Pulse Of The Peninsula: Break logjam, elect Dems to Congress

I find it ironic that Republicans and especially Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump are running on a “change” platform, stoking and capitalizing on anger, frustration at the dysfunction, gridlock and polarization of Washington, when the source of the problem has been the Republican-controlled Congress. 
The Republicans in Congress who gathered together as President Barack Obama was swearing the oath of office and decided to make him a one-term President by causing his presidency to fail. 
That meant that the American people — who were losing jobs, homes, health insurance, college and retirement savings, and were justifiably panicked about the prospect of a Great Depression — would also fail.
Republicans, not Democrats, have used unprecedented tactics, including filibustering more than all presidents put together, shutting down government and threatening the full faith and credit of the U.S. government to extort repeal of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), which had been duly passed by Congress. 
Ah, that was in the few months when Obama actually had control of Congress — a majority in the House and a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. 
Then Ted Kennedy died, Republican Scott Brown took over, and progress that the American people hungered for was stopped in its tracks. 
Since then, the only major initiatives have come as a result of executive orders — climate action, immigration, raising the federal minimum wage and providing paid parental leave (only for federal workers and contractors). Pathetic.
Republicans are stoking the image of an America on the verge of Armageddon, an impending dystopia, because they believe it inflame their voters. 
But the reality is consumer confidence is up, employment participation, wages, real income are up, 20 million more people have health insurance. 
As Paul Krugman noted in a recent New York Times column, “Gallup finds that 80 percent of Americans are satisfied with their standard of living, up from 73 percent in 2008, and that 55 percent consider themselves to be “thriving,” up from 49 percent in 2008.
Indeed, the economic recovery, which Trump and Republicans chide as being slow (but breaking records for duration), would have been more accelerated were it not for their policies,. 
To the extent that Business requires some sense of stability, Congressional Republicans did their best to make sure everyone felt insecure, unwilling to invest in the future.
The change we need isn’t changing the party in power in the Oval Office, it is to break the Republicans’ stranglehold on Congress. 
We need Democrats in charge of the committees that have so far blocked criminal justice reform, climate action, gun control, health care reform, and refused to hear judicial nominations including to the Supreme Court. (Arizona Sen. John McCain is vowing GOP lockstep opposition to any Hillary Clinton SCOTUS nominee.)
Thanks to gerrymandering (actually “rigging of the election”), Democratic candidates for Congress received 1.4 million more votes in 2014, yet Republicans still took a 56 percent majority in the House. 
Similarly, Democratic senators received 20 million more votes than Republicans, yet Republicans wound up with 54 seats — because more Republican-dominated states have smaller populations.  
That is hardly a mandate to inflict the right-wing, regressive ideology upon the nation.
In our own Congressional district, we have a choice between Democrat Tom Suozzi, the former (visionary and bold) Nassau County executive and Republican Jack Martins, a state senator who has been a party stalwart (with one rare exception, on gun control, but who actually denied to me ever voting against women’s reproductive choice or the state’s Women’s Equality Act). They are vying to take the seat being vacated by Democrat Steve Israel (and before him, Gary Ackerman).
Suozzi has what it takes to stand up to Republican bullying. 
He is clever and if anyone can find his way through a quagmire he can. He is on the right side of appreciating the importance of sustainable development, immigration reform, universal health care, women’s reproductive rights, campaign finance reform.
Martins would be a rubberstamp on all the worst inclinations that the Republicans have been trying to push through, but for Obama’s veto pen. His ploy to try to force a special election was particularly despicable.
Suozzi isn’t just the better, bolder, more competent candidate, but yes, he is one who could stand up to the Republicans regardless of whether they continue to hold the majority.
Similarly, Democrats Anna Throne-Holst challenging Lee Zeldin; DuWayne Gregory hoping to unseat Peter King and Kathleen Rice who is challenged by David Gurfein deserve election over their Republican opponents. 
They stand for the policies that would make the fundamental changes that this country needs — economic justice, environmental justice, social justice — change that would progress our country toward a better future, rather than regress back in time.