Myths/Democrats had a supermajority for two years - Revision history

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2020-09-19T00:49:33Z

Timeline

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2018-09-19T15:46:26Z

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2016-04-04T14:10:23Z

meme to research

Woozle: corrections and more clarifications

2015-09-26T19:10:30Z

corrections and more clarifications

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2015-09-26T19:02:34Z

Reality: clarification

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2015-06-17T03:29:08Z

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New page

{{page/status/seedling|I'm still collecting facts for this page... it was a complex situation.}}
{{hdr/myth|The Democrats had a supermajority in both houses of Congress for two years.}}
==Myth==
===Examples===
* "But in fairness, the first two years, [Obama] had a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate and a big majority in the House." — Chris Wallace, {{l/ip|Fox News}}<ref name=sdfp />
* "For two years, [Obama] had complete, unadulterated control of the federal government, a 60 seat majority in the Senate, an 60 plus seat majority in the House. He got every – literally every – piece of legislation he wanted to try and quote turn around the economy..." — Representative {{l/wp|Aaron Schock}} (R-IL)<ref name=sdfp />
==Reality==
===Timeline===
{|
|-
! Date !! Event !! House !! Senate
|-
|'''2009-01-03'''
|111th US Congress officially convenes, with two Democratic seats unfilled:
* Al Franken's victory over Norm Coleman is in dispute
* the seat formerly filled by Barack Obama is awaiting an appointed successor
|
| D:58

|-
|'''2009-01-15'''
|Roland Burris is sworn in to fill Obama's seat
|
| D:59

|-
|'''2009-04-28'''
|Senator Arlen Specter switches from Republican to Democrat: '''Dem supermajority begins'''
|
| D:60

|-
|'''2009-06-30'''
|Franken is sworn in
|
| D:61

|-
|'''2009-09-24'''
|An interim successor to the recently-deceased Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy is appointed
|
| D:61

|-
|'''2010-02-04'''
|Republican [[Scott Brown]] joins the Senate after a special election, replacing Democrat Paul G. Kirk: '''Dem supermajority ends'''
|
| D:59
|}

The Democrats only had a supermajority from April 28 through February 4 – but even that was marred by the fact that Ted Kennedy was terminally ill with a brain tumor, and could not be counted on for votes. During the technical supermajority period, he missed all but four votes.<ref name=govtrack />

The Dems had 61 Senators from June 30 through February 4, so Kennedy's vote wouldn't have been crucial. We'll be charitable and count those four votes as four days on which there was a supermajority, even though Kennedy's vote could not be ''counted'' on and the Dems would therefore have to spend time trying to drum up a few Republican votes.

* 4/28 - 6/29: 4 days (Kennedy unreliable)
* 6/30 - 2/4: ''(how many days is that? how many working days?)''

To add to the Dems' troubles, though, Democratic Senatory Robert Byrd was also terminally ill. During the 61-vote stretch (60 without Kennedy) of 6/30-2/4, Byrd missed most of his votes as well, leaving the Dems with only 59 reliable votes at most.

==Footnotes==
<references>
<ref name=sdfp>'''2012-09-11''' [http://sandiegofreepress.org/2012/09/the-myth-of-the-filibuster-proof-democratic-senate/ The Myth of the Filibuster-Proof Democratic Senate]</ref>
<ref name=govtrack>govtrack.us: [https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/edward_kennedy/300059 Sen. Edward “Ted” Kennedy (D)]</ref>
</references>

@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 * The seat formerly filled by Barack Obama was awaiting an appointed successor.
-On top of that, Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy was terminally ill, and his presence could not be counted on.
+On top of that, Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy was terminally ill, and his presence could not be counted on. In the chart below, "-K" indicates that Kennedy, although legally a member, was not present, so the actual number was one less.
 {|
 |-

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:10, 4 April 2016
Line 95:		Line 95:
	<ref name=govtrack-b>govtrack.us: [https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/robert_byrd/300016 Sen. Robert Byrd (D)]</ref>		<ref name=govtrack-b>govtrack.us: [https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/robert_byrd/300016 Sen. Robert Byrd (D)]</ref>
	</references>		</references>
		+	==Research Notes==
		+	* https://plus.google.com/u/0/111632351423888854979/posts/X2kkEZXD1Hk - Maddow meme asserts that in fact Dems ''did'' get a lot of stuff done...

