Hey, having a razor-thin majority in Congress can in NO WAY be accurately characterized as "controlling" Congress. Not when such s thing as a filibuster rule exists.

@Flyingsaucesir Nonetheless they do occasionally get laws passed, but somehow gun control is never a priority for them despite all the hand wringing.

They are two wings of the same party, owned by and serving the same people. Don't be fooled by all the culture war stuff and the Kabuki theater.

@Druvius And neither is ending permanent war, reducing economic inequality, or codifying abortion rights. Or regulating Wall Street or enforcing anti trust laws.

@Druvius When Bill Clinton was in the WH they passed a ban on assault rifles. W let it expire.

@TomMcGiverin I don't think the two Parties are remotely the same. One is dedicated to democracy and the other to fascism. Huge difference.

Give the Dems a filibuster-proof majority and you will see action.

Joe Manchin and Kristen Sinema are not real Democrats. If they were then the filibuster rule would be history.

@Flyingsaucesir You are being naive. Obama had a super majority when he took office, and yet he still didn't do much with it, and lost it soon after he took office. There are way more corporate Dems and DINOs than just Manchin and Sinema, they just don't have to come out front and show it, because those two take the heat and play the role of spoiler on stopping progressive bills.

@TomMcGiverin Obama had a very realistic understanding of how far his political capital would take him (not that far). So he wisely focussed on one thing, and got the only meaningful healthcare legislation passed since FDR. The Affordable Care Act was a huge step forward.

@Flyingsaucesir It was not, it was a gift to the private insurance industry and the drug companies, and was also based on a Heritage Foundation, a right wing think tank plan. I call bullshit on that argument about the ACA. You say realistic, I say corrupt and not only selling out his voters, but lying to them about what he was going to do after being elected. Barry was a liar and a sellout and I'm sick of Dems making excuses for him.

Obama had a very good idea of what to say to convince progressives he was progressive, while simultaneously selling out to corporate interests, such as the ACA.

@TomMcGiverin Hey Obama would have signed a universal healthcare bill into law in a heartbeat. But if he had insisted on that and only that, he would have got nothing. Yes, the ACA was based on a Republican idea (virtually the same as what Mitt Romney had in MA) but still had to do it with Democrats alone. The fact that he got the ACA across the finish line at all was a major accomplishment. And look what Republicans have done ever since: tried to repeal it without any plan to replace it. But they can't really do that now, because too many people like it!

Tom, you are too negative. Lighten up, man.

@Flyingsaucesir He never even tried to fight for it. He cut a backroom deal with the drug companies and insurance companies before the public debate even started. He sold out all the people who voted for him expecting him to at least fight for Medicare For All. You are the one who is wrong, as you are naive and deluded about how much better the Dems are than the Repubs. I will not lighten up, as you say and maybe you should start listening with a little more open-mindedness to your elders, me and Druvius, who have been observing this dance by the Dems for decades, probably before you were even born...

The Dems could have a 60 vote majority in the Senate, still refuse to pass Medicare For All, because they claimed they needed bipartisan support so they blame the big meany Repubs, and you would still fall for it and blame the Repubs with them..... Wake the fuck up, man!

@TomMcGiverin The ACA is a possible stepping stone towards universal healthcare. It is designed for as much Medicare expansion as anybody wants.

Again, if Obama had shot only for Medicare for all, he would have gotten nothing. But he didn't get nothing. He got health insurance for 14 million people who didn't have it before.

Before Obama, how many administrations tried to get a healthcare bill passed and struck out?

FDR tried to get universal healthcare. No luck. Truman did too. Zippo. Johnson signed Medicare & Medicaid into law in 1965, but it wasn't universal coverage. The Clintons tried to get "managed competition" and got shot down.

Obama used all his political capital and got SOMETHING, which is better than NOTHING.