Democrats Win The House

[Autbot_Benz]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-u..._medium=Social

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats rode a wave of dissatisfaction with President Donald Trump to win control of the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday where they will seek to keep his agenda in check and open his administration to intense scrutiny.

In midterm elections two years after he won the White House, Trump and his fellow Republicans were set to maintain their majority in the U.S. Senate following a divisive campaign marked by fierce clashes over race, immigration and other cultural issues.
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With a House majority, Democrats will have the power to investigate Trump’s tax returns and possible conflicts of interest, and challenge his overtures to Saudi Arabia, Russia and North Korea.

They also could force Trump to scale back his legislative ambitions, possibly dooming his promises to fund a border wall with Mexico, pass a second major tax-cut package or carry out his hardline policies on trade.

S&P equity index futures erased most of their gains on expectations Democrats would seize the House.

A simple House majority would be enough to impeach Trump if evidence surfaces that he obstructed justice or that his 2016 campaign colluded with Russia. But Congress could not remove him from office without a conviction by a two-thirds majority in the Republican-controlled Senate.

Democrats in the House could be banking on launching an investigation using the results of U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s already 18-month-old probe of allegations of Russian interference on Trump’s behalf in the 2016 presidential election. Moscow denies meddling and Trump denies any collusion.
A rainbow forms over the U.S. Capitol as evening sets on midterm Election Day in Washington, U.S. November 6, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Tuesday’s result was a bitter outcome for Trump, a 72-year-old former reality TV star and businessman-turned-politician, after a campaign that became a referendum on his leadership.

Down the stretch, Trump hardened his rhetoric on issues that appealed to his conservative core supporters, issuing warnings about a caravan of Latin American migrants headed to the border with Mexico and condemnations of liberal American “mobs.”

Democrats turned out in droves to register disapproval of his divisive rhetoric and policies on such issues as immigration and his travel ban targeting several Muslim-majority countries.

A record number of women ran for office this election, many of them Democrats turned off by Trump’s policy agenda.

The election results mean Democrats will resume House control in January for the first time since the 2010 election, beginning a split-power arrangement with the Republican-led Senate that may force Trump to scale back his legislative ambitions and focus on issues with bipartisan support, such as an infrastructure improvement package or protections against prescription drug price increases.

It also will test Trump’s ability to compromise, something he has shown little interest in over the last two years with Republicans controlling both chambers of Congress.
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The loss of power will test Trump’s political hold on House Republicans, most of whom had pledged their support for him lest they face the wrath of the party’s core supporters, who remain in his corner.

Most Democratic candidates in tight races stayed away from harsh criticism of Trump during the campaign’s final stretch, focusing instead on bread-and-butter issues like keeping down healthcare costs, maintaining insurance protections for people with pre-existing medical conditions and safeguarding the Social Security retirement and Medicare healthcare programs for senior citizens.

The final weeks before the election were marked by the mailing of pipe bombs to his top political rivals, with a political fan of Trump arrested and charged, and the mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue in which 11 people died, sparking a debate about Trump’s biting rhetoric and whether it encouraged extremists.
Abrams makes final push on election day

In the House, Democrats picked up seats across the map, ousting incumbent Republican Barbara Comstock in suburban Virginia and sending Donna Shalala, a former Cabinet secretary under President Bill Clinton, to the House in south Florida.

In the Senate, where Republicans were heavily favored to keep control heading into Tuesday’s voting, Republican Mike Braun captured incumbent Joe Donnelly’s seat in Indiana and Republican Kevin Cramer beat incumbent Democratic Senator Heidi Heitkamp in North Dakota.

Some of the biggest Democratic stars of the campaign season were struggling. Liberal House member Beto O’Rourke became a national sensation with his underdog U.S. Senate campaign but fell short in conservative Texas, and Andrew Gillum was trailing Republican Ron DeSantis in his quest to become the first African-American governor of the key swing state of Florida.

Incumbent Democratic Senator Joe Manchin won a hotly contested race in conservative West Virginia, and conservative Marsha Blackburn held a Senate seat for Republicans.

Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a 2016 Democratic presidential contender, and Tim Kaine of Virginia, Hillary Clinton’s vice presidential nominee in 2016, easily won re-election, news networks projected. Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown was projected to hold his seat in Ohio.

All 435 seats in the House, 35 seats in the 100-member Senate and 36 of the 50 state governorships were up for grabs.

[Redeemer]

This might be the worse thing that could have happened for our country....

The reason I say this is bc there are a portion of the Democrats who have no interest in passing legislation, but only want to crucify Trump and this article kind of hints at that.This will literally do nothing for our country, but waste time and allow current problems to continue and not be resolved. I was hoping democrats would pick up some of the seats so that republicans would not so easily pass legislation and moderate republicans could keep the rest of the party honest and inline, specifically the extremist of the party.

Unfortunately this will probably lead to trump abusing his power like Obama did by getting legislation passed/made through executive order.

ugghhhhh...... Really hope some good come of this election. I am glad to hear a record number of woman are running for office!