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 * "For two years, [Obama] had complete, unadulterated control of the federal government, a 60 seat majority in the Senate, an 60 plus seat majority in the House.  He got every &ndash; literally every &ndash; piece of legislation he wanted to try and quote turn around the economy..." &mdash; Representative {{l/wp|Aaron Schock}} (R-IL)<ref name=sdfp />
 ==Reality==
-The Democrats had, at ''most'', '''sixty days of effective supermajority''' &ndash; all hampered by short sessions and a terminally ill Senator (Robert Byrd) who missed most of his votes.
+The Democrats had, at ''most'', '''sixty days of technical supermajority''' &ndash; all hampered by short sessions and a terminally ill Senator (Robert Byrd) who missed most of his votes.
 ===Timeline===
 When the 111<sup>th</sup> Congress convened, two Democratic seats were unfilled:
@@ Line 77: / Line 77: @@
 To add to the Dems' troubles:
-* Democratic Senatory Robert Byrd was also terminally ill. During the 61-vote stretch (60 without Kennedy) of 6/30-2/4, Byrd missed most of his votes as well, leaving the Dems with only 59 reliable votes even during these 60 days.<ref name=govtrack-b /> The Dems arguably ''never'' had a functional supermajority; they certainly never had one that was dependable, necessitating extra time to try and drum up Republican support before going to a vote.
+* Democratic Senatory Robert Byrd was also terminally ill. During the 60 working days of 9/24/09 - 2/4/10, Byrd missed most of his votes as well, leaving the Dems with only 59 reliable votes even during these 60 days.<ref name=govtrack-b /> Although the Dems ''technically'' had a supermajority during that time, they arguably never had a ''functional'' supermajority. They certainly never had one that was dependable, which was effectively like not having one at all, since they had to spend the extra time trying fruitlessly to persuade at least one or two Republicans to join them before going to a vote.
 * The 60 days of supermajority were split into short sessions, none of which was longer than five days.
-* The special session time (28 of those 60 days) was entirely devoted to budget issues and Republican amendments to the ACA.
+* The special session time (28 of those 60 days) was entirely devoted to budget issues and Republican amendments to {{l/ip|Obamacare}}.
 Given the slow pace at which things are accomplished in the Senate, this was nowhere near enough to push through any major accomplishments &ndash; much less reverse '''six years''' of [[Republican Party/small government|Republican "small government"]] mismanagement.

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 * "For two years, [Obama] had complete, unadulterated control of the federal government, a 60 seat majority in the Senate, an 60 plus seat majority in the House.  He got every &ndash; literally every &ndash; piece of legislation he wanted to try and quote turn around the economy..." &mdash; Representative {{l/wp|Aaron Schock}} (R-IL)<ref name=sdfp />
 ==Reality==
-The Democrats had, at ''most'', '''sixty days of effective supermajority''' &ndash; all hampered by short sessions and a terminally ill Senator who missed most of his votes.
+The Democrats had, at ''most'', '''sixty days of effective supermajority''' &ndash; all hampered by short sessions and a terminally ill Senator (Robert Byrd) who missed most of his votes.
 ===Timeline===
 When the 111<sup>th</sup> Congress convened, two Democratic seats were unfilled:
@@ Line 84: / Line 84: @@
 Nonetheless, the Democrats did not waste what little time they had. [[issuepedia:Obamacare|The ACA]] &ndash; a signature piece of Democratic legislation (albeit significantly compromised by Republican demands) &ndash; was the major item of business during this time, and was signed only one month after the Democrats lost their supermajority.
 ==Links==
 ===Reference===

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 ==Myth==
 ===Examples===
 * "But in fairness, the first two years, [Obama] had a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate and a big majority in the House." &mdash; Chris Wallace, {{l/ip|Fox News}}<ref name=sdfp />
 * "For two years, [Obama] had complete, unadulterated control of the federal government, a 60 seat majority in the Senate, an 60 plus seat majority in the House.  He got every &ndash; literally every &ndash; piece of legislation he wanted to try and quote turn around the economy..." &mdash; Representative {{l/wp|Aaron Schock}} (R-IL)<ref name=sdfp />

