A post in an SCHIP thread said that if there were 15-20 more Dems or a

[T Wolf]

Dem president, the bill would have passed.

That statement made me wonder, "Can we be sure of that?"

My observation of many actions in Congress is that in many cases, the reps and sens cast "safe" votes. If a bill is destined to pass, many jump on board for political reasons. It also works in reverse - if a bill is likely to fail, some will support it just to be able to say they "listened to their constituents" or "voted their conscience" or some other platitude. But in the few bills that could go either way, the true values and loyalties of the politicians comes out.

At this point, I have no faith that, even if the Democrats had "enough" votes to pass whatever they wanted, they would push for "progressive" laws. Didn't we think that after the 11/06 election, that slim majority would be doing something to stop the war or rein in Georgie, or anything for which we cast our votes? But they will not even stop the minority from passing anti-free speech resolutions, etc.

They have proven that they truly represent only themselves and their corporate masters. To believe that they would suddenly turn into real Democrats is naive and not supported by facts.

What exactly are they keeping their powder dry for? It appears, only the next election and not for any real battle for progress.

I do not know what the solution is. But hoping and waiting for "15-20 more Democrats" is not going to accomplish anything. I doubt that 150 more would mean anything, especially if they are the same as the gang currently in office.

[TwilightZone]

1. You seem to have forgotten a rather important point.

A Democratic president wouldn't have vetoed it.

[T Wolf]

3. My point was, "How can you be sure?" You trust them? I do not. nt

[TwilightZone]

4. Trust them to do what? They passed the bill.

It seems that your assertion is that they passed the bill because they knew it would be vetoed. So, I guess if the veto threat hadn't existed, they would not have passed it.

I think you're trying a little too hard.

[Yael]

2. They are safely in the 11% approval rating range, too