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leupagus · 4 years

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Who’s your County Executive? and other steps to becoming a valuable pain in the ass

I fired off a tweet thread this morning, but I feel like a lot of folks here might benefit from this info, too. Which is: if you want anything to change, from police abolition to getting statues removed to passing local ordinances requiring masks to removing local legislation putting limits on abortion (just for some random examples), you need to get real familiar with your local reps. As in, you need to know who they are, what they do, how they’re elected/appointed, how long they’ve been doing that job, what their history is and how you can pressure them into doing what you want. Using hashtags and sharing links and signal boosting can only do so much. Talking to the people who are actually able to implement the change you want is a huge part that I don’t think gets discussed enough; and although it requires some preliminary work, once you get into the groove it’s surprisingly easy.

First, find out where you live! Which you may think is a stupid step, but —do you live in a city? Are you sure? I live in a city, for example, but I actually live in a township/suburb of that city, not the city proper. (Fortunately due to what I suspect is some white flight-related weirdness, I can still hassle the city proper.) There are entire towns inside of some cities, like West Hollywood and Los Angeles. Double-check; you might be surprised.

Then, find out who’s in charge of said place. There are quite a few people, actually. You probably have a mayor — but they might be called a supervisor. Or you may have a city manager, or executive, or clerk, or all three, or someone else entirely, who’s actually doing the day-to-day running of the place — for instance, while Austin has a mayor, it also has a city manager, and the city manager does WAY more than the mayor does. You also have people at the county/parish level — a county executive is I think the most common term, although sometimes it’s the county clerk, who can have entirely different duties depending on the county. Whatever way it works where you live, find out. While you’re at it, find out who’s in charge of your local elections. Sometimes that’s the county clerk (actually I think it’s almost always the country clerk, but sometimes it’s the county auditor or something weird like that); sometimes they’re elected and sometimes they’re appointed. Find out. Get names, put their contact info in your phone. (More on that later.)

Then, find out who represents you on the city/town council and the county legislature, or whatever they’re called where you are. Finding out what district you’re in can sometimes be hellaciously frustrating; when in doubt, an email to the county or city council can often get you an answer if you provide your address. Also bear in mind that different places have different ways of apportioning council members; sometimes they’re all “at large,” sometimes they’re elected according to districts, sometimes it’s a combination of both. Sometimes (not often I don’t think) they’re not elected at all but appointed by someone. Find out who! And don’t leave out things like school boards and zoning boards and community college boards and anything else you happen upon that has a representative you didn’t know existed. They exist, and I guarantee they’ve got power.

Note: find out who represents you state-wide, too. Often calling the governor isn’t that effective (at least for me, calling Cuomo ain’t gonna do much; if you live in Delaware or Montana or Iowa or somewhere relatively less populous, definitely get your governor’s information), but your state reps are usually pretty eager to talk to constituents, even — and this is really important these days — ones who aren’t of the same party. I’m represented by a GOP state senator, for example, but he ended up voting for this bill that just got signed into law. Most states are bicameral (except Nebraska, heyooo), so you likely have a state senator and a state rep/assemblyman/whatever. Make sure to get info for both. (Unless you live in Nebraska, in which case tell Ernie I said hi.)

Next, find out what the court system looks like where you are. Are your state/county/district/etc judges appointed? Elected? What are their terms? Who’s your District Attorney? Who’s in charge of your Public Defender’s office? (I actually haven’t bothered to look up that myself until today!) What courts handle which offenses in your area? Collect that information.

And what do you do with this info? You put it into your phone contacts, or whatever you use to keep your contacts organized, I dunno, maybe you still use your Wizard from 1992. No judgement. However you do it, put all of these contacts somewhere they’re all together — for example, if you have a letter in your directory that isn’t used much. I have a kind of weird method of organizing my contacts, which is that I put their first and last names (and their handles, if I know them online) in the Firstname field, then the Lastname field I use to say how I know them. So all of my New York-based friends are listed as “NYC, Holly Golightly/moonrivergoddess” or whatever. So for me personally, I just put all my political contacts under “Y” as in “Y do I have to keep pestering you to make you do the right thing.” So a county clerk would be listed like so:

Y, County Clerk Horace Vandergelder

In the “Company” field, I usually put their party and when/if they’re up for election next as well as term length, so Horace would be “Dem, 2020/2024.″ And then I might add any links I thought were helpful as well as notes about, say, what staffer I may’ve talked to or if there’s an important bill coming up etc.

And now you’ve got that information, it’s time to fuckin’ use it. Was there a protest that happened in your area that ended in arrests or violence? Call your mayor, register your displeasure. Call your DA, ask if anyone’s being charged. Call your city council member, ask them what legislation they’d support to end police violence. What do you know that you want them to know? Alternatively, was there a protest in your area that was really great and positive? Call these people; ask if they attended. If they did, offer support for them and say that you want them to follow up with actionable steps. If they didn’t, ask why. (BTW, it’s election season — look at the candidates, too! That state senator I mentioned earlier is retiring this year, and a pretty awesome Democrat is in a good position to get his seat; I’ve started volunteering for him in part because he’s got a history of agitating for police reform and has been regularly attending the protests here.) You can email, too; you’re welcome to c&p form emails, but once you have all these people’s contact info at your fingertips you’d be amazed how easy it’ll be to write something from you, that will be far more effective.

It’s also important to keep a record for yourself of who you’ve talked to, when you talked to them, what they said, if you want to follow up etc. I’ve got a little section of my planner for this; it has dates, names, topics, the works. It’s been really helpful to me over the past few weeks making sure I’m exerting pressure to a variety of people in a variety of positions, not just repeatedly calling one office and leaving the same message over and over again.

But if you really want to, as I put it on twitter, tighten the sphincter of local government, nothing beats face-to-face (or, these days, facetime-to-facetime). And here you’ve got a shitton of options. You can see if a particular politician/government office is taking virtual one-on-one meetings, where you can lobby either your politician or (more likely) one of their staffers to support legislation or policies or whatnot. This is, and I cannot stress it enough, HUGELY EFFECTIVE, especially if you are a demo they don’t often see (aka if you’re not a white Boomer). Local politicians are both desperate for and terrified of an engaged constituency; they want you to care but they’re very much aware that anyone showing up to an office (or a zoom meeting) could make their lives very, very difficult.

If one-on-one isn’t your style, there are also committee meetings, which... holy shit, you would not believe the number of committees there are. Committees for art festivals, committees for transportation, committees for public safety, committees for pretty much everything you can think of and a few I’ll bet you can’t. Noodle around on your councils’ and county’s websites, including their facebook page (nine times out of ten there will be more — and more up-to-date — info on the facebook page) to find out what committees meet when. And here is where your specific priorities will be important, because usually you can attend and in some cases even become part of these committees. Do you want to advocate for better public transportation? Find out when the transportation committee meets. Go to that meeting. If they have a Q&A, get some fuckin’ Qs ready and demand some fuckin’ As.

And then there’s the big kahunas of council meetings and state legislature sessions. Most city/town councils have a segment of their weekly/monthly meetings to hear from the public (this is different from a public hearing, FYI, although they too are really important and you should find out if there are any going on where you live and when). Do you have something you want to get in front of the whole council? Get your ass on the list! In Austin I think you had to call or email the council’s office by the day before; in my town you just roll up and get in line when it comes time. Then for state legislatures, often there will be specific bills on which they ask for “citizen input” or however else they describe it. This is less practical because we don’t all live in easy distance of our state capital, but if you do, consider getting involved there. (And right now with the pandemic, your state legislatures may have new rules about citizen participation that actually make it easier for you to get involved, for once.)

