J D Vance, DEI Candidate

[wolfriverjoe 1,460]

11 hours ago, billvon said:

Or was that one of the many the women he raped?  

 

FIFY.

[wolfriverjoe 1,460]

Well, there were some interesting things said at the DNC last night.

One of my favorites:

 

Quote

Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD) noted that Trump’s vice president Mike Pence is the first vice president in more than 200 years “not to support the president he served with in a general election.” "Someone should've told Donald Trump that the president's job under Article 2 of the Constitution is to take care that the laws are faithfully executed, not that the vice president is executed…. J.D. Vance, do you understand why there was a sudden job opening for running mate on the [Republican] ticket? They tried to kill your predecessor!"

Heather Cox Richardson, Aug 19th.

 

https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson

Edited August 20 by wolfriverjoe

[tkhayes 255]

On 8/17/2024 at 12:07 PM, brenthutch said:

Or this

 

Still waiting for any comment on what you are going to do when Trump loses to Kamala Harris....

[gowlerk 2,095]

1 hour ago, tkhayes said:

Still waiting for any comment on what you are going to do when Trump loses to Kamala Harris....

Even better, the D party will almost certainly regain control of the House and then speaker Jeffries will take over control. The Senate may still be out of reach, but not as far as it was. It just depends on how motivated people are against forced birth laws.

[Stumpy 283]

5 hours ago, gowlerk said:

Senate

Genuine question - why does the senate work differently to Congress and the presidency with regards to term length and concurrency with elections?

[JerryBaumchen 1,261]

29 minutes ago, Stumpy said:

Genuine question - why does the senate work differently to Congress and the presidency with regards to term length and concurrency with elections?

Hi Stumpy.

I am not sure I really understand your question.

In the USA, there are three branches of gov't:

- The Legislative Branch which is the US Senate & the US House of Reps

- the Executive Branch which is the President

- the Judicial Branch which is the US Supreme Court

As to the length of terms of Reps, Senators & Pres, that is in our Constitution.

Anything else?

Jerry Baumchen

PS)  Reps - two yrs at a time, unlimited number of terms

Senators - 6 yrs at a time, unlimited number of terms

Pres - no more than 10 yrs in office

 

[wmw999 2,311]

5 minutes ago, JerryBaumchen said:

Hi Stumpy.

I am not sure I really understand your question.

In the USA, there are three branches of gov't:

- The Legislative Branch which is the US Senate & the US House of Reps

- the Executive Branch which is the President

- the Judicial Branch which is the US Supreme Court

As to the length of terms of Reps, Senators & Pres, that is in our Constitution.

Anything else?

Jerry Baumchen

PS)  Reps - two yrs at a time, unlimited number of terms

Senators - 6 yrs at a time, unlimited number of terms

Pres - no more than 10 yrs in office

 

Basically, yep, it's the rules to the US Government game, as codified by the Founding Fathers, who invented it. Subtler things require interpretation, and sometimes stuff happens (e.g. it was just a general agreement that presidents wouldn't serve more than two terms, until FDR did, partly with WW2 as a reason, and partly because he, too, liked power).

Wendy P.

[ryoder 1,546]

2 hours ago, Stumpy said:

Genuine question - why does the senate work differently to Congress and the presidency with regards to term length and concurrency with elections?

In the original constitution, senators were elected by the state legislators.  In 1913, the 17th Amendment was ratified, changing it to a popular vote by the citizens of the state.

Edited August 20 by ryoder

[kallend 1,822]

1 hour ago, Stumpy said:

Genuine question - why does the senate work differently to Congress and the presidency with regards to term length and concurrency with elections?

Because a lot of long dead dudes thought it was a good idea at the time.  Some of their ideas, such as the Electoral College, are just plain stupid.

[gowlerk 2,095]

3 hours ago, Stumpy said:

Genuine question - why does the senate work differently to Congress and the presidency with regards to term length and concurrency with elections?

The senate was designed to give equal amounts of power to each state. No matter the population. I would imagine it was another one of the needed compromises to get 13 colonies of unequal size to all agree to be a single nation and not several independent ones.

[Stumpy 283]

9 hours ago, JerryBaumchen said:

10 hours ago, Stumpy said:

Genuine question - why does the senate work differently to Congress and the presidency with regards to term length and concurrency with elections?

Hi Stumpy.

I am not sure I really understand your question.

Yeah covered by the other answers. Just seems a bit weird that every election all of Congress and the pres is up for grabs, but it's only whichever senators happen to have come to end of term that particular time. No judgement on that specifically, maybe some form of continuity isn't a bad thing, I was just curious.