[Autbot_Benz]

well the house has said they are going for Trump's Tax returns

[Redeemer]

Originally Posted by Autbot_Benz

well the house has said they are going for Trump's Tax returns

Yep and they are going to waste time with that crap instead of trying to fix the problems that plague this country. Opioid epidemic, illegal immigration, National Debt/defit, public transit, wage gap. So many things that need to be addressed and they choose this crap.....
Here is what will happen if they go through with it. Either they find absolutely nothing and waste everyone's time or they find something and they try to impeach him but fail due to lack of votes/majority.

[Andrew NDB]

People seem to forget that even if they somehow manage to impeach Trump... they still need to actually prove he is guilty of a crime. Which they can't, or it would have already happened at the gleeful hands of many democrats.

"I'm a democratic politician that is going to try and impeach Trump!" = votes. No more needs to be added. You know, stuff like anything that might help the economy or healthcare or anything.

Originally Posted by Autbot_Benz

well the house has said they are going for Trump's Tax returns

Which is what Democrats say they've been "going for" since the beginning. Taking the house means they can do this more than before exactly how?

Even if they do, what is it going to show? I suspect Trump avoiding a lot of taxes by exploiting perfectly legal and viable tax loopholes that no Democrat ever swatted down during the Obama era, or probably even the Clinton era. So what? If I could exploit some loopholes and pay less in taxes, I'd do it, too. So would you.

[Leo656]

Yeah, really. "Rich people skirt tax laws! In other news, Fishing is boring."

The entire reason they have the most expensive lawyers, is so that they can find all the little holes in the system and exploit them. That may be unsavory, but it's also very smart. Damn right I'd take advantage of that.

What I find most off-putting about many liberals is how they absolutely demonize anyone who's made it further in life than they have. "They MUST be pure evil!" Maybe. Or maybe they just figured out how to play the game better.

Fortune favors the Bold, after all, not the Liberal Arts Major With Social Anxiety. But hey, whatever; I'm sure they'll get Trump behind bars ONE'a these days, and everyone's lives will improve immeasurably within a week. And if (when) not, they'll just invent another Bogeyman. Without a made-up super-villain to galvanize them, they wouldn't know what to do.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by Leo656

I'm sure they'll get Trump behind bars ONE'a these days

ANY... DAY... NOW! There's so much smoke!

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Redeemer

This might be the worse thing that could have happened for our country....

The reason I say this is bc there are a portion of the Democrats who have no interest in passing legislation, but only want to crucify Trump and this article kind of hints at that.This will literally do nothing for our country, but waste time and allow current problems to continue and not be resolved. I was hoping democrats would pick up some of the seats so that republicans would not so easily pass legislation and moderate republicans could keep the rest of the party honest and inline, specifically the extremist of the party.

Unfortunately this will probably lead to trump abusing his power like Obama did by getting legislation passed/made through executive order.

ugghhhhh...... Really hope some good come of this election. I am glad to hear a record number of woman are running for office!

It's funny because I remember people back in the Obama days saying all Republicans did was trying to crucify Obama.

Politics are so dirty, regardless of party/colour affiliation...

[Mayhem]

Originally Posted by Prowler

It's funny because I remember people back in the Obama days saying all Republicans did was trying to crucify Obama.

This. Shoe is on the other foot now. Obama really did get little done in his second term partly due to having no House control.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Mayhem

This. Shoe is on the other foot now. Obama really did get little done in his second term partly due to having no House control.

All of this seems like the typical "voting for the opposite party for a change" tactic tbh. It's like that in mot democracies. One party holds most of the power for a few years, then voters get tired of then and elect the opposition party they hated some years ago again hoping they're not that bad this time.

[joe-eyeball]

The next two years seem pretty easy to predict at this point. The democrats will likely spend too much time and resources on taking Trump down which will in turn backfire on the Democratic Party in 2020 when the Trump trials go nowhere. I’m not the biggest fan of Trump but it would be a colossal waste of time to make that a primary goal. I’m sure little to no legislation will be passed while Trump and the Sentate appoint many more conservative judges tying up the judiciary.

A big hit to the Democrats last night was states like Florida and Ohio staying very much red. This will likely hurt them come 2020. All in all the country is still very much divided and history will continue to repeat itself. Also the Democrats better do two things if they want to save their party! One is find worthy candidates for the 2020 presidential election and two is get rid of that raving idiot Pelosi and push her to the back of the line! Anyway business as usual for America!!!

[Metalwolf]

Originally Posted by Redeemer

Yep and they are going to waste time with that crap instead of trying to fix the problems that plague this country. Opioid epidemic, illegal immigration, National Debt/defit, public transit, wage gap. So many things that need to be addressed and they choose this crap.....
Here is what will happen if they go through with it. Either they find absolutely nothing and waste everyone's time or they find something and they try to impeach him but fail due to lack of votes/majority.