Mostly, though, this is about local involvement — find out who’s in control of your city, your county, your precinct and district and all the other ways your home is demarcated. Talk to these people, even if it makes you nervous; their power to make effective change comes with their responsibility to listen, and your power to make them listen comes with your responsibility to speak.

#you want your city to follow in camden and minneapolis's footsteps?#then CALL THEM UP #protesting sometimes works #advocating sometimes works #if you are only doing one of them that's fine #but doing both is more effective #and if what you want is change then you will want to be at your most effective #ergo this post #politics!

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ashintheairlikesnow · 4 years

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Exactly What You Need: Owen

To the Anon who won the “guess the post-apocalyptic New Zealand kids’ show Owen Grant had a guest star role on”: Here is your requested drabble! Owen Grant, the night he ordered Kauri.

CW: Owen is a fucking creep. Implied/referenced assault/abuse with younger!Vincent Shield, manipulate/abusive thoughts, dehumanization. Owen Grant is a dark man and people triggered by abuser thoughts regarding rape/assault should please heed that and stay safe

Tagging: @maybeawhumpblog, @pepperonyscience, @haro-whumps, @18-toe-beans, @burtlederp, @finder-of-rings,

It started with the hair, and the eyes.

Originally, he hadn’t really thought about Vince, exactly - he was just… he was just kind of lonely, and he’d been scrolling the Whumpees-R-Us site, thinking about how it seemed like basically everyone with a name worth knowing and a good stock portfolio had one of the Box Boys or Box Babes now.

And it might be nice to have someone around here to talk to. It’s not like he could talk to the fucking Roomba.

The condo was gorgeous, and he went out to lunch a few times a week with Nicole and some of the former costars and everything that he’d kept in touch with, went to conventions, even wrote an introduction for a book on the dark side of child acting that was pretty well received. He went to the gym three days a week, he watched a bunch of Youtubers that updated pretty regularly. Owen kept himself busy, basically, and none of it stopped him from being really. fucking. lonely.

His mother had called one night after he’d been drinking for two or three hours straight, slowly killing a bottle of gin and a bag of limes while sending increasingly drunken text messages to no one in particular.

He and his mother still talked two or three nights a week. He was probably the only former child actor he knew who still had a really close relationship with his mom… or at least as close as your relationship can be when you’re lying to her about fucking everything about yourself.

She knew anyway. She’d been the one to help him cover it all up with Vince, what happened, why they never spoke again. She knew - but her constituents were bigoted assholes and in the part of the country Carlotta Grant set her sights on, you have to play to the bigoted asshole or you don’t get elected.

His mom was the biggest bitch he knew, but she wasn’t a bigot, exactly. Just happy to roll over for them for the sake of her Senate career. It would kill her ambitions if too much about Former Child Star Owen Grant got into the news, so Owen lied to everybody and everybody pretended to believe him. He’d been lying about it since he was still acting, it’s not like it was that hard to just… keep lying, right?

Even if he’d sort of hoped quitting acting - getting away from Vince and what happened - making his own life out here away from everyone… he’d sort of hoped he could stop lying, then. But nope. Mom got all political and Owen kept on lying.

He’d fucking hate her for it, if he didn’t love her so much.

In any case, she’d called and Owen had been trashed and it… well. The whole time he’d had the Whumpees-R-Us site up, looking through options, scrolling past faces that weren’t right. Or they almost were. But they weren’t the one he wanted.

“Mom, I just want someone here who cares about me,” Owen had said, heavily, into the phone. He knew his words had gone slightly slurred, and he waited for her derision - his mother was the queen of it, after all, of cutting you apart with words alone. “Listen to this - a Whumpees-R-Us nonproductive pet can arrive with any skillset you require or phys, physical combination of- shit, sorry, Mom, I’m drunk-”

“Yes. I can quite tell you are. Don’t be ridiculous, Owen, you’re not getting one.”

“I’m a grown-ass man, Mom, and I say I am.”

“Would you at least order a girl?”

There it is, Owen thought. Carlotta Grant didn’t care if her only child bought a living human person, just if it fit the version her constituents wanted to see.

He took incredible pleasure is pausing long enough to take another long sip of lime and gin before he answered, “Oh, it’ll definitely be a boy.”

“Owen…” Carlotta sighed, heavily. “Darling. We talked about this.”

“No, you talked about it. At great length, no matter how often I asked you to stop. I want a boy and I’ll have one. Here’s a compromise, Mom - what if I don’t let it leave? I’ll keep it in here with me, they can train it to not be able to even walk out the door without me.”

“Owen…”

“Take it or leave it, Mom.”

Carlotta went quiet again, for much longer this time. Then she finally said, “Fine. Owen… I know that my decision was difficult for you-”

“All of your decisions are difficult for me, Mom.”

“Your decisions haven’t exactly been easy for me, either. Vincent Shield could still cause trouble for me, if he ever chooses to air what you did to him publicly.”

“He won’t. We told him I’d stay away from him if he kept it hush-hush, and he did. He won’t say anything to anyone, Mom. You can trust him. I couldn’t, but you can. It doesn’t help his career either, you know, if they find out about him.” Owen felt his throat catch, had to swallow hard against the tears.

“Right. We don’t need them find out about your latent sadism, either, but I suppose I must put my trust in the career aspirations of Vincent Shield. Get whatever you want, Owen, but I had better not see it step one foot outside of that condominium if it makes it into the news.”

They spoke for a while longer, about nothing and relatives and people who had recently died or pissed his mother off, senate bills she was worried about and Owen’s latest project bankrolling a documentary exposing a monopolizing pharmaceutical giant, and the whole time Owen’s mind wasn’t on the conversation at all, but on Vincent fucking Shield.

They’d been inseparable. They’d made promises to each other. Then Owen had fucked one tiny little thing up - just the one thing, and it hadn’t even been that bad, what he’d done, and Vincent had probably liked it anyway - and Vincent had left and never came back.

He glanced down at his empty glass with a bit of ice that still clinked, and then up at the Whumpees-R-Us website. Create a completely customized option for minimal surcharges and receive the perfect pet of your dreams.

He poured more gin, added another twist of lime. “You know what my perfect fucking pet is?” He asked no one in particular. The Roomba beeped softly under the couch in its docking station. “Vincent Shield’s my perfect fucking pet. Make him feel pretty fucking sorry for what he did. They don’t have anyone on here who even looks like him…”

Then his blurry, bleary eyes caught a line at the bottom of the pictured Box Boy options. This does not represent the totality of what Whumpees-R-Us can provide. Send us your requirements and we will dedicate ourselves to fulfilling your every need, with an added surcharge.

So he clicked on the custom order form for Box Boys, watching it load, blinking at how fucking huge the page was. And it started with a simple box that asked what kind of pet you were searching for.

Owen very nearly wrote I’m so fucking lonely.

Instead, he settled for Companion.

The screen blinked and new options appeared. Platonic, Romantic, Domestic, or Combination?

Owen snorted. Platonic. He wasn’t some fucking sicko, he was just looking for someone to bring some life into this place. But… maybe it was just that he was drunk, or maybe it went deeper than that. In any case, a thought came to mind. He pictured wide blue eyes in a face that used to be pale, now tanned on all the movie posters. Thought of those eyes full of tears, for him. Then… then he thought of what it might be like if those eyes weren’t full of tears, but something else.

