• @FiniteBanjo
    link
    107
    edit-2
    14 days ago

    The $15 minimum failed in the senate 42-58, 40 Dem + 2 Inde voted yay, in March 2021

    AFAIK, nothing passed the house for sub-minimum wages

    Ensuring everyone has strong benefits might be difficult when they’re barely holding Republicans back from stripping Medicare and Social Security. They’re at least holding the line.

      • @SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        4414 days ago

        47 at the moment but there’s 2 independents (Bernie Sanders and Angus King) that caucus with the Dems, and 2 more that are “aligned” with the Dems (Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin). So currently 51ish.

        But at the time of that vote it was 50ish but Manchin and Sinema were officially part of the party then. If a vote is a tie, the VP (Kamala Harris) gets to vote. So it needed 50 votes to pass.

        Here’s an article on the eight Dems that voted against it: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/541860-the-eight-democrats-who-voted-no-on-15-minimum-wage/

        Note that Manchin and Sinema voted against it and have left the party since then. This is largely because of them voting against this and similar legislation created a general disdain for them within the party. They won’t be back after the next election.

        All 50 republicans voted against it.

            • Ænima
              link
              fedilink
              914 days ago

              It really is sad to see the same crowd talking about how great things were back then, and suck now, when they’ve spent the last four decades voting in the people who have spent the same time diminishing public education’s effectiveness. My parents are some of those voters…

        • @Xanis@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          414 days ago

          B-but it’s the Democrat’s fault!

          Says the people who

          a) Are secretly Republicans trying to act like insecure Democrats

          b) Try to find any reason to blame Biden, even if it’s adjacent blame

          c) All the above

        • @IzzyScissor@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          414 days ago

          Oh Jesus. Jon Tester’s campaign texted me yesterday asking for money. I dont even know how I got added to his list but knowing he voted against raising the minimum wage makes me infuriated he would text someone outside his district for help.

            • @Zink@programming.dev
              link
              fedilink
              413 days ago

              Sure but is that how she got through the primary? And did we get a worse outcome than if her Republican opponent won?

              Just to be clear, NOT trying to defend or paint her in a good light.

            • @SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca
              link
              fedilink
              013 days ago

              And she’s out of the Democratic party now.

              The seat belongs to the individual on the ballot, it doesn’t belong to the party. That means someone holding a seat can go against their party which is generally good as it prevents the party from having too much power. But the downside is when you get a lunatic in a seat and all you can do is get rid of them in the next election.

              Which is what’s happening. Sinema was going to be challenged in the primary and likely to lose. She decided to go independent, but last I heard, after seeing her polling numbers she’s dropped out completely.

              As I said elsewhere, the Democratic Party is the 42/50 party while the GOP is the 0/50 party. You probably shouldn’t vote for a party no matter who’s elected, but even if you took this naive approach, the Dems might potentially become a 50/57 party. The GOP will always be the 0/50 party.

              Ideally you’d check the platforms of every candidate at the primary stage through to the general and vote accordingly. If most people did that the Dems could be a 50/50 party.

              But most people aren’t that involved politically. Blue no matter know, while isn’t ideal, is still better than voting GOP or not voting at all.

      • @FiniteBanjo
        link
        18
        edit-2
        14 days ago

        Since 2022 Democrats have 47 , Independent have 4, Republicans have 49

        In 2020 Democrats had obtained the majority with 48 and 2 Independent caucusing together, against 50 Republicans. Since it was 50:50 the Vice President had to be the tie breaker for selecting the majority leader.

        8 D voted nay along with 50 R, but if you don’t see how it failing was the result of the R party then you’d be a damn fool.

    • @rwhitisissle@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      -213 days ago

      They knew it would fail long before it went to vote. Much of what goes before any part of the legislative branch of government for a vote is purely performative.

      • @FiniteBanjo
        link
        313 days ago

        If you know R will vote it down and you think D might possibly maybe vote it down unless enough of them defect at the last moment, then it’s still a very clear choice in favor of D. Plus, Manchin and Sinema got forced out of the party and Sinema’s chance at reelection is all but completely gone.

        We can call their bluff or we can just take the beating without trying to fix anything.

        • We can call their bluff or we can just take the beating without trying to fix anything.

          The end result is the same, though, because, in this particular matter, both sides are similar enough in their collective hatred of the poor that a law like this won’t get passed. It doesn’t matter if you get rid of Manchin and Sinema. It only got 40 D votes. Manchin and Sinema might bump that up to 42. Or the people who replace them might vote the same way they did on this, because there is a core ideological opposition that exists across party lines to actually helping the working class.

          • @FiniteBanjo
            link
            112 days ago

            LMAO with this “both sides bad” idiot

            • Oh, it’s not that both sides are bad. It’s that there’s two sides, and the powers that be are all on the same one, and we’re all on the other, and we just happen to have “some people *ahem*” too dim to realize it.

              • @FiniteBanjo
                link
                1
                edit-2
                12 days ago

                So your solution is to give Republican’s majority? Sounds to me like you’re on the wrong side, mate.

                • @rwhitisissle@sh.itjust.works
                  link
                  fedilink
                  0
                  edit-2
                  12 days ago

                  So you’re solution is to give Republican’s majority? Sounds to me like you’re on the wrong side, mate.

                  First of all, it’s “your solution,” not “you’re solution.” Learn to spell. Second of all, I am not telling anyone to “not vote” for Democrats. I’m saying that the argument that if Democrats are given control over both the legislative and executive branches of government that it’ll result in positive legislation getting passed is simply untrue. The only real reason you can give for electing Democrats is to prevent Republicans from getting elected, because Republicans will actively pass legislation. Horrible, comically evil legislation. As such, presenting the choice as between “good” and “bad” political forces is simply wrong. The choice can only be honestly presented as between “neutral, fundamentally ineffectual” and “absolutely heinous” political forces. Optimism in the Democrats is ludicrous and comes across as disingenuous at best and deluded at worst. If you want to court leftist voters, the only real talking point you have is that it’s not a vote for the Democrats, but one against Republicans. Because that’s at least nominally true. Both parties want to preserve the political status quo of the country. Republicans just want to do it while hurting minorities, and Democrats don’t care as much about that. Minor distinction, but that’s the most we can get.