US President Donald Trump signed the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law Thursday, completing the passage of the largest military spending bill in US history—$901 billion, or over $1 trillion when combined with supplemental funding passed earlier this year.
The Senate voted 77-20 on Wednesday to pass the bill. The Democratic leadership, including Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and Minority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois, voted for the bill. They were joined by Senators Mark Kelly of Arizona and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, both of whom released a video last month calling on military personnel to disobey illegal orders—as Trump was sending the US military on a murder spree off the coast of Latin America.
Citing Trump’s statements about using troops to shoot protesters in America, Slotkin invoked the legacy of the Nuremberg tribunals, which convicted Nazi leaders for war crimes and crimes against peace. But when it came time to vote, this invocation was revealed to be completely meaningless. Slotkin voted to hand Trump the resources to pursue his military adventure against Venezuela…
The sooner every American realizes that there is NO ONE in the government with the desire and the power to help us, the better.
Edit: VOTE and be educated, but don’t expect anyone therein to be accountable and reponsible. Get ANGRY about that.
I think we should redesign the system so candidates are nominated, and anyone who has ever expressed a desire to hold office is instantly disqualified.
Basically make it more like jury duty, except make it pay very well.
We have the tech right now to do direct democracy. We dont need to hope some representitive surfaces our needs someday. Politicians and lobbyists need to be job categories that get eliminated due to tech improvements. Then we wont need political parties either and we can end them entirely. No more dems, no more repubs.
This is a dangerous narrative. Many people are not voting because this narrative the two sides are the same. They can do a lot in common but they are definitely not same. This year alone proves it.
The dangerous narrative is that Democrats are different. The number of people killed under the Democrats is staggering. Stop propagating this narrative that somehow voting for Democrats is better.
I think the main point is “the desire and the power”. There are a few with desire, but without numbers they don’t have the power. The more people with desire we can get into seats, the more power they’ll have, collectively, to do something.
I simple don’t understand why anyone buys the sentiment that you are an expressing here. The unfortunate truth is that, in every substantive way, it is true that the two parties are in lock step. I am aware that Democrats will sometimes use rhetoric that implies that they have more enlightened positions on some issues. However, it’s not credible when they consistently cave, pre-compromise, and shift rightward at nearly every opportunity. I’ve been observing the party, from within and without for 40 years. I’ve come to the conclusion that as an organization, the party as currently organized, has NOT A SINGLE principled stand on any policies whatsoever. Let me be explicit: there is no issue on which Democrats organizationally are not willing to compromise or flip on including: abortion, civil rights, democracy, and so on. They are a loose conglomerate of self-interested corporate sell outs, period. Are there a few individual exceptions, of course. But as a collective, the party is trash, and they are the reason that fascism has been allowed to progress in this country for decades.
What is needed is a wholesale reconstruction of that party. Replace nearly everyone in power and completely reject corporate funding. BTW, accomplishing that involves two things: 1.) voting, and 2.) rejecting the voices that demand that we lower our standards for short term political expediency.
They still do good things sometimes, they generally do fewer and less bad things. Definitely need to be entirely reformed, but practically that’s a future us problem.
Priority one is dismantling the other party. Blue collar Americans love socialism when you don’t call it that. Start a “right wing” party that’s just leftism wrapped up in Jesus and 'Murica. Split the right, let the neo-libs stabilize things for a couple cycles while the 'Murica party siphons the working class from Republicans. Then, after the Republican party is dead, hard shift on the left from Democrat to 'Murica, massive mandate, start passing sweeping socialist reform.
Passing electoral reform at the state level so more then two political parties can exist without a spoiler effect.
Electoral Reform Videos
First Past The Post voting (What most states use now)
Videos on alternative electoral systems
STAR voting
Alternative vote
Ranked Choice voting
Range Voting
Single Transferable Vote
Mixed Member Proportional representation
That would be included prominently in the “sweeping socialist reform”. Absolutely a high priority, but negligible odds of success under the current composition.
Priority one is achieving a Congress that will pass RCV.
Yea it seems like a lot people don’t want to face the fact that US politics are a theatre drama. And of course they also presume that you’re implying that means one shouldn’t vote, indeed a dangeous (and irritating) assumption. I believe one should vote based on a politicians actions and character, and try to notice when they’re bought and performing. The preponderance of evidence that anyone with any power is bought out is defeaning.
A 2014 Princeton study found that the US is not a democracy, and I remember thinking back then that it was already fairly obvious.
Bills like this come through when Republicans have power. It’s been more often than not lately because the DNC have had 48 or less Senators for over a decade.
Yes I understand and would not discourage voting. Its currently the only way to have any influence at all. Whole system needs to be turned over for anything to meaningfully change; vote as much as possible and get thoroughly educated, just don’t expect politicians to do anything helpful when they’re already owned by money.
Right, not the same. One tells you they hate you, the other tells you they love you but fuck you over anyway and let the first get all the blame.
If the political parties are scared a narrative is going to reduce turn out they should probably stop enforcing that narrative with their decision making. Neither party can vote against their constituents then claim they’re the good guys.
The whole point is that we know they are shitbags and money hungry whores, but they are undeniably better for your everyday life and wellbeing than Republicans, full stop.
Lesser of two evils turned into lesser of two genocides and soon it will be lesser of two fascists and that logic is exactly why were slow walking into it. Other countries look at the US like we’re insane for this type of shit. It doesn’t have to be this way, but if you keep voting for evil you’ll keep getting evil.
Oh and the democrats you insist are better just helped the republicans pass a bill that legally invalidates intersex people, and the republicans could not have passed it at all without the dems help. There’s literally no issue they won’t compromise on if it’s politically expedient. Nothing.
There’s a time and a place for everything refraining from voting on election day is not a good time or place. You want to help get other parties in motion? Now’s the time. Abstaining your vote doesn’t do shit but help the least popular policies come to fruition every single time.
I didn’t abstain from voting so you’re welcome. I like how you have no argument against helping slow walk fascism to the US other than being patronizing and assuming I didn’t vote. The least you could do is not parrot decades of American lesser evil propaganda that has been the dominant voting culture while the US has been regressing, maybe take a critical long term look at that.
Did you forget the thread you’re arguing on? This is about voting and not voting.
Get involved in other ways than this if you want real change, you being right isn’t going to accomplish that.
“Reinforcing the narrative” in this case is not letting the annual military budget lapse.
Mm, I’d be willing to bet that there are some who really are America first. It just so happens that includes waging war and extracting resources from places too weak or otherwise unable to defend themselves.
The choice U.S. citizens are being given is clear. We can extract resources from you or we can extract resources from someone else. Resources will be extracted either way.
They’re doing both.
Correct, the difference is which will happen first. Given the option, the American people will choose the latter. They just need to be coerced into it first.
Well, more like 20 people out of 100, so not many.