The thing Vincent had owed him, and had never been able - or willing - to give.

Then he unclicked his previous decision, and chose Combination.

We will return to detailed specifics of your [Combination] requirements in a later section. For now, please list physical requirements for your Box Boy.

Owen swallowed, looked up the photo of the movie poster for Dimmer Switch, with 20-year-old Vincent Shield and 17-year-old Owen Grant in action poses against a dark background and a glowing light. Vincent’s face was clearly visible - soft and slightly sweet-looking, wide blue eyes, curly black hair. Long limbs and kind of a slim body type, not as muscled-up as he was now.

Not that Owen kept up with his career or what he looked like now, or anything.

He started with the hair, and the eyes. At first it felt wrong, like he was trying to build a Frankenstein’s monster for himself, but it was all perfectly legal and if it was really wrong, why were so many people buying them now?

No, this was fine.

Owen was fine.

He was going to bring Vincent Shield home, and once Vince came back here, he was never, ever going to be able to leave.

He checked every box, wrote down details. At the bottom of the physical requirements section there was a spot to upload photo references, and he added the movie poster, some other pictures from magazine interviews from back then, he and Vince together in a few of them. Shots of Vince with the mop of curly hair and a bright wide smile, flashing whitened teeth. Shots of Vince with his arm around Owen, the both of them grinning for the photographer.

It took nearly two hours to finish, and by the end of it he’d stopped being drunk or maybe he was drunker than ever, but he’d entered a place of perfect clarity about his decision. He was about to spend a lot of money on this boy.

It was going to be perfect.

In the final box for any added comments not covered by the questionnaire, Owen Grant typed, Make it so he can never, ever leave me without fear. Make it so he wants my touch more than anything else in the world. Make it so he would lose his mind before he’d lose me. I want him to be sweet, and kind of a soft person. I want him to put up with anything I do to him.

He paused, considering, and then added one more thing.

I want him to love me.

Then he pressed SUBMIT, made himself drink a glass of water, and passed out in his bed.

When he woke up the next morning, the Roomba was in the middle of a cleaning routine and his phone was ringing. He squinted at a number he didn’t know, but decided to answer it on kind of a whim. His number was private and only a few people had it - if someone was calling he didn’t know, it was probably one of his mom’s staff members. “Hello?”

“May I speak with Mr. Owen Grant?” A warm, melodic voice spoke on the other end of the line.

“Ah, this is Owen Grant.”

“This is Karen Renford, Client Satisfaction Director at Whumpees-R-Us. We received your request for a custom order last night and I’ve just had time to review it. There is… an exceptional amount of specialization in this order form, Mr. Grant.”

“I… I know. Shit. Oh, sorry.”

“No apologies required. I indulge in a bit of profanity myself on occasion.”

“The, the order form… was it too much?”

Too much to hope for, that Vince’s blue eyes could be all for him. Too much to dream, that he could fix all his old mistakes. Too much, to think he could keep someone here when Vince had run so far, so fast, and made it impossible to get close again.

“Not at all. We are aware of your… connections, Mr. Grant. We would love to work with you on this request, and hope you would let your influential mother know how excited we were to be given this opportunity to truly prove the merits of our methods.”

Owen tried not to audibly snort.

“We already have a suitable candidate in mind who is most of the way through his basic training, although there have been a few… hiccups.”

“Hiccups?”

“Ah, it’s all part of the process.” She did not quite laugh, but there was a lilt to her voice that suggested she wanted to. “645898 is a sweet soul at heart, once you take apart the rest of him. I think he’ll be perfect for what you need.”

“So why the phone call?”

“It is customary for the company to directly contact clients of your… discerning and exacting taste. Considering the costs associated with so many specialized requests-”

“I am more than able to pay the amount owed, Ms. Renford.”

“Oh, we know that. This isn’t about money at all, Mr. Grant. Whumpees-R-Us is dedicated to client satisfaction, and it’s my job to look at this form, speak directly with you, and ensure that you receive exactly what you need.”

“So you can make him… want to stay here? Not able to leave?”

“Can we make him ‘love’ you, as you requested on your form?” Her voice held no mockery, no hint of judgement. “Mr. Grant, your request is considerable, but I believe we can ensure that your boy won’t ever be able to take a step out the front door without you by his side. We can make sure those big blue eyes are focused entirely on you, no matter what you do to him.”

Owen’s free hand clenched slowly into a fist, and something twisted and untwisted inside of him.

Vince’s eyes, all on me. No matter what I do.

“That sounds perfect,” Owen breathed out, shifting in the bed. “I want him to think I’m safe. That I’m the safest thing in the whole world.”

No matter how much I hurt him.

#whump #box boy #box boy multiverse #owen grant is a nice guy #pet whump #dehumanization #erase to control #intimate whumper #creepy whumper #tw: abusive language

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newstfionline · 3 years

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Tuesday, January 26, 2021

Pandemic aftershocks overwhelm global supply lines (Washington Post) One year after the coronavirus pandemic first disrupted global supply chains by closing Chinese factories, fresh shipping headaches are delaying U.S. farm exports, crimping domestic manufacturing and threatening higher prices for American consumers. The cost of shipping a container of goods has risen by 80 percent since early November and has nearly tripled over the past year, according to the Freightos Baltic Index. The increase reflects dramatic shifts in consumption during the pandemic, as consumers redirect money they once spent at restaurants or movie theaters to the purchase of record amounts of imported clothing, computers, furniture and other goods. That abrupt and unprecedented spending shift has upended long-standing trade patterns. “It’s crazy. Prices are at record highs. Multiple things are happening all at once,” said Phil Levy, an economist with Flexport, a San Francisco-based freight forwarder. “People work off of expectations. But now there’s just so much uncertainty.” At the Port of Los Angeles one day last week, 42 ships were anchored offshore, waiting to unload their cargoes, even as every warehouse within 60 miles was already full. A shortage of dock workers amid California’s worsening coronavirus outbreak is further complicating operations; inbound cargo volumes in December were more than 23 percent higher than one year earlier. “Some areas of the supply chain need to be sharpened,” Gene Seroka, the port’s executive director, said. “People are a little bit on edge.” It’s a global problem, and it may get worse before it gets better.

Destructive protests by anarchists and extremists signal divided left as Biden administration begins (Washington Post) The hundreds of far-left and anarchist demonstrators who gathered in protest mere hours after President Biden swore the oath of office Wednesday signal a fracturing on the left that could become a scourge for the new administration, political leaders and experts say. Some activists are carrying their destructive tactics into a new administration to voice rejection of centrist ideologies they believe will do little to address existential worries over climate change, economic inequality, foreign wars and racism. The vandalizing of the Oregon Democratic Party headquarters by extreme-left demonstrators on Inauguration Day has split Portland liberals, and federal agents’ launching of tear gas at crowds that descended on the city’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters produced scenes reminiscent of similar summer standoffs ordered by President Donald Trump. In Seattle, a march organized by anarchists and the city’s Youth Liberation Front branch roved through neighborhoods, chanting expletives at both Trump and Biden, some breaking windows. James Ofsink, president of Portland Forward, a local advocacy group for liberal causes, said the growing tension in Portland’s progressive circles is emblematic of a larger tug of war happening in the nation. “Portland is going to continue to be a microcosm of the political divides, especially among the left, that we’re seeing across the country,” Ofsink said. “The idea that middle-of-the-road Democrats can say with a straight face that we need to take things slowly or do things in a very deliberate way rubs a lot of people the very wrong way.”

