Biden on executive orders in October, 2020

[Matt]

https://redstate.com/bonchie/2021/01/26 ... or-n316752

In fairness to Joe, he doesn't remember what he had for "supper" 2 hours ago, so how in the hell can we expect him to remember what he said about EOs 3 months ago?

[Bryce]

https://redstate.com/bonchie/2021/01/26 ... or-n316752

In fairness to Joe, he doesn't remember what he had for "supper" 2 hours ago, so how in the hell can we expect him to remember what he said about EOs 3 months ago?

So far he is well outpacing the Orange Man.

[jadednihilist]

I'm okay with Biden undoing Trump's Executive Orders, as EOs are fair game for any President. However, I generally will not celebrate new EOs, even if I agree with the sentiment behind them. EOs inherently lack stability since any President can reverse them; and it's fundamentally unhealthy for our system of checks and balances to continually increase the power of the Presidency.

That said, serious reforms are needed in the Senate so that our First Branch of government can go back to legislating; a role they've long neglected.

[Bryce]

That said, serious reforms are needed in the Senate so that our First Branch of government can go back to legislating; a role they've long neglected.

I agree. First step, undo the 17th amendment.

[Matt]

https://redstate.com/bonchie/2021/01/26 ... or-n316752

In fairness to Joe, he doesn't remember what he had for "supper" 2 hours ago, so how in the hell can we expect him to remember what he said about EOs 3 months ago?

So far he is well outpacing the Orange Man.

https://mobile.twitter.com/Lancegooden/ ... 3928242176

The last 4 presidents issued 10 EOs combined in the first wake. Biden has 33.

[jadednihilist]

That said, serious reforms are needed in the Senate so that our First Branch of government can go back to legislating; a role they've long neglected.

I agree. First step, undo the 17th amendment.

That's an interesting point of view. I'm curious as to why you're opposed to direct elections of senators over state appointments. The Senate seems to do a better, but not by any means good, job of weeding out hyper-partisans than the House. State legislative bodies seem to be more hyper-partisan than their federal counterparts, and are subject to far less scrutiny -- especially with the decay of local news.

My most fundamental issue with the Senate is the overrepresentation of states with low populations in the legislative process. The body does provide a necessary check to our population centers, but I think the filibuster as it stands provides an overcorrection. I don't agree with completely eliminating the filibuster, but smaller reforms like reducing the threshold to 60, or forcing senators to remain on the floor for the duration of the filibuster would be better alternatives to obstruction with impunity.

The most pressing issue for reform in the House, in my view, is gerrymandering. Too many seats are won in the primaries, which rewards radicalization and punishes compromise and governance. I'd like to see more seats up for grabs in the general election.

[Rate This]

That said, serious reforms are needed in the Senate so that our First Branch of government can go back to legislating; a role they've long neglected.

I agree. First step, undo the 17th amendment.

That's an interesting point of view. I'm curious as to why you're opposed to direct elections of senators over state appointments. The Senate seems to do a better, but not by any means good, job of weeding out hyper-partisans than the House. State legislative bodies seem to be more hyper-partisan than their federal counterparts, and are subject to far less scrutiny -- especially with the decay of local news.

My most fundamental issue with the Senate is the overrepresentation of states with low populations in the legislative process. The body does provide a necessary check to our population centers, but I think the filibuster as it stands provides an overcorrection. I don't agree with completely eliminating the filibuster, but smaller reforms like reducing the threshold to 60, or forcing senators to remain on the floor for the duration of the filibuster would be better alternatives to obstruction with impunity.

The most pressing issue for reform in the House, in my view, is gerrymandering. Too many seats are won in the primaries, which rewards radicalization and punishes compromise and governance. I'd like to see more seats up for grabs in the general election.

The reason the 17th amendment was enacted is because the process of state legislatures choosing senators had become unbelievably corrupt and slimy.. direct elections help to settle that down. It was really getting atrociously bad before the 17th, getting rid of that would be a disaster.

