Forget January 20. January 3 is the day you should be watching.

[MineralMan]

The 115th Congress convenes on that date. On that date, Republicans will have majority control of both houses. Before January 20 comes around, there could be legislation on the new President's desk for his signature.

What legislation? Well, if you're not watching Congress and are just pissed off about Donald Trump's inauguration, you might not even know. The media's not going to spend much time on it, either.

Do you want to know? You should. Here's a website that has the schedules for both the House and Senate. There is legislation already pending, actually. By January 20, any number of bills could already have been passed and ready for Trump's signature.

https://www.congress.gov/resources/display/content/Calendars+and+Schedules

It's time to set up a watch on Congress. It's time to forget about the inauguration and focus on the place where real power of our government is located. Donald Trump's inauguration will take place. What bills will be on his desk the next morning? Better find out and start contacting your own Representatives and Senators.

Think I'm kidding? I'm not. I'm deadly serious. If we lose our attention on Congress, we lose more than we know. Visit the website. Not just now, but regularly. Keep an eye on what Congress is doing. Don't be distracted by the clown in the White House. The real stuff is happening elsewhere.

Thanks for your attention.

[msongs]

1. you are right. trump is just a figurehead. the real destruction comes out of congress nt

[bigtree]

5. presidents have initiated all of our major military conflicts

...with Congress weighing in with little more than a rubber-stamped afterthought.

Other presidential 'authority' includes immigration, environment, finances...

Lot's more at stake than just 'clowning.'

[volstork]

2. Wish I could rec +1000

This is critically important. Everyone should have a call list with their senator's and representatives' numbers, both on the state and federal levels. Keep the phone lines hot! Squeaky wheel...

[The Wielding Truth]

3. Jan. 3. Congress watch begins. Thank you again, MineralMan.

[malaise]

4. Kick

and Rec

[malthaussen]

6. Kick and rec, yeah.

Much more important than that twit's next tweet (hey, that almost rhymes).

-- Mal

[MineralMan]

7. Even on DU, we're easily distracted.

We need to stop allowing them to distract us.

Yes, Trump will be inaugurated. But that's not the whole story. We need to pay attention to what's really important, I think.

[LeftInTX]

8. K&R - So true

It is sooo easy to forget that Congress convenes 3 weeks before the inauguration. Watch out for Sam Johnson (R-TX) - H.R.6489 House Ways and Means - Social Security Reform Act of 2016

[kimbutgar]

9. Just looking at the house's first day agenda bills look ghastly.

[think]

10. K&R

[SammyWinstonJack]

11. K & R

[Sunlei]

12. I know. Republicans State & Federal rev engines to shove their shit down Americans throats.

Republicans already have their hundreds of political "charities" set-up to make sure they don't miss anything.

[Control-Z]

13. Watching feels so futile.

Being aware of what's going on is a necessity, I know. But I'm still back at "stop this madness" before it begins. We are contemplating the hell to come when we should be trying to put a stop to it.

[MichMan]

14. Haven't they already had control the last 2 years? n/t

[pnwmom]

15. Thank you, MineralMan! n/t

[orangecrush]

16. They do not like

Having,a light shined on their activities.

Good post.

Rec.

[Hekate]

17. KnR

As I like to say these days: Squirrel!

[TreasonousBastard]

18. So, do something. I posted about a visit to our Congressman's office on Tuesday and got NO reponses.

except for one YGG from someone not in my district. That's appreciated, but not helping.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/106822673

There are roughly half a million NY 1 residents over 18, although I don't know how many are actually eligible to vote. But, what I do know is that while some of them must be here in DU, no DUers so far have answered the call here to visit our Congressman.

I'll be reposting for more visibility, but in the past I haven't seen much actual doing of stuff around here, as opposed to talking about what we "should" be doing.

[MineralMan]

21. DU is not a representative sample of people.

There are too few of us who are active here to get any idea of what people are thinking, maybe around 2000 regular visitors on a daily basis. It's an interesting site for discussing politics, but not representative of anything, really.

That's just how it is. I know of maybe four or five people in the Twin Cities area who post here. That's not many in a metro area of about 2.5 million. DU is not an indicator site of anything really that affects politics.

[TreasonousBastard]

28. Rememer when Lynsinn managed to get us to run down to Philly or...

Matcom got us to Boston? We had lots of meetups back then and actually did things.

Now, it's simply a vanity site. Not for the owners, but for the posters who just anonymously sound off and complain mightily when they don't get their way.

[dixiegrrrrl]

19. Here is a good site which shows and follows ALL Congress bills

We know they have a nasty habit of sneaking laws and regulations into mild sounding bills

this site tracks each bill, shows a lot of good info. including chances of a bill passing, who introduced it, what it says ( both in summary and in complete bill if you wish) and who votes for it and when.
You can see where every piece of legislation is at any given time.
Best yet, you can subscribe to the site and get notices of new bills, or action on any bill you are following.

https://www.govtrack.us/

Being a Dem site, we could actually have a few of us watch for bills, then post for information and discussion.
We could even have a group, so info will not get lost in the DU pages after a day or so.

When you know at the earliest moment that a bill has been introduced, THAT is the time to organize and contact your Congress person.
repeatedly.

[NightWatcher]

26. They have a twitter feed too @GovTrack

I'm sure it will provide some good bathroom reading as we all collectively go down the shitter.

[Pachamama]

20. Kick, Return and Bookmarked

Spot on Mineralman....

[raccoon]

22. Thanks. K&R. nt

[jodymarie aimee]

23. Mineral Man you are such a spot on poster

and living in the hellhole that was once Progressive Wisconsin. I can tell you these Rs move Big Bold and FAST. We have known this was coming since Nov 9th. Ryan is one evil fuck. All our WI guys are pure evil. 6 years of it here. I am so sorry the entire country now has to live with their crap.

[MineralMan]

24. Wisconsin seems to be taking the lead in

regresssive legislation. The Republicans are emboldened and are looking for the limits of what they can do. It's frightening, really.

[jodymarie aimee]

31. Kochs picked non college educated Walker as their experiment

We were the petri dish. They succeeded. And they have cheated legally and illegally for 6 years. The recount was a recount. It was not an audit. They took this successful WI cheating strategy and let it go national this year. Just enough to elect Cheeto.

We truly live in hell. Our good DEMS are shut down, and all the agencies to protect the truth have been abolished. The media is in Walker's pocket. And so it will be with Cheeto. Coincidence Walker lasted all of 71 days on the national stage??No, he was used to being protected here, national media said who the hell is this dope? Sadly, the media was not so vigilant with Cheeto.

Oh, it is bad, and I am sorry this is happening now to everyone.

[loyalsister]

25. Yep

As we obsess over the latest tweet or outrageous lie, congress can destroy the US as we know it. Now that I think about it, it seems like that may have happened when we had another president whose character and errors we focused on.
I wonder if it is an MO we have overlooked?

[NightWatcher]

27. Thanks, bookmarking for this week.

[Lucinda]

29. KNR

[AgadorSparticus]

30. +1,000