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{page/status/seedling|I'm still collecting facts for this page... it was a complex situation.}}
+{{hdr/myth|The Democrats had a supermajority in both houses of Congress for two years (2009-2011).}}
 ==Myth==
 ===Examples===
@@ Line 6: / Line 5: @@
 * "For two years, [Obama] had complete, unadulterated control of the federal government, a 60 seat majority in the Senate, an 60 plus seat majority in the House.  He got every &ndash; literally every &ndash; piece of legislation he wanted to try and quote turn around the economy..." &mdash; Representative {{l/wp|Aaron Schock}} (R-IL)<ref name=sdfp />
 ==Reality==
 ===Timeline===
 {|
 |-
-! Date !! Event !! House !! Senate
+! Date !! Event !! Senate<br>Headcount
 |-
 |'''2009-01-03'''
-|111th US Congress officially convenes, with two Democratic seats unfilled:
+|111<sup>th</sup> US Congress officially convenes, with one Dem seat unoccupied and one filled by a Republican
-* Al Franken's victory over Norm Coleman is in dispute
+| D:57
 |-
 |'''2009-01-15'''
 |Roland Burris is sworn in to fill Obama's seat
+| D:58
-| D:59
 |-
 |'''2009-04-28'''
-|Senator Arlen Specter switches from Republican to Democrat: '''Dem supermajority begins'''
+|Senator Arlen Specter switches from Republican to Democrat
+| D:59 -K
 |-
-|'''2009-06-30'''
+|'''2009-07-07'''
 |Franken is sworn in
+| D:60 -K
 |-
 |'''2009-09-24'''
 |An interim successor to the recently-deceased Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy is appointed
+| D:60
-| D:61
 |-
 |'''2010-02-04'''
-|Republican [[Scott Brown]] joins the Senate after a special election, replacing Democrat Paul G. Kirk: '''Dem supermajority ends'''
+|Republican [[Scott Brown]] joins the Senate after a special election, replacing Democrat Paul G. Kirk
 | D:59
 |}
-The Democrats only had a supermajority from April 28 through February 4 &ndash; but even that was marred by the fact that Ted Kennedy was terminally ill with a brain tumor, and could not be counted on for votes. During the technical supermajority period, he missed all but four votes.<ref name=govtrack />
+Because of these circumstances, the Democrats only had an official supermajority from June 30 through February 4 &ndash; but even that was marred by the fact that Ted Kennedy was terminally ill with a brain tumor, and had ceased attending two months earlier.<ref name=factleft /> During his last month in the Senate, Kennedy only voted four times.<ref name=govtrack-k />
-The Dems had 61 Senators from June 30 through February 4, so Kennedy's vote wouldn't have been crucial. We'll be charitable and count those four votes as four days on which there was a supermajority, even though Kennedy's vote could not be ''counted'' on and the Dems would therefore have to spend time trying to drum up a few Republican votes.
+* '''2009''':
-* 4/28 - 6/29: 4 days (Kennedy unreliable)
+To add to the Dems' troubles:
-* 6/30 - 2/4: ''(how many days is that? how many working days?)''
+* Democratic Senatory Robert Byrd was also terminally ill. During the 61-vote stretch (60 without Kennedy) of 6/30-2/4, Byrd missed most of his votes as well, leaving the Dems with only 59 reliable votes even during these 60 days.<ref name=govtrack-b /> The Dems arguably ''never'' had a functional supermajority; they certainly never had one that was dependable, necessitating extra time to try and drum up Republican support before going to a vote.
-To add to the Dems' troubles, though, Democratic Senatory Robert Byrd was also terminally ill. During the 61-vote stretch (60 without Kennedy) of 6/30-2/4, Byrd missed most of his votes as well, leaving the Dems with only 59 reliable votes at most.
+Given the slow pace at which things are accomplished in the Senate, this was nowhere near enough to push through any major accomplishments &ndash; much less reverse '''six years''' of [[Republican Party/small government|Republican "small government"]] mismanagement.
 ==Footnotes==
 <references>
 <ref name=sdfp>'''2012-09-11''' [http://sandiegofreepress.org/2012/09/the-myth-of-the-filibuster-proof-democratic-senate/ The Myth of the Filibuster-Proof Democratic Senate]</ref>
-<ref name=govtrack>govtrack.us: [https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/edward_kennedy/300059 Sen. Edward “Ted” Kennedy (D)]</ref>
+<ref name=govtrack-k>govtrack.us: [https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/edward_kennedy/300059 Sen. Edward “Ted” Kennedy (D)]</ref>
 </references>