS done in this problem area:

What is at issue with efforts to revamp the bill? You present it as GOP opposition to helping abused women. Here are the concerns of a few GOP members of Congress:

Why Would Anyone Oppose the Violence Against Women Act? - The Atlantic

Yes, I have gone through this and the more detailed links, and they seem to rest on flimsy grounds. Opposing the clause about visa expansion to immigrant spouses seem more about pre-supposing that there will be visa fraud rather than be on the side of victims. The opposition to closing the Native American related loophole doesn't even seem to have a real reason.

[antimony]

Thats neither fair nor accurate. Reid broke the senate, it had nothing to do with Republicans who were merely doing what the opposition party has always done-oppose. If you look at the Dems when Bush had majorities you see the same behavior. The Senate did not actually become dysfuntional and then non-functional until Harry Reid dropped all pretense of playing be any rules but his. Then after the 2010 elections he pulled the nuclear trigger and shut the senate down. 400 bills from the house denied a vote all due to Harry Reid not the Republicans.

Then I hope that that is exactly what the Democratic opposition will do what the opposition party is supposed to do - oppose.

Don't be so sure about that. In Arkansas (min wage increase) the state went redder than it has ever been and those same GOP voters pushed the wage increase to an super majority win.

And when the pigs start flying, I will be there right along with you to cheer along.

[TopHatter]

decriminalized marijuana were winning items where ever they appeared on the ballot

Well, not everywhere, but pretty darn close. (Medical marijuana rather than decriminalization, admittedly, which was what you actually said)

Personally I have no use for recreational marijuana, particularly after watching what it did to someone very close to me.
Yes yes, I know. It's their fault and not the weed's fault and alcohol is so much worse. Spare me, please.

Having said that, I also have no use for arresting people and charging them for minor amounts intended for personal use.
I REALLY have a problem with people doing jail time for minor possession. Jail time for minor possession is utterly stupid and should be abolished at the federal and state level.

I still think that the purported benefits that the pro-marijuana crowd has been fervently chanting about for years are both overblown and fail to consider the Department of Unintended Consequences. But that remains to be seen.

[JAD_333]

LOL the national pendulum swung to the right. How long before it swings back? 6 years? 8? Give those bums the keys to the country for a bit then give it to the bums on the other side. American politics at its best. I really wish the voters would wake the hell up and break this vicious cycle.

The 'pendulum' is always in motion. The party in power always seeks to mold the national body according to its vision.

The pendulum swings the other way when the party long in power pushes its agenda beyond its original vision. Take progressives, for instance. After a few decades of ascendancy, they've spent their wad and now rely on niche initiatives, often designed to appease smaller and smaller voting blocks. The conservatives will do the same eventually.

But as to your dismissive attitude toward American politics, you seem not to understand that the dynamics of what we call "the pendulum" is a godsend in a democracy. To be sure, it seems messy and disruptive, and it's populated with enough idiot politicians to make you despair. But step back and see the whole, and you'll find it all rather marvelous. :)

[GVChamp]

States can't legalize something that's prohibited by the federal government.

[TopHatter]

States can't legalize something that's prohibited by the federal government.

*smirk* Sure they can, they already have. Then people the people that get busted under Federal law can whine and cry about it.

[GVChamp]

*smirk* Sure they can, they already have. Then people the people that get busted under Federal law can whine and cry about it.

Pretty much what will happen if the feds choose to enforce the law. It's still a Class I substance under the Controlled Substance Act and we're still apparently treaty-bound to keep cannabis illegal.

Nice, complicated issue. None of my college class mates really seemed interested in the details.

[FJV]

In my opinion Barack Obama has up until now enacted almost the same policies George Bush would have enacted.
(even the Obama health care plan is a version of a Republican health care plan a few years earlier)

So in my opininion it is not unreasonable to expect business as usual on all the important issues, with a few "enormous" controverses on minor issues that don't really matter all that much.

That, and the rightwing loonies will tone their insanity down a little while the leftwing loonies will turn theirs up a notch.

[tbm3fan]

Sir,more precisely, with only 32.7% of the electorate voting (read that in paper this AM), approximately 55% of the electorate who voted chose Republican.

The voters held true to form in off year elections; the turn out was older, whiter and more conservative than in 2012....and in 2008. Across the country, the trend was under 45 overwhelmingly voted Democratic; over 45 voted Republican.

So lets see what happens.

Yes, let's see what happens.

In 2016 a larger portion of the electorate will show up and the pendulum will move towards the liberal side. The Dems have 10 Senate seats up in blue states which is a plus for them. The Reps have 24 seats up and many happen to be in blue and purple states. I'm sure they will want to hang onto to them meaning those Senators will likely trend towards the middle for election time. In the end it doesn't take many losses to put the Senate back into the (D) column and it will probably happen.

McConnell looks like a winner but that is only for now. We will see when they actually get control in January. His problem is Cruz, Rubio and Rand. Especially Cruz if I read his personality right. He is the kid in school where the teacher would complain of his constant disruption of the class starting in kindergarten. Now is his chance and I don't think he has it in him to toe the line. That isn't him. So all that Republican unity may just go out the window if the different factions in the party pull McConnell every which way. If Cruz first wants to repeal health care then look out. End result nothing gets done and they are wide open to assault in 2016.

On the far horizon there is 2020 and redistricting. We only have about 50 seats that are really in play while all the rest are gerrymandered. The electorate and population will have undergone big changes between 2010 to 2020. I see the Republicans losing seats in the House only how many is hard to say. Enough to lose the house in the first election after redistricting? Probably not but one may see a bunch of House Republicans becoming more moderate. They better since that is the way the electorate is going. Interesting in that three red states passed laws raising the minimum wage despite their representatives opposition.

Bottom line is I don't think this election had much to do with Dems or Reps per say. I had more to do with the economy and who was in charge. It could have been Romney and the same would have happened to him. This 5.9% unemployment rate is crap. It is higher than that but since they drop people out after a certain amount of time it looks better than it is. The middle class is clearly not benefiting at all. Stock market looks great but it is great for the banks, investment houses and the 1% who are pretty incestuous in their dealings among each other. If the middle class does not see their wages and buying power improving just a little each year then it is going to be a very wild roller coaster ride for both parties every two years.

[tbm3fan]

That, and the rightwing loonies will tone their insanity down a little while the leftwing loonies will turn theirs up a notch.

Always had a tough time getting the bass and treble in balance..

[zraver]

Well, not everywhere, but pretty darn close. (Medical marijuana rather than decriminalization, admittedly, which was what you actually said)

Personally I have no use for recreational marijuana, particularly after watching what it did to someone very close to me.
Yes yes, I know. It's their fault and not the weed's fault and alcohol is so much worse. Spare me, please.

Having said that, I also have no use for arresting people and charging them for minor amounts intended for personal use.
I REALLY have a problem with people doing jail time for minor possession. Jail time for minor possession is utterly stupid and should be abolished at the federal and state level.

I still think that the purported benefits that the pro-marijuana crowd has been fervently chanting about for years are both overblown and fail to consider the Department of Unintended Consequences. But that remains to be seen.

I've got no use for weed, it stinks and it makes me sick. Not to mention in a past life I was stupid and proved that better living through modern chemistry is a double edged sword. That said, I believe in liberty and personal agency.

[zraver]

States can't legalize something that's prohibited by the federal government.

Yes they can, you will find no part of the Constitution saying state law must conform to federal law. The caveat being that when the two conflict, federal law is supreme. But state cops don't enforce federal law so if the feds want a law enforced, they can do it themselves.