Tuesday, December 13, 2022

Sinema goes independent. What will Manchin do? Senate reform is needed to reduce the zero sum consequences of our two party system.

Now that Senator Sinema is no longer a Democrat, but an independent, there is worry about what Joe Machin might do. So far, he's sticking with the Democrats.

I'm afraid if he were to not be, officially, a Democrat, the Senate could go back to Republican majority putting the likes of Mitch McConnel back in charge. Remember McConnel's refusal to even hold hearings for Obama's last Supreme Court nominee.

The big issue should be Senate Reform so this zero sum game, between the two parties, isn't so devastating.

We should think about how to reform the power that Senate leaders have to block things getting to the floor. Reform committee chairmanship rules and so forth.

Power in the Senate needs to be more diversified; especially if people long for more diversity of political parties; such as even candidates like Bernie Sanders.

Come to think about it, I wonder how they count Bernie in terms of determining who's in majority in the Senate? He's not officially a Democrat either, though he still votes mostly in their favor. Even Sinema says she still votes on the Democratic side, for the most part.

When it comes to 2024 election, the "split vote spoiler problem" is an issue. Democrats need to be careful not to shoot themselves in the foot.

More importantly, rather than being mad at these two Senators, the issue of reform in the Senate and the way government works should be discussed.

So many people, including Sanders supporters, do think we need to figure out how to get past the two party duopoly. Yes, I do favor the Democrats, but the whole "zero sum, winner take all" situation is a problem.

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