Socalista: The Orange Curtain went for Hillary in 2016. Of CA’s 53 Congressional districts, only 16 now remain in Republican hands. The state legislature now has a “super majority” for Democrats, and the Calif. Republican Party is all but irrelevant.
So yeah, we’re solid blue, and about to become more so.
Why are there R House members from CA? CA needs to do something about that, should have done something about that a long time ago. Because CA didn’t, CA may well find itself forced to change its laws requiring insurance to cover abortions.
O, I know, I know, gerrymandering is WRONG! Two WRONGs don’t make a right! Just because those evil R states gerrymander, that doesn’t mean we should follow their bad example.
That argument is just ridiculous. You pick what side you fight on yourself, but you don’t get to pick the rules of engagement yourself. You have to fight by whatever rules the other side agrees to, and only those rules. Maybe a world in which neither side gerrymandered would indeed be a better world. But I know for a fact, and maybe more defeats like this will teach CA the same lesson, that a world in which only their side gerrymanders is worse than a world in which both sides gerrymander. At least we get some parity of result in that last world. I would much rather have parity of power results than win the some notional moral high ground by having only our side hold back from gerrymandering.
There actually are things our side shouldn’t do no matter what the practical, power politics downside, because they are inherently, in themselves, wrong. Holding family members of R politicians hostage to get them to vote the right way would involve things that are evil in themselves. Let’s take a pass on that practice. But not gerrymandering is a purely procedural good thing, and it only achieves its procedural good if both sides observe the rule of not gerrymandering. We actually encourage more gerrymandering by their side by not responding in kind. Only by gerrymandering at least as ruthlessly as they do, is there any hope of getting them to agree to a disarmament conference, some agreement to bind all of us to procedures that make gerrymandering impossible anywhere in the US.
Why have 16 House seats been left in R hands? Why have they not been gerrymandered beyond all hope of any R winning them?
Sigh, my district. LaMalfa has been inundated with calls which put him on the fence but ultimately he went party/ideology/plutocrat over country/constituents/humanity. He will pay.
True, but remember people were also saying the Democrats were finished as a party after 2004, and the Republicans after 2008. Then look what happened in 2006 and 2010. The people who need to not get so cocky are the pundits.
No, there are many rural Dumbfuckistans in California, it’s just that the liberal Reasonlands are far more plentiful - it’s a big, populous state.
“It’s going to be controversial, but, you know, it’s about getting affordability back for middle-income folks and giving them choices,” Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA), another last-minute yes vote, told TPM. “I’ve had middle-income people pleading with me to do something.”
More bullshit that they tell the rubes.
What it’s really about is that the idle rich (ahem, 3.8% net investment income tax that funds ACA subsidies) who contribute to GOP campaigns really, really want their $90B/yr back.
Probably not enough. But yeah, I think at least six and possible more have made themselves incredibly vulnerable. Take a look at the breakdown on support for ACA by district at 538.com.
Your article says this: “The bill now moves to the Senate, which has shown little appetite for taking up the House’s health care bill.”
Your article is wrong. Unless the Senate actually takes the House bill to the floor and votes it down, the House bill will remain the baseline bill and anything the Senate does will merely be an amendment to the House bill. Thus, in any conference committee between the House and the Senate, the Senate Republicans will acceede to the House on certain key provisions, and then bring that compromised bill back to the Senate for a vote.
The Democrats will have trapped themselves by being willing to enter into a process which leaves the House bill as the base bill. The only way to avoid this self-setting trap is by having the House passed bill brought to the Senate floor now and have it decisively - overwhelmingly - defeated. That way, the House-passed bill will be dead and the full House will be forced to vote on the Senate bill.
ty,ty,ty,ty
Times 1000. Seriously.
not being sarcastic mile - thanks for engaging and trying to make your voice heard to your rep. keep at it.
Because geographically it would be all but impossible to make California a clean sweep for Democrats. And because we can’t simply rely on California to carry the rest of the country. However, if you look at a map and at Nate Silver’s list that I linked to, at least six and possibly as many as 12 of these House members have given themselves a much harder reelection fight. Getting 8 Republicans out of Congress is a very substantial down payment on taking back the House.
Overall, there were 35 yeses from districts that Clinton won and their were 20 Republican no votes that clearly reflect districts that are considered to be highly vulnerable. This is where the focus and direction need to be. Many of these are in California, but more than a few are not.
Taking out 2 or 3 from New York, and 1 from New Jersey, perhaps 1 or 2 from Pennsylvania, 1 from Nevada, 1 from Virginia, 2 from Colorado, etc. Pretty soon, you are talking a real chance.
Thank you deal legislators, for allowing my fellow Californians to pour all the frustration of living in a liberal state when the decisive national political decisions seem to leave us on the sidelines. Volunteering for the national party can only go so far, but you’ve allowed us to see the true weasels trying to rip our flesh. You’re just going to love how many get-out-the-vote volunteers will now only have to drive 1-2 hours for campaign work in your district.
“I talked to the Speaker, we went over about 10 different scenarios for [people with] pre-existing conditions, and nobody fell through the cracks,” he said. “Nobody anywhere.”
“Tell me you love me!”
“I love you”
“Tell me you’ll never leave me!”
“I’ll never leave you.”
“Tell me you’ll love only me!”
“I love only you.”
“Tell me you’re not going to give me gonorrhea and will quit cheating on me with that skank.”
“Well, lets not get carried away.”
It’s better if you remain silent and let people wonder if you’re a fool, then opening your mouth and confirming it.
Why don’t you read up on California a little bit more and rethink your opinion? Oh, we gerrymander here in CA, which is one of the reasons we’re known as a liberal state. What we don’t do is hold political pogroms and lynch anyone who’s a conservative, despite what you read in the press. So between the two, you do actually end up with a few Republican districts.
. “I talked to the Speaker, we went over about 10 different scenarios for [people with] pre-existing conditions, and nobody fell through the cracks,” he said. “Nobody anywhere.”
The ‘nobody’ being the exempted HouseTrashers. “We made sure of that.”
The ® believe that: "If you can afford good health care, you can get it, maybe; you could be conned out of it by a "good deal’, known as an artist (con artist). I’m a liberal Democrat and believe we should have three things partially/mostly socialistic. They would be Healthcare, education-k through a BA or BS of college, and voting All paid by taxes. I say partially/mostly because total socialism and total capitalism doesn’t work. That’s why I believe in a democracy and NOT Plato’s republic which would be run by the rich, behind the scenes.
Right - I make this point frequently. California is so large, geographically, demographically, economically - that it is a microcosm of the entire nation.
And it shows how the nation as a whole could work, if the Plutocrat’s corruption of politics and the media is defeated.
Interesting, given its vast size, it is well above the national average in per capita GDP.
