Posted on 09/08/2017 12:54:44 PM PDT by Kaslin
Republicans on Capitol Hill are surprised and "confounded" that the leader of their party, President Trump, sided with top Democrats in the debt ceiling debate this week, hiking it for three months.
He even earned a bit of rare praise from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Then, Trump twisted the knife even further by taking the advice of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi in regards to DACA. At her urging, the president tweeted out a rather compassionate message for illegal immigrants who currently benefit from the program. They don't have to worry during the six-month delay, Trump told them.
What gives, the GOP wondered.
Trump, hearing the criticism, immediately pounced on the opportunity to send this reminder.
Republicans, sorry, but I've been hearing about Repeal & Replace for 7 years, didn't happen! Even worse, the Senate Filibuster Rule will....— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 8, 2017
...never allow the Republicans to pass even great legislation. 8 Dems control - will rarely get 60 (vs. 51) votes. It is a Repub Death Wish!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 8, 2017
In other words (those that can't fit in a tweet), if Republicans failed so miserably in regards to health care - something they've been screaming about for seven years - how can they be trusted to enact meaningful tax reform and rein in our debt?
A few Republican leaders, who although admit they were taken aback by Trump's reaching out to Democrats, acknowledged that this is an OK short term solution. House Speaker Paul Ryan told the press Thursday that while not ideal, it is "perfectly reasonable and rational."
On Twitter, the president urged Republicans "to start the Tax Reform/Tax Cut legislation ASAP."
"Hurry!"
If I read and understood his comments right, what he actually said was that they had nothing to fear during the six months.
I don’t see a problem with that.
That's why I would have preferred Trump to continue to push his agenda and put the failure on the Republicans where it belongs. The base would have voted them out and the Dems would have been even more marginalized. Now Scumber/Pelosi are de facto leaders in their respective legislative bodies.
Trump is working toward that end, and in the meantime he’s able to get the upper hand in negotiations with the Dems.
What upper hand. The Dems are not going to sign on to any tax cuts or funding for the wall or Border Patrol unless there were equally leftist legislation along with said legislation.
Trump's deal with Schumer/Pelosi is the stupidest political move since GHWB agreed to tax hikes.
He wants DACA passed into law and the debt ceiling eliminated.
It seems to me that the people taking the biggest hit right now are the Freedom Caucus. Trump has more or less rendered them irrelevant if he’s going to make deals with Dems.
And that’s what we want, right? No one talking about spending at all.
Let’s spend the dough, baby.
1. President Trump cannot make deals with the Democrat leadership on their own. There isn't a single bill in Congress that is ever going to get out of committee without the approval of the majority party.
2. Trump's complaints about the filibuster are clearly not serious. The filibuster is irrelevant if the GOP can't even get a simple majority on any consequential legislation.
If we accept that this is all just noise and distraction, the only question is: What is going on behind the scenes?
I remember at one point that the argument for voting for Trump was “We win. They lose.”
Does the we include Schumer and Pelosi? Because, you see, I thought they were the “they.” But I’m a little behind the curve right now.
do people forget that the Republicans already extended the debt ceiling
they’ve already shown they would have bent over anyway
all Trump did was use it as an opportunity to kick them in the ass which they deserved and it’s only a 3-month extension
He did that and threw Pelosi and Shumer a bone with a little meat to make it attractive enough for all the democrats to fight over for a bite-meanwhile, the sanctuary city funds were cut...
I hope the dreamers don’t worry about deportation for those 6 months and just go about their business-I’m sure that will make most of them easier to locate and keep watch over by the end of that 6 months...
The advantage of Twitter — which Trump has exploited brilliantly, is that it allows the sender to chose the sound bite.
Your comparison to sound bites is apt. The average sound bite on MSM newscasts is 6 to 8 seconds — no more (and often less) than the number of words contained in a Tweet. The difference is, there is no MSM ‘editor’ involved.
When Trump holds a news conference, or delivers a major speech at a rally; the media selects a few (largely out-of-context) sound bites to air. Then, their talking heads use the other 95% of the time available to tell you what you’re supposed to believe about those bites. That’s the best-case — all too often, the “quotes” are “edited” to say nearly the opposite of what they did in context.
Keep in mind that almost every Republican in Congress won his or her seat in 2016 by a wider margin than Trump won their district. It’s a real stretch to assume that Trump will have a ton of political leverage in those districts.
Then Speaker Pelosi will immediately begin impeachment proceedings against Trump.
1. If Ryan and McConnell start bottling up legislation that Trump wants passed in committee, Trump will burn the entire party to the ground, and we will see Democratic majorities for the next 20 years. This is always the danger of President Trump. He has nearly carte blanche permission to do whatever he wants with 35 percent of the electorate. He can’t win an election with that. But he can sure as hell make sure that the Republicans never win anything again with that. Ryan and McConnell are not going to resist him to that point.
2. I think Trump is 100 percent serious about the filibuster. I don’t think he gives a damn about Senate traditions or what this might mean under President Harris in 4 or 8 years. He wants stuff passed. And I think his calculus is that a Manchin and Heitkamp might go along with him without the filibuster. Which, honestly, is not a crazy idea. There is little danger for a Dem in voting against cloture on any bill. That’s too hard to put in an ad. It’s another to have a vote on the record on a real bill.
Keep in mind that those Republicans would have lost their districts had Trump not been the nominee. There are other factors why they got more votes than Trump. Probably true conservatives or Never Trumpers who wanted to vote for the Republican representative because they couldn’t hold their nose for Trump and thought he was too liberal.
Trump's latest moves, after some consideration, has provided the rope to those who oppose MAGA, to hang themselves if they so choose.
I'm not seeing compromise, I see an effective way of placing the responsibility & blame on those that should own it.
Meanwhile, our agenda moves forward.
I would think Twitter or some similar fast-paced app would give you that option.
Trump is a doer. Trump is a dealer. He will never just stubbornly sit still.
I do not like it, but I understand it. I know for whom I voted.
Bottom line: The RNC wants the DNC agenda passed without taking blame for it. I despise them.
“I would NEVER work with cretins like Schumer and Pelosi”
Yep. Kinda concerned the next play in all this is McConnell and Ryan going to Schumer and Pelosi with a ‘better’ offer, ie giving the Dems even more of what they want.
If Trump opens the door to working with Dims, I have little confidence the RINO leadership won’t immediately rush through it. If Ryan and McConnell are feeling humiliated by this, I’m guessing their response is going to be along the lines of pushing Trump into a veto on something so they can then override him with Dim help.
Point #1 has nothing to do with any deals with Democrats. Trump didn’t have to cut a deal with Pelosi and Schumer on an inconsequential three-month spending bill to make that point. Point #2 doesn’t address the point I made. If the GOP couldn’t even get 50 votes for an Obamacare repeal bill that they’d been promising for seven years, then what’s the point of eliminating the 60-vote cloture rule? You didn’t see any Democrats crossing the aisle to support the Obamacare repeal bill, did you?
What do you mean "start?" They haven't passed a damn thing of Trump's since he was Inaugurated. Even on Gorsuch, McConnell had to have his teeth pulled.
Do you realize how angry the base is at the GOP Congress? Two Congressman already have said they are not running next year. You have primary challengers lining up.
So instead of harnessing this anger and passion what does Trump do? Well, I'll just work with the people who have been calling me a Nazi and Russian lover and for my impeachment for weeks! That'll show Ryan/McConnell!
Paul Ryan, attempted to hold hurricane relief hostage to the debt ceiling. Thank God President Trump wouldn't go down that road.
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