imo this is the single most important thing that Dems can do to enable future change and progressive policies. If they don’t, they will have a hard time controlling the senate in the future and need to rely on Joe Manchin.

This is a thread for discussion of the progress on it (could be about PR too, but I don’t think that’s as likely at the moment).

There will be a hearing in Congress on March 22nd regarding the issue.

washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/dc-statehood-hearing/2021/02/21/24cf80a2-746e-11eb-8115-9ad5e9c02117_story.html

this is interesting

yeah there's no way for dems to get a favorable amount of senators without adding more states

idk about DC but PR should def be a state

DC has a way stronger argument for statehood, than PR

We should make something a state because it deserves to be a state not because "Democrats need to win" (Not saying DC doesn't deserve statehood)

PR had a vote and wants to be a state, they have a population of nearly 4m compared to DC which has 600k

Understood, same time clearly the way the senate is set up is extremely wack and favors rural states hard core. Should Wyoming be it’s own state and not just be merged with Montana? Should the Dakotas be their own independent states and not be merged together? The answer is no, but that’s not gonna happen. The next best solution is to create new states to balance it.

There are also some extremely poverty stricken areas in DC that could use the funding that comes with being a state.

And also it’s not because “Democrats need to win”. F*** the Dems. It’s because progressive policies need to win, and the Senate GOP should not be given a blank check because of the imbalance in the senate.

give statehood to DC and PR

I don’t really know the argument for DC being a state, but I don’t see any reason that Puerto Rico shouldn’t be given statehood.

PR gonna be a red state btw

Both should be able to become a state, if they want, but PR isn’t gonna be helping Dems.

More people live there than in Vermont & Wyoming.

They pay taxes but have no representation in Congress.

give PR independence from the colonial grasp of the United States

and hawaii

im not sure if the people of Hawaii want to be independent but if they do I fully support them

Democrats don't really want progressive policies tho lol like haven't they shown you this already

With the 50/50 deadlock now (there's not even 50 registered democrats in the Senate btw) a lot of these aren't happening at all. They had to argue with themselves basically and ended up with a worse stimulus bill lol no way they can do this.

All of the statehood and supreme court talk died on election day when they pulled in less seats than they thought they would. They weren't even trying to do it to be progressive they just wanted to get back at the GOP and gain more secured power

Hawaii’an natives have sought independence since the first colonizations in the 1700’s

I wouldn’t at all say it would be a “red state”, but I definitely wouldn’t say “blue” either. Purple would be likely

The case could be made that it’s just a result of their 50th vote (Manchin). And that if their 50th vote was someone (even incrementally) more progressive, that it would allow them to pass more progressive legislation.

They deserve to be a state regardless they held a vote last election and the majority of the country wants to be a state

Naw Independence or nuffin

!!!!

The senate is split in half

You think it favors your opps because you need a supermajority to pass bills

If a Republican was president this would seemingly benefit Democrats but at the end of the day it’s just zero progress all around

@op the dems don’t wanna pass progressive policies and 2 more states won’t change that at all

We just need more progressives running in Democrat states and Democrats running im moderate states

The fact that Dems have 50 senators right now shows how extremely popular they've been in the last few elections, since the Senate is not fairly balanced towards urban areas and vastly favors rural voters. If it was fairly balanced the Dems would have a much more massive advantage there right now.

The problem is that it is generally hard for the party in power to remain popular, so the Dems will likely grow unpopular as all incumbents do. And once that happens they will get blown out in the Senate yet again because of the imbalance towards rural voters. That needs to change.

they should just get rid of electoral college

I don't buy that (Dems not into passing progressive policies) entirely. I just think they're p****s that won't do it unless they feel like it won't hurt them politically or that they have a more guaranteed shot at it. If they have a stronger control of the Senate, it could give them motivation.

And as for the second line in your post, I hope you realize that it contradicts everything you've been saying lmao. Getting a new state with a progressive and nonwhite voting base ALLOWS you to get more progressive senators lol. And as for you saying "Run more Democrats in moderate states" you're just contradicting everything you've been saying about how the Democrats are not a solution...choose a side lol. But to answer that part, it's not like GOP senators have been running unopposed. It's just easier said than done when there is such tribalism in these deep red states at the moment.

I will certainly say that I am all for Dems running some true progressives instead of these corporate moderate hacks in the rural red states though, but it's still difficult when they have a "D" next to their name given the culture in those states. Much more of a sure thing to run them in a new state like DC or even PR.