A serious question for DUers

[lindac07]

While it looks as though the Dems will take over congress this year, (although I am still cautiously optimistic), is there anything they can do to undo the travesties of this administration? I'm thinking mostly about the Patriot Act, this torture bill and Terrorist Survellience Act? Personally, I don't think the Torture Bill will stand up to Supreme Court muster, but, given Bush's appointees, I can't be sure. We have to get this country back on track and I'm not sure we can wait until 2008. Any thoughts out there in DU Land?

[Norquist Nemesis]

1. Well, after Bush's signing of the Bill yesterday...I expect that

any action they TRY will get them all an extended stay at Gitmo and status of Enemy Combatant.

[MannyGoldstein]

2. They Can Do Some Things - But Will They?

My suspicion is that they will be disinclined to move toward the Left - they need the true left (e.g., Feingold and Conyers)to triangulate off of.

[radfringe]

18. will they, can they?

it took the bushies and rubberstampers 6 years to dismantle and mess up things.

while I don't expect a dem congress (house/senate or both....I hope) to undo everything in 2 years - I do expect more than rhetoric, I do expect investigations, oversight, accountability, responsibility, and the DEMS to clean their own houses if needed.

if not...there will be hell to pay in '08

[TechBear_Seattle]

3. Assuming enough votes, Congress can overturn existing laws

Or, more technically, can pass laws which overturn or modify existing laws. They would need to have enough votes to override the certainty of a veto, though. And note that I say votes and not seats; quite a few Democrats voted to put these abhorrent laws in place.

[MrCoffee]

14. It's impossible to override...there aren't enough Senate seats up.

We can't do a thing about these laws.

[onenote]

4. probably not

In theory, some amendments around the edges of the Military Commissions Act and Patriot Act might be possible, but I doubt that they will be the first priorities.

Rather, the Democrats legislative priorities if they take control of both houses will be (in no particular order): increasing the minimum wage, reforming the prescription drug legislation, implementing the 9/11 Commission recommendations; lobbying reform.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. Repealing a law and making it veto-proof requires a 2/3 majority

I doubt that they'll get that much of a majority, although conceivably, they could do to the Republicans whatever it was the Republicans did to certain weasely Democrats to make them vote for the torture bill.

[Felix Mala]

6. I thought yesterday's signing "photo-op" offered the entire world

a great picture of all the war criminals gathered together in one spot, smiling for the camera. It'll be easier to bring them before war crimes tribunals this way.

[davhill]

7. There is the possibility

That a Democratic congress will continue to support Bush's evil foreign policy. We must be vigilant and keep their feet to the fire.

[MrModerate]

8. Agree with the poster above. . .

Dems will focus on kitchen-table issues for traditional constituents. The torture bill is going to have to go to the Supremes first.

It can be dismantled by Congress easily enough -- and will be, if being in the majority injects some stiffness into limp backbones. Let's remember that courage is often a situational virture, after all.

I'd expect the lame-duck boy king to overplay his torture hand pretty quickly, which could bring the issue to the Court sooner rather than later. I also think that CIA folks are still checking with their lawyers to be sure of their legal exposure. They're going to find, IMO, that they're not protected at all, and that -- along with professionalism -- will keep a lot of them out of the waterboarding business.

As scary as the law is, I don't think it's going to work well -- the stink of Bushian failure is always going to stick to it -- and it can be overturned. If not in 2007-2008, then later.

Dems will need to make those kitchen-table issues work to win in 2008, but we could be looking at single party control of both branches come January 2009.

Which I hope we'd use wisely.

[grizmaster]

9. one battle at a time, first the ballot box

and then we can start chipping away at bush's dismantling of the Constitution. It took the repubs since 1994 to destroy so many of our freedoms. It may take us 10 years to reverse their despicable actions.

[dubykc]

10. Best case scenario...actually wishful thinking...

would be, once the Dems have control of both houses. Impeach Bush and Cheney and then the major changes can begin with President Pelosi at the helm.

[MamaBear]

11. Without radical election and campaign finance reform...

Without radical election and campaign finance reform, the Dems will pretty much have to stay within the boundaries the corporate boards, through their lobbyists, set up. They are the ones calling the shots these days.

So there will still be strong voices (backed by the corporate owned and controlled media) calling for social security privatization (financial industry); more giveaways to the fossil fuel and nuclear power industries (energy); more consolidation of the media and also of cable/internet/cellular communication (communication industry); "easing" of food testing, labeling requirements, etc., etc., etc.

You get the picture. And we haven't started to discuss the war machine.

We have a long, long way to go, and it will take more than a small majority in Congress to do it.

If the Democrats claim their victory this time, and if nothing happens to plunge us into martial law, and if there is no economic collapse, maybe having control of Congress will give us a chance to start.

With or without the Rapture ;)

[WilliamPitt]

12. One victory at a time.

IF we win the House, we will have subpoena power, which will change the dialogue and expose a lot of wrongdoing.

IF we win the House and Senate, this will take place more fulsomely.

IF these things happen, and subpoena-powered investigations take place, it will completely change the playing field for '08.

IF it changes the playing field, our chances for electing a genuinely progressive president, who will have both houses of Congress, increase dramatically.

IF this happens, we can undo the damage.

Four more years of very hard work, at minimum.

And yes, it's still IF.

[left is right]

17. I see the ability to expose

as the only perk of holding the majority of seats without having a super majority. It will at least stop the bleeding

[AllegroRondo]

13. Its all about subpoena power

and finding out what this administration has been up to for the last 6 years. Once the truth comes out, we can hope to leverage the public outrage to get some real laws passed.

[Rosemary2205]

15. IMHO the D's can't undo the damage - however

they can focus on improving the lives of the little guys with decent legislation on healthcare, protecting pensions and jobs etc. - And, of course, they can make it a little harder for GW to suck the life out of the country.

[bdamomma]

16. I am waiting to see how the Supreme Court reacts to the Torture

Bill, no habeaus corpus, and how this administration is slapping the Supreme Court down after the Hamdan decision, if they totally excuse this Bill, we will all know where we stand.

[acmavm]

19. They can hold hearings into the legality of some of this crap.

If they have the majority.