[jakee 1,340]

5 hours ago, Stumpy said:

Yeah covered by the other answers. Just seems a bit weird that every election all of Congress and the pres is up for grabs, but it's only whichever senators happen to have come to end of term that particular time.

The presidency is not up for grabs at every congressional election.

[Stumpy 283]

14 minutes ago, jakee said:

The presidency is not up for grabs at every congressional election.

Sorry - every 4 years.

(You know what I meant)

[wolfriverjoe 1,460]

5 hours ago, Stumpy said:

Yeah covered by the other answers. Just seems a bit weird that every election all of Congress and the pres is up for grabs, but it's only whichever senators happen to have come to end of term that particular time. No judgement on that specifically, maybe some form of continuity isn't a bad thing, I was just curious.

It's actually a pretty good question.

As the Professor pointed out, it was put in place 235 years ago, but a bunch of guys with good intentions but very little practical experience (nobody had any) in setting up a government "of, by and for the people".

The six year, overlapping terms guarantee some continuity, some experience in place. 

While it's possible for some sort of 'populist revolt' to peacefully take over congress in one election (not really going to happen, but theoretically possible), it would take THREE major biennial elections to overturn the Senate.

Also, the two houses (and the executive branch) represented 3 different interests. 
The House represents 'the people'. Originally direct elections, representation based on population.
The Senate represents 'the states'. Originally elected by state legislature. Each state has equal representation.
The President represents 'the country'. Indirectly elected by the people, then the electoral college. One person. While he (or potentially she) has quite a lot to do domestically, one of the big jobs is to be 'the face' of the country internationally (although the Senate has to ratify any treaties with other countries).

All of it is part of the 'checks and balances' the founders tried to put in place.

They really wanted to keep one person from taking over. 

It worked imperfectly, but pretty well, until the Rs decided to cheat.

[jakee 1,340]

2 minutes ago, Stumpy said:

Sorry - every 4 years.

(You know what I meant)

Kinda, but I also don’t really see the Senate as the odd one out. They’re all the odd one out compared to the other two. The House is the only one with elections every two years where the whole chamber is replaced. The Presidency is the only one elected every 4 years with term limits. The senate is the only one with 3 different 6 year cycles rolling around. Why are any of them the way they are?
 

My assumption would be that as the Senate was supposed to be the one most able to put the good of the country above partisan concerns it was thought to benefit from more continuity. 

[Phil1111 1,077]

21 minutes ago, wolfriverjoe said:

.....It worked imperfectly, but pretty well, until the Rs decided to cheat.

Until republicans pointed out its fatal flaws. Which like immigration most politicians just refuse to address.

Populous states have got the shaft from states like Wyoming and others for several hundred years. Its led to the stacking of the courts and abortion bans.

If America is the best country in the world where are the "poor" red states going to go if proper changes are made to the constitution.

[kallend 1,822]

4 hours ago, Phil1111 said:

Until republicans pointed out its fatal flaws. Which like immigration most politicians just refuse to address.

 

I don't think the GOP  "pointed out" the flaws, so much as drove a truck through them.

Edited August 21 by kallend

[nigel99 288]

On 8/20/2024 at 8:56 PM, wolfriverjoe said:

Well, there were some interesting things said at the DNC last night.

One of my favorites:

 

Heather Cox Richardson, Aug 19th.

 

https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson

I wonder if JD misunderstood the #metoo movement? At yesterday’s rally picking up the America needs hope message?

It’s interesting and entertaining to see Donald and Vance on the back foot as not only have they lost the narrative they are consistently trying to emulate the messaging from the Harris/Walz campaign. Suddenly Don is outdoing himself with these ‘medical emergencies’, the 2 of them campaigning together for the first time.

But the dems are hitting Don hard where it hurts and he’s both whining and changing his behaviour. Notice how he’s whining about name calling, but also doing it less? Crowd size, less talk of it now, accordion hands largely stopped and replaced by smaller single handed gestures. I think Walz is the master of it, it’s natural, spontaneous and light hearted.

As an aside,US politicians weird stiff hand gestures tend to puzzle me. They seem to all have the same coach - it’s both sides. Jeffries also does it and it’s pretty widespread. I quite enjoy watching body language. Walz is pretty natural, but in front of large crowds he tweaks his ear quite often - not mocking him, public speaking is my biggest fear and I freeze up with groups over about 20.