Trump’s coming impeachment trial aggravates rift among Republicans (Reuters) The coming second impeachment trial of former U.S. President Donald Trump on a charge of inciting the deadly storming of the Capitol has aggravated a rift among his fellow Republicans that was on full display on Sunday. At least one Republican, Senator Mitt Romney, said he believed the trial, which could lead to a vote banning Trump from future office, was a necessary response to the former president’s inflammatory call to his supporters to “fight” his election defeat before the Jan. 6 attack. Ten Republicans joined the House of Representatives in voting to impeach Trump on a charge of inciting insurrection. But a significant number of Republican lawmakers, concerned about Trump’s devoted base of voters, have raised objections to the impeachment. Trump is the first U.S. president to be impeached after leaving office. Senator Tom Cotton, another Republican, said the Senate was acting beyond its constitutional authority by holding a trial. “I think a lot of Americans are going to think it’s strange that the Senate is spending its time trying to convict and remove from office a man who left office a week ago,” Cotton told Fox News on Sunday. “I think the trial is stupid,” Republican Senator Marco Rubio told Fox News on Sunday, saying he would vote to end it at the first opportunity. “I think it’s counterproductive. We already have a flaming fire in this country and it’s like taking a bunch of gasoline and pouring it on top of the fire.”

Ununited Kingdom (Times of London) The UK is facing a constitutional crisis that will strain the Union as new polls reveal a majority of voters in Scotland and Northern Ireland want referendums on the break-up of Britain. A four-country survey we commissioned, based on separate polls in Scotland, Northern Ireland, England and Wales, also found that the sense of British identity that once bound the country together is disintegrating. And in another significant move, the Scottish National Party (SNP) announced that it is prepared to call a wildcat referendum of its own if Boris Johnson refuses to grant one himself—a move that puts the two governments on a constitutional collision course.

Riots explode across Netherlands over covid restrictions (Washington Post) Dutch rioters who attacked police and destroyed property over the weekend while protesting new coronavirus measures are “criminals,” Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Monday, as law enforcement officials warned that the violence could last for weeks. The unrest across the Netherlands, some of the worst in decades, had “nothing to do with protest,” Rutte, who resigned last week following a scandal, told reporters outside his office in The Hague, news agencies reported. Protesters had gathered in defiance of lockdown orders in at least 10 towns and cities Sunday, looting stores and clashing with police after authorities imposed a new nighttime curfew — the first in the Netherlands since World War II. The violence continued Monday night in several cities, including Amsterdam and The Hague. The curfew, from 9 p.m. to 4:30 a.m., tightens an already-strict lockdown aimed at curbing coronavirus infections and comes amid fears that a new, more contagious variant, first identified in Britain, will cause a surge in cases.

In France, growing alarm over students’ well-being as pandemic pushes some to the brink (Washington Post) he hardships of university students during the pandemic have now reached the attention of the highest levels of the French government, with President Emmanuel Macron promising to provide more assistance. “You haven’t been forgotten,” he said this month. But students protesting de facto campus closures, seeking psychological support and lining up for free food handed out by private donors have come to a different conclusion. In a country that prides itself on having one of the world’s most generous public welfare systems, student food banks have become the most visible display of the economic impact of the pandemic on young people. After 10 months of varying degrees of isolation and restrictions, a less visible but increasingly worrisome mental health crisis is taking form among students, too. Some have been confined for months under lockdown or curfew in 97-square-foot dorm rooms off campus. New measures by Macron last week indicated growing alarm among French officials that financial distress and mental health are increasingly intertwined and are fueling one another. Students have written open letters asking French ministers for more support. Mental health hospitals have expanded their offerings to cope with a surge in demand among high school and university students. Some professors have themselves requested psychological support after finding their students in distress.

Navalny Protests Sweep Russia (Reuters) Russian authorities have attempted to deflect attention from Saturday’s nationwide street protests—the largest in years—by accusing the United States of interfering in the country. On Saturday, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused the U.S. embassy in Moscow of fanning the flames of dissent by publishing protest times and routes (as part of a notice to avoid such gatherings) on the embassy website. “What was that: a setup or an instruction?” Zakharova told the Russian news agency TASS, adding that if the Russian embassy in Washington had done the same during U.S. protests “global hysteria” would ensue. The government’s rhetorical counters came after thousands of Russians across roughly 100 towns and cities protested amid freezing winter temperatures on Saturday, heeding a call from detained anti-Putin activist Alexei Navalny to take to the streets to demand his release. Over 3,500 people were arrested during the protests, according to the monitoring group OVD Info—the most arrests the NGO had ever recorded in one day.

Angry farmers drive thousands of tractors into New Delhi (AP) Tens of thousands of protesting farmers drove long lines of tractors into India’s capital on Tuesday, breaking through police barricades, defying tear gas and storming the historic Red Fort as the nation celebrated Republic Day. They waved farm union flags from the ramparts of the fort, where prime ministers annually hoist the national flag to mark the country’s independence. Thousands more farmers marched on foot or rode on horseback while shouting slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. At some places, they were showered with flower petals by residents who recorded the unprecedented rally on their phones. Leaders of the farmers said more than 10,000 tractors joined the protest. For nearly two months, farmers have camped at the edge of the capital, blockading highways connecting it with the country’s north in a rebellion that has rattled the government. They are demanding the withdrawal of new laws which they say will commercialize agriculture and devastate farmers’ earnings.

Syrian refugees in Lebanon are under pressure as never before (Washington Post) Millions of Syrians have sought safety in Lebanon and across the region since the Syrian uprising began nearly a decade ago. Now they are stuck between untenable options: ongoing instability and violence back in Syria as President Bashar al-Assad consolidates control, and deteriorating conditions in cash-strapped Lebanon, where politicians are pressing refugees to leave. Syrians have long struggled in Lebanon, where about a million refugees make up some 20 percent of the population. But 2020 brought a new cascade of problems. The country’s financial system collapsed, and the prime minister resigned, ousted by protesters fed up with endemic corruption. Then the coronavirus hit, followed by the devastating Beirut port explosion, of which many Syrians were among the victims. In less than a year, the currency depreciated by more than 80 percent. Communities across Lebanon are hurting, especially Syrians, amid mounting competition for resources, said Elena Dikomitis, advocacy adviser for the Norwegian Refugee Council in Lebanon. “The landscape of needs in Lebanon has changed dramatically over the last year,” she said. “There are a lot of increasing tensions as one can expect over access to jobs, to aid, to basic services.” In October, the U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, estimated that nearly 90 percent of Syrians in Lebanon lived below the extreme poverty line, up from 55 percent the year before. Already legally excluded from many jobs, 90 percent of Syrians reported losing their income or having salaries reduced, the agency found in July. [Many Lebanese want the refugees to go home. Syria, however, remains a very dangerous homeland.]

Pirates in the Gulf of Guinea (Reuters) Pirates are stepping up attacks on ships in West Africa’s Gulf of Guinea, defying regional navies. On Saturday, pirates off Nigeria kidnapped 15 sailors from a Turkish container ship and killed one. Pirates in the Gulf of Guinea kidnapped 130 seafarers in 22 separate incidents last year, accounting for all but five of those seized at sea worldwide. The pirates come from Nigeria’s turbulent Niger Delta, experts say. The region produces the bulk of the nation’s petroleum, but is woefully underdeveloped, scarred by pollution and has some of the highest unemployment in the country. Bands of men desperate for money engage in a variety of illegal but lucrative activities, including kidnapping, stealing and refining oil, and piracy. Last year’s oil price crash and Nigeria’s second recession in five years worsened unemployment and economic hardship. Saturday’s attack, which took place 200 nautical miles offshore, reflected increasing sophistication, as vessels further from shore are less likely to have naval protection.

