Comment by mrguyorama
2 days ago
>During the Biden administration, during the Obama administration, during the Clinton administration
The president doesn't actually control much in the USA, despite the nonsensical shit republican congresses let them get away with. Obama, Biden, and Clinton could not do anything that wasn't approved by congress.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_divisions_of_United_Stat...
Democrats have not really held enough power to do anything at all in like 40 years. A 1 or 2 vote "majority" in a chamber is not really meant to allow you to do anything.
Hell, that very first graph makes it pretty clear why shit is so bad in the US, we used to actually fire congress and replace them with different people.
> A 1 or 2 vote "majority" in a chamber is not really meant to allow you to do anything.
1) Democrats had a filibuster-proof super-majority during Obama's first term.
2) The filibuster is not in the Constitution. It can be abolished at any time by a simple majority vote.
The Democrats don't do anything because they don't want to do anything. There's always a convenient excuse. You can blame Manchin or Sinema or whomever, but they're Democrats too.
Correct. We're in a vetocracy. h/t Francis Fukuyama
Both our Senate and SCOTUS are anti-democratic. I daresay they've proven reactionary, with a few notable exceptions.
There was democratic control of the presidency and congress during Biden's term
There really wasn't. The person you replied to covered as much. They had the opportunity for a few big bills, which they did - much of it ultimately stemming from concerns around climate change.