25 Days to Go

The United States descended into the maelstrom of Iraq in 2003.  That war cost billions of dollars, and hundreds of thousands of lives.

Article 1 Section 8 Clause 11 of our Constitution gives sole power to declare war to Congress, and because of its control of funding for government, specifically to the House of Representatives.  Therefore, the 23 seats in the House that Democrats hope to take next month could prove indispensable to preventing more Iraqs.

The name of the legislation that came to the floor of the House in 2002 was the Resolution for the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq.  At about 3:05 PM on the (Thursday) afternoon of October 10 of that year, the House of Representatives approved that path to disaster with these numbers.

• Republicans voted to approve by a margin of 215 to 6, with 2 not voting
• Democrats voted against the Resolution by a margin of 126 to 82, with 1 not voting
• The lone Independent in the House at that time, Bernie Sanders, voted against the Resolution

23 seats barely scratch the surface of what's needed ...

26 Days to Go

As Democrats and progressives, we yearn for, and must work our tushes off to gain, at least 23 seats in the House of Representatives.  Two candidates can help with that effort.

Ilhan Omar is a candidate in the 5th Congressional District in Minnesota; she's running for the seat formerly held by Keith Ellison.  Omar's platform couldn't be more forward-looking; it includes but isn't limited to:

• Medicare for all
• a humane immigration system
• energy independence
• a revitalized infrastructure
• protecting LGBTQIA rights
• investing in the arts and humanities

 Kind of makes me want to move to Minneapolis ...    

Here in my home district, the PA 7th,  I look to Mary Gay Scanlon as a possible leader for progressive legislation.  Don't be confused by some of the info at the link just supplied; Scanlon was also, at one point, a candidate in the PA 5th.   She's now indeed running for the PA 7th, the seat formerly held by Joe Sestak, with a platform similar to, and equally as liberal as, Omar's.

These women embody, and will work to establish and maintain, humane politics.

27 Days to Go

In defining the role of Congress in establishing a uniform rule of naturalization, our Constitution, in Article 1, Section 8, Clause 4, makes no mention of walls.

Perhaps Republicans in the House should ponder that.  Any physical barrier, particularly along our border to Mexico, would not be part of a uniform rule, by virtue of:

• there being no such wall, or interest in having one, along our border with Canada - the longest non-militarized border in the world
• there being no mention of walls or fences intended to block immigrants to the U. S. from Europe
• there being no mention of sea walls intended to block access to your port cities

The point here is the same we've made for the past few days.  Congress controls much of policy and the implementation of policy.  Democrats can start to make those policies more humane by flipping 23 seats in the House in 27 days.

28 Days to Go

Today we'll turn to Article 1 Section 8 Clause 7 of the Constitution.  This paragraph assigns oversight of at least some aspects of infrastructure maintenance to the Congress.

The 36 extraordinarily Trumpian members of the so-called Freedom Caucus would like, you should pardon the groaner, to wreck infrastructure maintenance in general, and federal funding for it specifically.  But keep in mind that two votes per precinct in any 23 Congressional districts could spoil their plans, and hopefully earn our roads and bridges a better grade than D from the American Society of Civil Engineers.

29 Days to Go

Article 1 Section 4 Clause 1 of our Constitution allows Congress, and in particular the House of Representatives, to establish or alter regulations governing voting.

Specifically, it says  the Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations...

So, Democrats taking back the House of Representatives could  reverse right-wing voter suppression tactics,  by reclaiming 23 of the 36 seats currently held by members of the sardonically-named Freedom Caucus.

30 Days to Go

Never think your vote doesn't count.

In 2016, Donald Trump won Michigan by an average of two - yes, only two - votes per precinct.  That stunning number rested on a typically low voter turnout - about 30% nationwide.  (The couch-potato 70% should be glad they don't live in Australia.)

In the 30 days until November 6, as close as possible to every day, 15104 will present a single, cogent, convincing argument for voting for Democrats for the House of Representatives.  (We'll defer helping with taking back the Senate and White House until 2020.)  We've annotated each reason to vote with a link to the section of the Constitution that controls the question, and with a link to a brief current news item..

Our first topic will be one with which Bodhi has personal experience - food stamps, AKA SNAP.