Satellites (Space.com) SpaceX launched a record 143 small satellites into orbit on Sunday, the most ever on a single rocket. The launch was the first mission where SpaceX ferried lots of satellites up rideshare-style along with 10 of its own Starlink internet satellites. In 2019, the company announced that at various points in the year smaller satellites could hitch a ride at launch for $1 million a pop. Among the payload was a South Korean military communications satellite, two Taiwanese satellites which will improve navigation, a payload called Celestis 17 containing cremated human remains, three Hawk 2 radio satellites and a cargo capsule for the space station. The team successfully recovered the Falcon 9’s first stage in the Atlantic, which was the 73rd recovery of a booster for the company.

#headlines #news

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axvoter · 5 years

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Index to the Blatantly Partisan Party Reviews, 2019 federal edition

Tomorrow, Saturday 18 May, is federal election day. Pour out one for Hawkey and get to your polling booth. And if you’re a little befuddled by all the weird parties seeking election, I’ve got you covered. It’s not too late to look through my party reviews.

You will get two ballots. The smaller one is for the House of Representatives, the lower house; whichever party/ies command a majority on the floor of the House forms government. You must number EVERY SQUARE on the small ballot for the House. Ignore the “no preference” in the recommendations below; that applies only to the Senate. Many seats have independents running for election—if your seat does, look them up because you might be surprised. Some of them are really good candidates. Some are hilariously awful.

The second, larger, ballot is for the Senate, the upper house. This is the house of review. We are voting for half the Senate (as senators serve six-year terms). Each state elects six senators, requiring 14.3% of the vote to be elected. On the Senate ballot you can vote above the line for PARTIES or below the line for INDIVIDUALS. Above the line you must give at least six preferences; below the line you must give at least twelve; beyond this point, you can do what you like. You can stop preferencing entirely or you give as many more preferences as you want.

I posted a cheat sheet with my recommended preference categories yesterday. If you want to make your own custom below-the-line How to Vote card for the Senate, I recommend using this site. Print it off and take it into the booth with you! Need to find your local democracy sausage? This website has you covered.

Now, who the hell are these parties anyway? Note that I do not review the ALP, the Greens, or the members that comprise the Liberal/National coalition. You probably have an opinion on them. Here you can dig into the rest:

(Key: ideology / where running)

#Sustainable Australia (anti-immigration environmentalism / all states, ACT)

Animal Justice Party (single issue / all states)

Australia First (neo-Nazi scum / four lower house seats)

Australian Affordable Housing Party (single issue / NSW)

Australian Better Families (men’s rights activists / NSW, QLD, TAS)

Australian Christians (Christian fundamentalism / WA)

Australian Conservatives (Christian right-wing reactionaries / all states)

Australian Democrats (centrism / NSW, SA, VIC)

Australian People’s Party (right-wing nativism / NSW)

Australian Progressives (centre-left progressivism / Bean [ACT], Canberra [ACT], Fenner [ACT], Longman [QLD], Sturt [SA])

Australian Workers Party (labourism and workers’ rights / NSW, QLD, VIC)

Centre Alliance (centrism / SA)

Child Protection Party (single issue / Sturt [SA])

Christian Democratic Party (Christian fundamentalism / ACT, NSW, VIC)

Citizens Electoral Council (conspiracy theorists / all states, NT)

Climate Action! Immigration Action! Accountable Politicians! (no policy / NSW, QLD, VIC)

Democratic Labour Party aka Labour DLP (Catholic conservative / NSW, QLD, VIC)

Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party (cult of personality / VIC)

Fraser Anning’s Conservative National Party (white nationalism / all states and territories)

Health Australia (single issue paranoiacs / NSW, VIC, WA)

Help End Marijuana Prohibition (single issue / all states, NT)

Independents for Climate Action Now (single issue / NSW, QLD, VIC)

Involuntary Medication Objectors (Vaccination/Fluoride) Party (single issue mega-paranoiacs / NSW, QLD, WA)

Jacqui Lambie Network (cult of personality / TAS)

Katter’s Australian Party (cult of personality / QLD)

Liberal Democratic Party (right-libertarian / all six states, Bean [ACT])

Love Australia or Leave (xenophobia / NSW, QLD, TAS)

Non-Custodial Parents Party (single issue / Cunningham [NSW])

Pirate Party (civil and digital libertarian / NSW, QLD, VIC, WA)

Pauline Hanson’s One Nation (xenophobia / all states)

Reason Australia (civil libertarian / Cooper, Melbourne, Menzies [all VIC])

Republican Party of Australia (single issue / VIC)

Rise Up Australia Party (Christian fundamentalism / NSW, NT, QLD, VIC, Boothby [SA])

Science Party (technophile futurism / NSW, Mallee [VIC], Perth [WA])

Secular Party (secular humanism / VIC)

Seniors United (right-wing seniors’ rights / NSW)

Shooters, Fishers, and Farmers (anti-environmentalist / all states)

Socialist Alliance (socialism / NSW, WA, Brisbane [QLD], Lilley [QLD])

Socialist Equality Party (niche socialism / NSW, VIC, Oxley [QLD])

The Australian Mental Health Party (single issue / QLD, WA)

The Great Australian Party (white nationalist conspiracy theorists / NSW, QLD, SA, VIC, WA, Bean [ACT])

The Small Business Party (single issue / NSW, VIC)

The Together Party (social democracy / NSW)

The Women’s Party (women’s rights / NSW)

United Australia Party (cult of personality / all states and territories

Victorian Socialists (socialism / Cooper, Calwell, Wills [all VIC])

Voteflux.org | Upgrade Democracy! (no policy / NSW, VIC, WA)

Western Australia Party (right-wing parochialism / WA)

Yellow Vest Australia (xenophobia / VIC, WA)

Ungrouped independents in NSW: part one, part two, and No Tax Free Electricity.Com

I had said I might review the ungrouped independents in VIC and SA but I ran out of time. I had a quick glance at the three SA candidates and they are all weak or middling. Cate of Cate Speaks has covered the VIC independents as part of her own (somewhat less snarky) reviews of the parties. Kevin Bonham has taken a TAS slant here.

If the election has sent you totally mad and you’re keen for more of the above, check out my reviews from past years here.

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patriotsnet · 3 years

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Who Controls The Senate Republicans Or Democrats

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/who-controls-the-senate-republicans-or-democrats/

Who Controls The Senate Republicans Or Democrats

Th Congress 2015 And 2016

The 114th Congress was notable because Republicans won their largest majorities in the House and Senate in decades after voters used the midterm election in 2014 to express dissatisfaction with a Democratic president, Barack Obama. Democrats lost control of the Senate in the 2014 elections.

Said Obama after the results became clear:

“Obviously, Republicans had a good night. And they deserve credit for running good campaigns. Beyond that, I’ll leave it to all of you and the professional pundits to pick through yesterday’s results.”

White House: Democrat

House: Republicans held 246 seats, Democrats held 187 seats; there were two vacancies.

Senate: Republicans held 54 seats, Democrats held 44 seats; there were two independents, both of whom caucused with the Democrats.

Who Now Controls The Senate

Chuck Schumer became majority leader following the swearing in of Democratic Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock of Georgia and Alex Padilla of California by Kamala Harris on January 20, 2021.

