We know that right now there are 54 Republicans and 45 Democrats and 1 Independent in the Senate.
So the Democrats need to pick up four or five seats to get control.
That should be easy, as 24 of the 34 seats up for reelection this year are held by Republicans.
The job of getting those seats over to Democrats falls to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which is headed up by our own Senator Tester.
In the House Republicans have 247 seats to the Democrats’ 188, their largest majority since 1928.
Democrats need to pick up 30 seats, something U.S. News & World Report calls a “daunting challenge given the GOP’s immense redistricting advantage and the vaporization of swing districts."
So no matter what happens, Democrats are probably not going to have Congress…though they might get the Senate.
If that’s the case then Senator Tester will be #2 behind Chuck Schumer of New York.
If Tester can get through the 2018 election he’ll likely have a stab at majority leader when Schumer declines to run again in 2022 (he’ll be 72-years-old).
That’s all way down the line, however, but the pieces are in place.
So let’s say Hillary gets in and Democrats ride her coattails and get the Senate and pick up, oh…maybe 15 seats in the House.
They’ll have some leverage, but the GOP resistance in the House will be fierce. That resistance will be lead by Paul Ryan, unless he gets knocked out next week, which isn’t likely since he’s at 66% in the polls.
The big money and the PACs and the super-rich-assholes will rely on Ryan and his House cohorts – a piddly one being Zinke – to stop whatever agenda Hillary pushes forth, including any kind of nomination.
So I’m not sure Hillary will be able to get anything more done than Obama did over the last 6 years.
So the Democrats need to pick up four or five seats to get control.
That should be easy, as 24 of the 34 seats up for reelection this year are held by Republicans.
The job of getting those seats over to Democrats falls to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which is headed up by our own Senator Tester.
In the House Republicans have 247 seats to the Democrats’ 188, their largest majority since 1928.
Democrats need to pick up 30 seats, something U.S. News & World Report calls a “daunting challenge given the GOP’s immense redistricting advantage and the vaporization of swing districts."
So no matter what happens, Democrats are probably not going to have Congress…though they might get the Senate.
If that’s the case then Senator Tester will be #2 behind Chuck Schumer of New York.
If Tester can get through the 2018 election he’ll likely have a stab at majority leader when Schumer declines to run again in 2022 (he’ll be 72-years-old).
That’s all way down the line, however, but the pieces are in place.
So let’s say Hillary gets in and Democrats ride her coattails and get the Senate and pick up, oh…maybe 15 seats in the House.
They’ll have some leverage, but the GOP resistance in the House will be fierce. That resistance will be lead by Paul Ryan, unless he gets knocked out next week, which isn’t likely since he’s at 66% in the polls.
The big money and the PACs and the super-rich-assholes will rely on Ryan and his House cohorts – a piddly one being Zinke – to stop whatever agenda Hillary pushes forth, including any kind of nomination.
So I’m not sure Hillary will be able to get anything more done than Obama did over the last 6 years.
Now, what if Trump wins?
In that case anything could happen, as the GOP turnout would have to be strong.
There’s a good chance it could be, and perhaps Trump will have a GOP-controlled Congress to work with.
In that case, most of his agenda will get pushed through…unless those same ultra-rich-assholes and PACs thwart him somehow.
Remember, at the highest levels there’s no difference between D’s and R’s and the big money plays both sides equally, as this is the sure-fire way to get what they want.
What they want has nothing whatsoever to do with what you want, by the way, and most of the time it actually runs counter to it.
Clean air, clean water, open lands, low prices, high wages, benefits, healthcare, retirement, affordable education, a pot to piss in…you name it!
The rich do not like spending money on that stuff, and it’s why our jobs are in places like Shenzhen, China, where I lived for 5 years.
Now, there’s a chance Trump gets in and the Democrats get the Senate, and maybe the House.
Even if they just get the Senate, they’ll be able to do the same thing as the GOP would in the House – block Trump’s agenda and his nominations.
They’ll do the same thing that Republicans did to them for the past 6 years.
These are all just ideas, and you can comment on them if you wish.