Well, I doubt Democrats would touch the illegal immigrants issues, it's a future source of voters you know. I'm being snarky of course, but I have such a low confidence in them that I think they are almost as bad as the Republicans, but unlike the Republicans they don't (openly) suck corporate teat, so I suppose they are better then nothing.

The biggest thing though is that neither party has the balls to openly challenge the heavily monied groups and companies that cause a lot of the issues, or to garner enough bipartisan support to actually Do Something. A lot of these humdrum issues really mean something to someone who isn't rich, but it's like they get caught up in the power and forget that normal people exist.

[Redeemer]

Originally Posted by Prowler

It's funny because I remember people back in the Obama days saying all Republicans did was trying to crucify Obama.

Politics are so dirty, regardless of party/colour affiliation...

Thanks you are right I thought I mentioned it, but I guess I forgot. This was even worse bc of how bad of shape our economy was in and instead of trying to fix the economy they decided to go after Obama and his "Birth" issue. "Oh he is a socialist he is going to destroy this country!!!" yeah.... I am annoyed/pissed Obama didn't do more especially sense he had a super-majority his first two years......

Originally Posted by Metalwolf

Well, I doubt Democrats would touch the illegal immigrants issues, it's a future source of voters you know. I'm being snarky of course, but I have such a low confidence in them that I think they are almost as bad as the Republicans, but unlike the Republicans they don't (openly) suck corporate teat, so I suppose they are better then nothing.

The biggest thing though is that neither party has the balls to openly challenge the heavily monied groups and companies that cause a lot of the issues, or to garner enough bipartisan support to actually Do Something. A lot of these humdrum issues really mean something to someone who isn't rich, but it's like they get caught up in the power and forget that normal people exist.

Well they almost passed the "Buffet Rule" But of course..... Republicans decided to philabuster . They actually had 51 votes, but bc of the philabuster they needed 60. It makes me even madder knowing they previously had a super-majority and could have easily passed it, but for some freaking reason they decided not to. They could have tried to pass it agin, but never tried it again......

[IndigoErth]

Glad people managed to pull it off. And I'm fine with Republicans keeping the Senate, maybe we can have a little more balance (and checks) now... Would be nice if both branches were 50/50 and inclined to work bipartisan, but that's never gonna happen, so this is an acceptable alternative.

Between putting both parties back in there sharing a bit of power and electing a number of people that are the first something or other, plus more women than usual... gotta say it has restored just a little pride in this country for the time being; like a hint that people do still believe in it and that its diversity is an asset, not an assault.



Side note... You know your state is super predictable (and unimportant? ) when the tv coverage never mentions you even once. lol Unless I just missed an early mention, but even still it must have been the only one, if at all.



Oh, and did anyone get any of those misleading texts or whatnot they were talking about? Saw the bit yesterday morning when they mentioned reports of people being sent false information, including things trying to tell them the wrong polling locations.

And wouldn't you know it, but just after 11am my phone was spammed 5 times by an unfamiliar local number trying to tell me to go vote and at least one saying my polling location was elsewhere north of me. (Nope, sorry, I'd already gone to the usual correct place an hour before.)

[Zulithe]

Congrats and an even bigger congrats to all the felons in FL who can now vote. The next election could look very different there if they can be mobilized to exercise their rights.

[Andrew NDB]

Definitely OK with felons being able to vote. So what if they vote is biased? They shouldn't become a 2nd class citizen if they've already repaid their debt to society.

That said, convicted child rapists and such... maybe the line should still be drawn somewhere. I don't know.

Originally Posted by Zulithe

Congrats and an even bigger congrats to all the felons in FL who can now vote. The next election could look very different there if they can be mobilized to exercise their rights.

Oh, you shouldn't assume felons would automatically lean left and vote. Probably largely the opposite.

[Redeemer]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

Definitely OK with felons being able to vote. So what if they vote is biased? They shouldn't become a 2nd class citizen if they've already repaid their debt to society.

That said, convicted child rapists and such... maybe the line should still be drawn somewhere. I don't know.



Oh, you shouldn't assume felons would automatically lean left and vote. Probably largely the opposite.

Actually those convicted of rape or murder are still prohibited from voting. These two were the exclusion to the new law. All other felons can now vote from my understanding.

[IndigoErth]

Yeah, can agree that more serious crimes that remain part of someone's profile should maybe still include certain provoked 'rights,' like voting.

I was surprised to hear felons could not vote in FL, but it's a little absurd that less serious crimes should prevent them if they have done their time and got their life straightened out. (Or at 'worst' maybe just make it a right people earn back after staying out of trouble for a set period of time? I dunno.)

[Andrew NDB]

Exports from China to U.S. increasing despite tariffs:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-e...Pos=5#cxrecs_s

[Leolead]

Thank God. First time I was able to vote and I did the right thing and voted for the Democrats. Hopefully they can get Trump out of the White House in due time before he has us all in camps by 2023.