Warnock, 51, and Ossoff, 33, had won special elections earlier in the month that determined control of the Senate.

Schumer said in his first speech as majority leader: We have a lengthy agenda, and we need to get it done together.

“This will be an exceptionally busy and consequential period for the United States Senate.”

The ceremony officially cemented a shift in power in the chamber in the wake of the US election.

There is now a 50-50 split in the Senate which means the new Vice President will be able to break any possible ties as she will have the casting vote.

The Vice President also serves as president of the Senate.

What Is A Senate Runoff

The candidates in Georgia were forced into the January runoff contests after no candidate reached the 50 per cent threshold needed to win outright in multi-candidate races.

States require runoff elections when no candidate receives a majority of the vote.

The National Conference of State Legislatures said that the runoff system was intended “to encourage candidates to broaden their appeal to a wider range of voters, to reduce the likelihood of electing candidates who are at the ideological extremes of a party, and to produce a nominee who may be more electable in the general election.”

What Are Senate Runoff Elections And Why Do They Happen

Senate runoff elections do not happen in every state, and only 12 states abide by the runoff election system.

A runoff election happens when more than two candidates run for an office seat, and the electorates votes do not give one candidate a 50% majority. The two candidates that received the most votes in that election hold another election , where the electorate votes again to give one of those two a majority and decide a winner.

Georgia Election: Democrats On Course For Senate Control

US election 2020

The Democratic Party of US President-elect Joe Biden is on the verge of taking control of the Senate as results come in from two elections in Georgia.

Pastor Raphael Warnock is projected to win one seat. Fellow Democrat Jon Ossoff leads narrowly in the other.

If they both win, Mr Biden will control Congress fully and have a much better chance of pushing through his agenda.

He said it was “time to turn the page. The American people demand action and they want unity”.

Th United States Congress

United States Congress

116th United States Congress January 3, 2019 January 3, 2021 Members 1st: January 3, 2019 January 3, 20202nd: January 3, 2020 January 3, 2021

The 116th United States Congress was the meeting of the 116th legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the and the House of Representatives. It convened in Washington, D.C., on January 3, 2019, and ended on January 3, 2021, during the final two years of Donald Trump’s presidency. Senators elected to regular terms in 2014 finished their terms in this Congress, and House seats were based on the 2010 Census.

In the November 2018 midterm elections, the Democratic Party a new majority in the House, while the Republican Party its majority in the Senate. Consequently, this was the first split Congress since the 113th Congress of 20132015, and the first Republican SenateDemocratic House split since the 99th Congress of 19851987. This Congress was the youngest incoming class by mean age in the past three cycles and the most demographically diverse ever.

As of 2021, the 116th United States Congress is the most recent Congress in which:

Republicans controlled either branch of the congress ,

Poll Shows Manchin Wildly Out Of Step With West Virginia Voters On Voting Rights Bill

A hail fellow well met

DP Veteran

A hail fellow well met

DP Veteran

roguenuke said:I think this is the most likely answer just in terms of the Senate races .The GOP seats are more likely to be in danger here than the Dem seats that are up but that doesn’t mean that there still isn’t risk, especially being so close.

A summer-long advocacy campaign to rally voters to support the For the People Act, a federal election bill.You can get involved by calling yourSenators at 888-453-3211 / and Zipcodeor any Senator??? Just get their Home Zipcode

Congressional Balance Of Power Odds

Note: The following odds are currently off the boards, but this is how they looked on Election Day 2020.

US Senate Control *

Republicans +100

House And Senate Balance Of Power *

Democratic House, Democratic Senate +125

Democratic House, Republican Senate +175

Republican House, Republican Senate +500

Republican House, Democratic Senate +6600

*Odds from Nov. 1, 2020.

Which Party Holds The Advantage In The 2022 Senate Elections

The 2022 Senate elections are expected to be hotly contested once again as the Democrats try to build on their majority while the GOP attempts to once again regain control. Which party holds the advantage following the 2022 US Senate elections will factor heavily on the performance of President Joe Biden.

If his policies during his first two years gain traction and are viewed favorably by voters, then the DNC will have a solid shot at retaining, or adding to, their current majority. The odds produced by the top legal election betting sites will be revealed before too long, and quite often, they reflect a more accurate election result than pundit predictions.

New York State Senate

New York State Senate Senate Chamber at New York State Capitol, Albany Website

The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature, the New York State Assembly being the lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. As of 2014, there are 63 seats in the Senate. The New York State Senate is the highest-paid state upper house and state senate in the country.

Who Controls The Senate 2021

THE Democrats are now officially in charge of the Senate – but only by the narrowest of margins.

That means President Joe Biden has inherited a -controlled House of Representatives and Senate.

* Read our Donald Trump impeachment live blog for the very latest news and updates on the former president…

If You Have A News Tip Wed Like To Hear From You Reach Out To Us Via One Of Ourtip Line Channels

Still, Democrats will have one chance per year to bypass Republicans altogether and try to pass major legislation. Each year the Senate can pass a budget reconciliation bill, which is exempt from the filibuster and only needs a majority to pass. In theory, these bills need to pertain to the federal budget, but that can be interpreted widely. Republicans tried to use a budget reconciliation bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act, only to fail to gain 50 Republican votes.

The Georgia results give Bidens ability to tackle the climate crisis, one of his priorities, a big boost. The new Senate opens the door to raising spending, whether it relates to the federal budget or the next coronavirus aid package, on climate, resiliency, and environmental justice efforts. Theres also now a greater chance that Congress confirms Bidens environmental appointees.

But the incoming administration still faces an uphill battle in passing any new, bold climate laws, the kind needed to meet Bidens goal of dramatically cutting climate pollution from the transportation, buildings, and energy sectors in the coming decades.

Tied Senate: Who Controls A 50

The results of the 2020 election continue to be finalized, but one possible outcome is an evenly divided Senate sometime after January 5, 2021. This raises questions regarding which party will hold the majority and who the majority leader will be, as well as whether we should anticipate a completely deadlocked Senate on every vote, among others. Here are seven things you need to know

Statement from Bipartisan Policy Center President Jason Grumet: BPCs Bipartisan Approach to a Partisan Process

Weve Had A Split Senate Before And They Mostly Figured It Out

The most recent 50-50 Senate occurred following the 2000 election. Sens. Tom Daschle and Trent Lott , then Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate respectively, formed a powersharing agreement to guide the chamber. Key features of the agreement included:

Majority Leader: Lott was recognized as the de factor majority leader following Inauguration Day, based on the tie-breaking vote of Republican Vice President Dick Cheney.

Committees would have equal numbers of Republicans and Democrats;

If a tie vote prevented a measure or nomination from being reported to the full Senate, the majority or minority leader could move to discharge the committee from further consideration; Debate on the question of discharge was limited, and therefore, a filibuster could not block it.

Scheduling and agenda: the leaders were to attempt to balance the interests of the parties in setting the Senates schedule and deciding what matters to bring up for consideration.

An important caveat in the agreement noted that Senate Rules do not prohibit the right of the Democratic Leader, or any other Senator, to move to proceed to any item.

Tie Votes In The Senate Are Broken By The Vice President

A Senate split evenly between Democrats and Republicans raises the potential for tie votes. Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution states that, The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.

The vice president may decline to vote on a tied matter. In recent history, the vice presidents presence in the Senate is a rare occurrence, but in an evenly divided Senate, he or she may need to break tie votes more often if the parties cannot agree. Senator Harris, the vice president elect, may not be getting far away from Capitol Hill after all.

