We are Better
There are 24 Senate Committees (listed here: https://www.senate.gov/committees/). Clicking on anyone of the committees yields the Committee’s Web Page from which one can choose Members and get a photo listing of the members by party. This allows for a side by side comparison of the membership by party. Do this for any committee, for each committee. Based on these comparison, which party has the better Senators? Do the same for the House Committees.
Sure, there are cases where there is little difference between a given pair of republican and democratic counterparts on a committee; where there are glaringly weak members on both sides, but, en balance, being objective as possible, there is no getting around the fact that democratic membership is head and shoulders above the republican. Perhaps more importantly, the democratic membership is many times more representative of the population.
In the House, the lack of diversity in representation by republican membership is in large part due to gerrymandering in states where the state legislature is controlled by the republican party. As an example: North Carolina’s current Governor, Roy Cooper, D, won the statewide popular vote by about 2.5%. North Carolina’s US Congressional delegation has 8 R, 5 D (a 60% difference). Its State Assembly is 69 R, 51 D (a 35% difference). The State Senate, also elected by districts, current make up is 28 R, 22 D (a 27% difference). Each of these imbalances in representation are in part, or totally, a consequence of gerrymandering. The 2020 presidential election was within 1.5%. Pew lists the political makeup of the state as 43% D, 41% R; North Carolina has more democrats than republicans.
Returning to the quality. Think markets. The lack of open competition allows for the less than best candidate to be nominated, to win. Allows a special interest group to pick the candidate, to elect a candidate. The reason some of these republican dunderheads show up in the US House of Representatives may not have been an error in the people’s choice, but rather because their being there served some special interest, such as a religion group, a foundation, the wealthy, … Their near certain election and reelection could be facilitated by gerrymandering; US Representative Jim Jordan, D, Ohio, is a good example of this.
It is no accident that Georgia’s 14th Congressional District sent someone like Marjorie Taylor Greene to the US House of Representatives. It is the rhyme of history. Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, … these are the same that fought to preserve slavery, to deny women the right to vote, to deny blacks the right to vote, …; that are, today, fighting furiously to deny their black citizens the right to vote. Those that did not ratify the Equal rights Amendment. That would deny women the right of choice. These are the albatross around our neck, the ball chained to our ankle, that the Nation has had to bear and drag around since forever, and yet. Our embarrassment and shame.
These are they that sent a succession of segregationists to Washington from 1865 to now. Those that sent us Senators Stennis, Talmadge, Thurmond, Helms, Graham … in the 20th, Graham, Cotton, Hyde-Smith, Wicker, and Tuberville in the 21st. Sent Mo Brooks and Mark meadow to the House. These are they that elected Orval Faubus, George Wallace, Lester Maddox, Bull Connors, … to state and county office. Those that voted overwhelming for Trump in 2016; and, excepting Georgia and North Carolina, again in 2020.
Who are the we that are better than they are? We are the democrats of today. We are not the southern democrats of before 1980. Those described above are those. Since 1980, they have become the core of today’s republican party.
Watch a committee hearing. See who it is that speaks to the issues using facts; appeals to reason. See who it is that most often speaks without reading from notes; who can do so. No amount of prepared notes can make Marsha Blackburn equal our Sheldon Whitehouse, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, … . Let them bring forth someone equivalent our Jamie Raskin. Adam Schiff, Eric Swalwell, Ted Lieu, Joe Neguse, Stacy Plaskett, …
Preaching to the choir but I am hopeful that the American Rescue bill is going to work very well. Every Republican voted against it and even the gerrymandered populations might start to wonder why they keep voting for Republicans who treat them as unclean dirt. Next big fight is HR1. Hard to vote against democracy but Republicans will and they will have to explain that too. Not sure “ socialism” and “liberal” will carry the day if Biden keeps winning.