[MotorCityRadioFreak]

When shit is this fucked up, there is a lot of work to be done. Can't blame Biden for the mess he was given.

[Matt]

When shit is this fucked up, there is a lot of work to be done. Can't blame Biden for the mess he was given.

But "shit is not fucked up". Even Biden is saying there is really nothing that we can do with covid. We had a phenomenal economy fueled by aggressive deregulation, but Trump was an asshole and mean on twitter.

[Bryce]

That's an interesting point of view. I'm curious as to why you're opposed to direct elections of senators over state appointments.

The House of Representatives was designed to represent the people and designed to be selected by the people. Hence, The People's House. The Senate was designed to represent each sovereign State in it's entirety as well as a power check to the popularly elected House of Representatives. Having each State Legislature select who gets sent to Washington as their representative ensures that the interests of the entire state, not just the major population centers, have their interests represented at the federal level.

Much like the Electoral College protects, in some degree, the interest of each state so the two major population centers can't completely dictate who the President will be and have their interests put to the forefront, each state having the same number of Senator's ensures equal representation of each individual sovereign state.

[audiophile]

When shit is this fucked up, there is a lot of work to be done. Can't blame Biden for the mess he was given.

But "shit is not fucked up". Even Biden is saying there is really nothing that we can do with covid. We had a phenomenal economy fueled by aggressive deregulation, but Trump was an asshole and mean on twitter.

Matt - no debate from me on your statement.

[audiophile]

That's an interesting point of view. I'm curious as to why you're opposed to direct elections of senators over state appointments.

The House of Representatives was designed to represent the people and designed to be selected by the people. Hence, The People's House. The Senate was designed to represent each sovereign State in it's entirety as well as a power check to the popularly elected House of Representatives. Having each State Legislature select who gets sent to Washington as their representative ensures that the interests of the entire state, not just the major population centers, have their interests represented at the federal level.

Much like the Electoral College protects, in some degree, the interest of each state so the two major population centers can't completely dictate who the President will be and have their interests put to the forefront, each state having the same number of Senator's ensures equal representation of each individual sovereign state.

Excellent points.

[Mark Elliott]

Repealing the 17th Amendment would just make the Senate even more unresponsive and less effective. And the Senate itself is not the way to govern a democracy. Why should 550,000 thousand Wyomings have the same number of Senate votes than 39,000,000 Californians? The current 50 Democratic Senators represent 41 million more Americans than the 50 Republican Senators. This violates every element of the "One person, one vote" mandate from the Supreme Court. And all it takes is 41 Senators to stop any sort of legislation. So Senators from the 20 smallest states, representing 10% of the total US population, basically control the Senate and have a say over what can get passed and put into law. This is the most blatant example of a non-democracy I've ever seen. How can you justify it?

[Rate This]

When shit is this fucked up, there is a lot of work to be done. Can't blame Biden for the mess he was given.

But "shit is not fucked up". Even Biden is saying there is really nothing that we can do with covid. We had a phenomenal economy fueled by aggressive deregulation, but Trump was an asshole and mean on twitter.

It was fueled by a sugar high from tax cuts and had already slowed back down to where it was growth and jobs wise when he started. We had over 3% growth for about 3 quarters. We had the same 3%+ quarters 1-2 times per year for most of Obamas time in office. Trump simply hopped on a train that already existed.

[Bryce]

Repealing the 17th Amendment would just make the Senate even more unresponsive and less effective.

And you can offer proof of this?

Why should 550,000 thousand Wyomings have the same number of Senate votes than 39,000,000 Californians?

Because the two Senator's represent the sovereign state of Wyoming, not the citizens of Wyoming. California is one state as is Wyoming. The House of Representatives represent the people. California has 52 and Wyoming has 1.

This is the most blatant example of a non-democracy I've ever seen. How can you justify it?

The United States of America is not a democracy. Democracies scared the bejesus out of the framers. We are a Representative Republic.