Democrats Control House And Senate For First Time Since 2011 As Schumer Ousts Mcconnell

Mitch McConnellChuck SchumerKamala Harris

On Wednesday, Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer of New York took on the role of Majority Leader, taking the title away from Republican Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky as regained control of both congressional chambers for the first time since 2011.

Control of the Senate shifted over to a 50-50 party split on Wednesday as Democratic Georgia Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock were both sworn in as the 49th and 50th Democratic senators, leaving Vice President Kamala Harris as the deciding vote should the chambers’ votes ever end in a tie.

Also sworn in on Wednesday was Democratic Senator Alex Padilla of California. Padilla was appointed by California Governor Gavin Newsom to fill the vacated seat of Vice President Kamala Harris, who had previously served as a Californian senator. On Wednesday, Harris swore in Padilla, Ossoff and Warnock.

At the virtual 2020 Democratic National Convention, Schumer said that Democrats would work with Biden to help him achieve his ambitious agenda.

“We will make health care affordable for all, we’ll undo the vicious inequality of income and wealth that has plagued America for far too long, and we’ll take strong, decisive action to combat climate change and save the planet,” Schumer said.

Lindsey Graham Thinks Donald Trump Will Remain Strongest Republican Voice

Newsweek contacted Schumer’s office for comment.

The Winding Road To Democratic Control

Following an anxious four days of waiting after the 2020 general election, nearly all major news networks declared that Joe Biden had exceeded 270 electoral votes and won the presidency. Democrats also retained control of the U.S. House, although their majority has been trimmed back .

But the U.S. Senate still hung in the balance, a tantalizing prize for Democrats dreaming of a trifecta, and a bulwark against a Democratic agenda for Republicans who seek to hold onto some power under the new Biden administration that will be sworn in on Jan. 20, 2021.

Republicans claimed 50 Senate seats after the November election, two more than the 48 seats claimed by the Democratic Caucus at that time.

The Senates balance of power teetered on the fulcrum of Georgias two seats, both of which were decided by the January 5th runoff election. Georgia law requires candidates to be voted in with at least 50% of the votes cast; if a candidate does not reach that threshold the two candidates who received the highest number of votes face one another in a runoff election.

Georgias runoff election featured these match-ups:

Incumbent David Perdue versus Jon Ossoff .According to Georgias Secretary of State, received 88,000 more votes than , but came up just shy of the 50% needed to avoid a runoff. This is in part due to the 115,000 votes that went to Libertarian candidate Shane Hazel who will not appear on the January ballot.

Republican Memo Warns Us Senate At Risk Of Falling Into Democratic Control

Memo summarizes senate races of 10 states and how the outcome of each could determine who controls the Senate

A memo by Senate Republicans campaign arm has admitted that control of the upper chamber is at risk and that Democrats could win the Senate in Novembers elections.

The September 2020 political update from the National Republican Senatorial Committee summarizes the state of the race of 10 states with Senate races around the country and how the outcome of each could factor into whether Republicans or control the chamber in January.

The memo, obtained by the Guardian, has been circulating among political operatives, donors and interested parties. It comes just shy of 50 days before the November 2020 elections.

The next few weeks will define the future of our country for generations to come, the NRSC memo reads.

Memos like these are often shaped like dispassionate updates but in actuality they are often used to convince interested parties that races slipping out of reach are still in play. They are also often used to juice donations to lagging candidates and counter trending narratives.

Democrats need to pick up three or four seats to take control of the Senate. The fact that the NRSC memo categorizes seven Senate races as ones that simply cant be lost or deserve serious attention suggests that its possible, but not certain that Democrats can take control of the Senate.

Who Will Control The Senate In 2022; Democrats Or Republicans

$1.9 trillion Covid relief legislationOn infrastructureinfrastructure RepublicansOn voting rightsFor the People ActRepublicans even filibusteredindependent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.First Read is your briefing from “Meet the Press” and the NBC Political Unit on the day’s most important political stories and why they matter.www.nbcnews.com

After President Biden signed his $1.9 trillion Covid relief legislation into law back in March, political observers were calling him a transformational president.Since then, however, there hasnt been a lot of transformation in Washington at least when it comes to Bidens legislative agenda.On infrastructure, Senate Democrats dont have 50 votes to go it alone, given Sen. Joe Manchins desire for a bipartisan deal. And there still isnt an obvious path forward to cut a bipartisan infrastructure deal with Republicans.On voting rights, Manchin said hell the For the People Act that the Senate will take up later this month.And last month, Senate Republicans even filibustereda bill to create an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.First Read is your briefing from “Meet the Press” and the NBC Political Unit on the day’s most important political stories and why they matter.www.nbcnews.com

UnTrueManchin is opposing his own voters.This is an understatement. THEY LOVE HR-1But on HR1, they support it far more.

Us Election 2020: Democrats’ Hopes Of Gaining Control Of Senate Fade

Democrats are rapidly losing hope of gaining control of the US Senate after underperforming in key states.

Controlling the Senate would have allowed them to either obstruct or push through the next president’s agenda.

The party had high hopes of gaining the four necessary seats in Congress’s upper chamber, but many Republican incumbents held their seats.

The Democrats are projected to retain their majority in the lower chamber, the House, but with some key losses.

With many votes still to be counted, the final outcome for both houses may not be known for some time.

Why don’t we have a winner yet?

Among the disappointments for the Democrats was the fight for the seat in Maine, where Republican incumbent Susan Collins staved off a fierce challenge from Democrat Sara Gideon.

However, the night did see a number of firsts – including the first black openly LGBTQ people ever elected to Congress and the first openly transgender state senator.

The balance of power in the Senate may also change next January. At least one run-off election is due to be held that month in Georgia, since neither candidate has been able to secure more than 50% of votes.

This year’s congressional election is running alongside the battle for the White House between Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden.

Of the 35 Senate seats up for grabs, 23 were Republican-held and 12 were Democrat.

Senators serve six-year terms, and every two years a third of the seats are up for re-election.

What Democrats Want To Do

Democrats widely agree a new Covid-19 relief and response package should be their first priority. A new bill would likely be modeled on the House-passed HEROES Act, which included $75 million for testing and contact tracing, strike teams to tackle challenges around long-term care and prisons, and funding to help cash-strapped state and local governments.

Next, Democrats say they want to deal with the stagnating economy. Biden has released a $2 trillion green jobs plan, aiming to create millions of jobs through green infrastructure, retrofitting houses, and manufacturing electric cars, among other things. There are a number of ways Bidens White House can work on achieving these goals, but he needs Congress to fully realize it.

In addition to fighting and containing the coronavirus, we will work aggressively to create jobs and improve the unemployment crisis caused by President Trump, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told Vox in a statement earlier this fall.

Biden shares the broad goal of getting the United States to net-zero emissions by 2050, but hes also set more aggressive targets, like getting to 100 percent clean electricity in the US by 2035. House Democrats also passed a $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill in July, which could be merged with Bidens climate plan.

Democrats will likely push for a climate component in any future infrastructure package, but Republicans may balk at that idea and push for a more targeted bill.

Diversity Of The Freshman Class

The demographics of the 116th U.S. Congress freshmen were more diverse than any previous incoming class.

At least 25 new congressional representatives were Hispanic, Native American, or people of color, and the incoming class included the first Native American women, the first Muslim women, and the two youngest women ever elected. The 116th Congress included more women elected to the House than any previous Congress.