“… the democratic membership is many times more representative of the population…”
[If that were true in a universal sense, then there would not be any Republican membership. Also your “democratic membership” should be big ‘D.’ Presumably all membership is little ‘d’ democratic, albeit a bold presumption. In any case the majority of Eastern Henrico is represented by its Democratic membership, but the minority here is of the same racial demographic as the majority of western Henrico County. Yet in a mighty twist of fate Western Henrico is also represented by its Democratic membership after Abigail Spanberger defeated David Brat in 2018 and then Nick Freitas in 2020, that in a district that twice voted for Trump that had not been represented by a Democrat since 1971. So-called representative democracy does give the majority a chance of representation when we do not screw it up. Elite bias institutionalized in political parties and then radically augmented by private campaign finances makes that chance a tedious travail.]
did Terry once write, “I now have a mathematical function that will tell me what stocks to buy so that I can double my money every month. additionally, I have decided to be the benefactor of all who read this. I’m going to write out the function so that each of you can all make a killing on Wall Street.”?
it doesn’t matter if he said it or not. the point is that if he gives that function to everyone then everyone will be picking up all the extra money from the suckers on Wall Street. even the suckers will be using the function for picking up extra money from suckers, so that quickly there will be no suckers left with any money to be had. do you see how that works?
it doesn’t. Within a 0 sum casino, for every winner there are thousands losers, and a thousand more of Barkers, Schills, and analysts who teach suckers how to lose their money. what keeps the system going what keeps the casino open?
inflation! because of inflation the suckers know that the buying power of their savings will decrease in each year so that by the time they retire all their hard work will come too much less than what they had hoped. there is savings and there are Investments. when the suckers go to Wall Street to convert their savings to Investments they can quickly lose everything. when they keep the Savings in their pockets or in Passbook savings accounts they retain only a small fraction of original buying power after inflation has been compounded for so many years. what is the remedy for all this inflation?
Disinflation then deflation! why do politicians hate deflation?
because with deflation they have no excuse for “stimulating” the economy, no excuse for spending other people’s money on their cronies, their cronies who buy votes for their incumbents who grant them legislative advantage over the suckers!
And what was Terry’s function?
Inflation
!
Justin,
You need to lay off the cider, pal. Deflation is a debtor’s worst nightmare and a creditor’s fondest dream. For someone that fancies himself looking out for the little guy, then your ideas on monetarism are solidly against your stated goals and are soundly for financial institutions and rich people. I really do not believe that you could be that two-faced (but I could be wrong) so you must really have not even a basic understanding of finance.
OTOH, if you really do believe that only those that already have the most should have even more, then keep up the good work.
The chief problem with deflation doesn’t even need debt to explain it – it encourages hoarding. If I stop spending then my money is taken out of circulation so there is less money for everybody else. This will lead to deflation and reward my hoarding so more people will be encouraged to do it. Eventually we will have a depression as money stops circulating. This is not complicated.
Dems establish a PAC to focus on combating
GOP attempts to retake the House in 2022.
Our Story – House Majority PAC (thehousemajoritypac.com)
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/10/us/politics/house-republicans-democrats-midterm-elections.html?smid=tw-share
House Republicans Announce 47 Democrats They Hope to Unseat
The National Republican Congressional Committee released a
list of the House Democrats whose seats it is targeting
NY Times – February 10
WASHINGTON — The House Republicans’ campaign arm on Wednesday revealed the list of 47 House Democrats it will target in the 2022 midterm elections, whose results are likely to be determined largely by the popularity of President Biden.
The National Republican Congressional Committee’s list includes 25 Democrats who were first elected in the Democrats’ 2018 wave election and six incumbents who represent districts that voted for former President Donald J. Trump in November. It includes a wide array of moderate Democrats, including Representatives Abigail Spanberger of Virginia and Conor Lamb of Pennsylvania, who have publicly sparred with the party’s more liberal wing in recent months.
The target list comes three months after House Republicans outperformed pre-election polling and flipped 15 Democratic-held seats in last year’s elections. The party out of power typically does well in midterm elections: Since World War II, the president’s party has lost an average of 27 House seats in midterm elections.
The 2022 elections have the potential to carry a dynamic unseen in previous midterm contests — a referendum on a previous president’s actions. Democrats have already signaled they aim to tie House Republicans to the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol by a crowd incited by Mr. Trump. …
As a nation, shouldn’t we have the right to have every member of our society represented?
Those we agree with, disagree with, are enraged by, and inspired to be like.
We are a nation of many, and without full and equal representation how will we ever move forward.