Democratic Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman has lost his unique leverage in Washington now that his party has pulled off a blue wave in the midterm elections.
The Democratic Party was handed control of the House and the Senate on Tuesday, dramatically reshaping Congress for the country.
In Pennsylvania, Fetterman has wielded the power of being the deciding vote in what was a narrowly divided Senate, as a Democrat willing to break with his party. But Democratic Senate gains across the country on Tuesday have pushed their seats from a minority of 47 to a majority of at least 54, after flipping at least seven seats, as of early Wednesday morning.
This means Fetterman, who has long faced criticism from wings of his party for obstructing the Democratic agenda by voting with Republicans, will now have less power to force his party to listen to the views he represents.
Most bills can be blocked by the filibuster and need 60 votes to advance so all seats matter. Like all votes matter, and the more the better to pass bills that the majority wants, even if the rapist vetoes them. End healthcare bankruptcies, pass paid work leave, higher wages, etc. and show what could have been with a Dem president and enough congress, and a better leader than chuck.
Fun fact, a simple majority can remove the filibuster. The House never had one, and the senate only adopted it as an internal rule.
Dems keep saying it has to stay though 😭. Maybe change will happen after this election
The Democrats watched one episode of The West Wing and convinced themselves that the filibuster needs to stay
Meanwhile the Republicans are changing the rules so Strom Thurmond can pick up his filibuster where he left off
They’re already saying we can’t think about investigations only going forward
https://bsky.app/profile/barackobama.bsky.social/post/3mzhnlxo7fs25
While the people voted for https://bsky.app/profile/lopatto.bsky.social/post/3mzhoflf3422f
So this vague statement about unity from someone not in office is your smoking gun for democrats already refusing to do anything?
I take that very much as saying “what republicans have been doing for a long time is fucked up and most people voted against that”. Also, this is Obama, who is no longer a politician.
Claiming Obama is not a politician is like claiming Gordan Ramsey isn’t a chef. Obama still wields a lot of political influence because he’s basically Liberal Jesus. He can turn out numbers, fundraise, and influence political policy. His opinions are seen as the “correct direction for the Democratic party” and his approval is a jet engine to wider popularity.
The people want MAGA to be held accountable. They can see clear distinctions between themselves and the fascist Republicans. We want fuckers in jail at the very least. The kind of message Obama and other Centrist Dems like Hakeem Jeffries are sending is one of unifying and accepting the crazies back into polite society.
He has influence but he is far from Jesus. Even people who remember him fondly will immediately acknowledge his shortcomings. In any case, the statement was vague and I noticed you ignored that part which was the focus of my comment.