Democrat Jon Ossoff Claims Victory Over David Perdue In Georgia Runoff

Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York is expected to replace GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell as majority leader and will determine which bills come to the floor for votes.

The ambitious proposals addressing climate change and health care and other domestic priorities touted by Biden and Harris will be difficult, if impossible, to advance with more moderate Democrats especially those facing competitive 2022 midterm reelection campaigns reluctant to sign onto partisan proposals. The much House Democratic majority compounds the challenge for the party.

Instead, Biden will need to consider which domestic priorities can get bipartisan support since Senate rules now require anything to get 60 votes to advance. The president-elect has already indicated that additional coronavirus relief will be his first priority, but he has also said he plans to unveil an infrastructure plan that could get support from Republicans.

In a statement Wednesday, Biden said that “Georgia’s voters delivered a resounding message yesterday: they want action on the crises we face and they want it right now. On COVID-19, on economic relief, on climate, on racial justice, on voting rights and so much more. They want us to move, but move together.”

The president-elect also spoke to Democrats’ potential total control of Washington.

Why Is There An Election In Georgia

The election is being rerun because of Georgia’s rule that a candidate must take 50% of the vote in order to win.

None of the candidates in November’s general election met that threshold.

With 98% of votes counted, US TV networks and the Associated Press news agency called the first of the two races for Mr Warnock.

Control of the Senate in the first two years of Mr Biden’s term will be determined by the outcome of the second run-off.

Mr Warnock is set to become the first black senator for the state of Georgia – a slavery state in the US Civil War – and only the 11th black senator in US history.

He serves as the reverend of the Atlanta church where assassinated civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr grew up and preached.

Claiming victory, he paid tribute to his mother, Verlene, who as a teenager worked as a farm labourer.

“The other day – because this is America – the 82-year-old hands that used to pick somebody else’s cotton went to the polls and picked her youngest son to be a United States senator,” he said.

If both Democrats win, the Senate will be evenly split 50-50, allowing incoming Democratic Vice-President Kamala Harris the tie-breaking vote. The Democrats narrowly control the House of Representatives.

Mr Ossoff has also claimed victory in his race against Republican Senator David Perdue, but that race is even tighter. At 33, he would be the Senate’s youngest member for 40 years.

Mr Biden won at least seven million more votes than the president.

Th Congress 2001 And 2002

White House: Republican

House: Republicans held 221 seats, Democrats held 212 seats; there were two independents

Senate: Republicans held 50 seats, Democrats held 48 seats; there were two independents

*Notes: This session of the Senate began with the chamber evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats. But on June 6, 2001, U.S. Sen. James Jeffords of Vermont switched from Republican to independent and began caucusing with the Democrats, giving the Democrats a one-seat advantage. Later on Oct. 25, 2002, Democratic U.S. Sen. Paul D. Wellstone died and independent Dean Barkley was appointed to fill the vacancy. On Nov. 5, 2002, Republican U.S. Sen. James Talent of Missouri replaced Democratic U.S. Sen. Jean Carnahan, shifting the balance back to the Republicans.

0 notes

statetalks · 3 years

Text

Who Controls The Senate Republicans Or Democrats

Th Congress 2015 And 2016

youtube

Said Obama after the results became clear:

White House: Democrat

House: Republicans held 246 seats, Democrats held 187 seats; there were two vacancies.

Senate: Republicans held 54 seats, Democrats held 44 seats; there were two independents, both of whom caucused with the Democrats.

Who Now Controls The Senate

Chuck Schumer became majority leader following the swearing in of Democratic Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock of Georgia and Alex Padilla of California by Kamala Harris on January 20, 2021.

Warnock, 51, and Ossoff, 33, had won special elections earlier in the month that determined control of the Senate.

Schumer said in his first speech as majority leader: We have a lengthy agenda, and we need to get it done together.

“This will be an exceptionally busy and consequential period for the United States Senate.”

The ceremony officially cemented a shift in power in the chamber in the wake of the US election.

There is now a 50-50 split in the Senate which means the new Vice President will be able to break any possible ties as she will have the casting vote.

The Vice President also serves as president of the Senate.

What Is A Senate Runoff

The candidates in Georgia were forced into the January runoff contests after no candidate reached the 50 per cent threshold needed to win outright in multi-candidate races.

States require runoff elections when no candidate receives a majority of the vote.

What Are Senate Runoff Elections And Why Do They Happen

Senate runoff elections do not happen in every state, and only 12 states abide by the runoff election system.

Georgia Election: Democrats On Course For Senate Control

US election 2020

The Democratic Party of US President-elect Joe Biden is on the verge of taking control of the Senate as results come in from two elections in Georgia.

Pastor Raphael Warnock is projected to win one seat. Fellow Democrat Jon Ossoff leads narrowly in the other.

If they both win, Mr Biden will control Congress fully and have a much better chance of pushing through his agenda.

He said it was “time to turn the page. The American people demand action and they want unity”.

Th United States Congress

United States Congress

116th United States Congress January 3, 2019 January 3, 2021 Members 1st: January 3, 2019 January 3, 20202nd: January 3, 2020 January 3, 2021

As of 2021, the 116th United States Congress is the most recent Congress in which:

Republicans controlled either branch of the congress ,

Poll Shows Manchin Wildly Out Of Step With West Virginia Voters On Voting Rights Bill

A hail fellow well met

DP Veteran

A hail fellow well met

DP Veteran

Congressional Balance Of Power Odds

Note: The following odds are currently off the boards, but this is how they looked on Election Day 2020.

US Senate Control *

Republicans +100

House And Senate Balance Of Power *

Democratic House, Democratic Senate +125

Democratic House, Republican Senate +175

Republican House, Republican Senate +500

Republican House, Democratic Senate +6600

*Odds from Nov. 1, 2020.

Which Party Holds The Advantage In The 2022 Senate Elections

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New York State Senate

New York State Senate Senate Chamber at New York State Capitol, Albany Website

Who Controls The Senate 2021

THE Democrats are now officially in charge of the Senate – but only by the narrowest of margins.

That means President Joe Biden has inherited a -controlled House of Representatives and Senate.

* Read our Donald Trump impeachment live blog for the very latest news and updates on the former president…

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Tied Senate: Who Controls A 50

Statement from Bipartisan Policy Center President Jason Grumet: BPCs Bipartisan Approach to a Partisan Process

Weve Had A Split Senate Before And They Mostly Figured It Out

Majority Leader: Lott was recognized as the de factor majority leader following Inauguration Day, based on the tie-breaking vote of Republican Vice President Dick Cheney.

Committees would have equal numbers of Republicans and Democrats;

Debate: Cloture motions, which are used to bring debate on a measure or nomination to a close and prevent filibusters, could not be filed on any amendable item of business during the first 12 hours of debate. Scheduling and agenda: the leaders were to attempt to balance the interests of the parties in setting the Senates schedule and deciding what matters to bring up for consideration. An important caveat in the agreement noted that Senate Rules do not prohibit the right of the Democratic Leader, or any other Senator, to move to proceed to any item.

Tie Votes In The Senate Are Broken By The Vice President

Democrats Control House And Senate For First Time Since 2011 As Schumer Ousts Mcconnell

Mitch McConnellChuck SchumerKamala Harris

At the virtual 2020 Democratic National Convention, Schumer said that Democrats would work with Biden to help him achieve his ambitious agenda.

Lindsey Graham Thinks Donald Trump Will Remain Strongest Republican Voice

Newsweek contacted Schumer’s office for comment.

The Winding Road To Democratic Control