Well since the Congress is partially responsible for this "longest partial shutdown" where many government employees are not being paid, I think the personnel in Congress should donate to those who they are harming.
I mean Trump always gives away his salary... Where is their commitment to public service and sacrifice?
On the upside Trump is helping Pelosi to sacrifice one of her junkets...
I mean Trump always gives away his salary... Where is their commitment to public service and sacrifice?
On the upside Trump is helping Pelosi to sacrifice one of her junkets...
31 comments:
This is Trump's thing. There is no reason why Congress people should lose their salaries, just as their is no reason why airport screeners should loser their salaries.
--Hiram
Trump wants Pelosi to fly commercial? Will Donald be flying commercial next time he visits a war zone?
--Hiram
Was her trip classified information?
Moose
Thankfully, Melania still gets to go to Mar-A-Lago on a government plane.
Hiram,
Didn't your parents ever tell you that it takes 2 to argue???
They could argue with the government funded and functioning. Both sides want border security; they could debate / negotiate how to achieve this.
Unfortunately that door shut when Pelosi and Schumer said $0 for barriers.
There are ways to increase border security without fencing the entire border. Trump could try to persuade them that his way is best, while all the federal workers go to work serving the public.
For Trump, deals are all about leverage. Why doesn't he understand the fact that Democrats have leverage over him? Trump desperately wants a wall. So what is he willing to give up?
==Hiram
Didn't your parents ever tell you that it takes 2 to argue???
Trump feels that big decisions are made by two people resolving their differences. Is it possible that he could be more wrong? Just how many constituencies does Pelosi represent? Isn't Trump hamstrung by his need to keep his base happy.
--Hiram
Laurie,
Unfortunately due to the high cost of government work, $5 Billion only covers another few hundred miles, likely replacing vehicle barriers with pedestrian barriers in more populated areas. No one right now is seeking funding for a "sea to sea" barrier.
This is an ego and positioning exercise, nothing more and nothing less. Trump and Pelosi both want to show their power in preparation for the next 2 years... And neither seems concerned as to who they harm in the process.
Hiram,
I don't hear anyone on either side proposing a deal.
Pelosi say $0 no matter what... That a physical barrier is evil...
She is not saying DACA for $5 billion...
These folks understand.
Funny, how in 2013, you were quick to place the blame on the President -- and the President only -- for that shutdown. It's amazing how the guy who always brags about being the guy in the middle and who's the only one who's not biased always finds a way to blame Democrats for everything.
I'll put this in terms that you may recognize, as it's from a TV show. On "Shark Tank", whenever one of the inventors leaves the tank to discuss with someone, what does Kevin O'Leary always say? "The deal on the table now may not be on the table when you come back."
Well, that's the situation Trump is in. Through his own mismanagement, he's pissed away his leverage. He had chances to make a deal in 2017 and 2018, and he didn't even really need Democrats to do so. That's why Chuck Schumer was putting money on the table then.
Now, Democrats now control the House. The polling on the shutdown is terrible for Trump. Support for the Democratic position sits around 60% in most polling. Pelosi's approval is ticking up, Trump's is ticking down. Trump is way underwater with independents right now.
Nancy Pelosi passed a bill to reopen the government. So did the Senate. The person holding out here is Donald Trump. The longer this goes, the worse it gets for him.
Trump is also strategically stupid and driven solely by his own ego. A "master negotiator" would have let Pelosi take the trip, then when she's in Brussels, hold a big press conference and say "Where's Nancy? I'm trying to negotiate a deal and she's gone!"
I don't hear anyone on either side proposing a deal.
Lots of deals have been made over the last two years. Trump backed away from all of them including the one he entered into just before the holidays. Bear in mind here that Trump is to one who wants something. It's up to him to make an offer. None has been forthcoming which he hasn't backed away from. Trump style as a negotiator is to be difficult. But I think in our own experience of life, difficult negotiators aren't necessarily better negotiators.
--Hiram
Is this where I supposedly blamed Obama and Obama only?
Actually it looked like I blaming Obama and the DEMs for forcing a tax increase on the "rich" in Dec2012. Which they obviously did by refusing to continue them.
As for the "shutdown", mostly I was asking questions. Remember that back then the Liberals were blaming the Conservatives for "threatening to default" and how terrible they were.
And yes I think Trump screwed up last Feb
The Rounds (Common Sense) bill is looking pretty good right now.
I don't read any blame for Republicans in that thread. You make your usual "I don't have a side" nonsense comments, but the only actual specific criticisms in there are against Obama and Democrats. (You even titled the post "Obama: My Way or Else!!!" -- three exclamation points, not a question mark.)
By the way, please remember that the GOP did compromise in Dec 2012 and did sign off on the tax bill that the President supported.
Now if only this Congress would be as agreeable.
Sean,
Often I try to be cute with my titles... I would not take them too seriously.
From what I remember of back then, my position was Obama made a power play in Dec2012 and Congress is making a power play today... What is the difference?
Here is a thought: Shut the government down for 2 days, no back pay and no other outgo. There's your $5 billion for the wall. Of course that would require Congress to agree, and Democrats are determined to be disagreeable.
If a ten mile long wall is a dumb idea, does it get smarter if we compromise and make it only five miles long?
--Hiram
Hiram,
Yes...
2000 miles of fence maybe a bad idea whereas 1000 miles may be a great idea.
Easier to get around, I suppose. But not that great for ladder sales.
--Hiram
Congress has already authorized 700 miles that has not yet been built, AFAIK. Does "electronic fencing" count as the 15 feet it takes up, or as miles "fenced"?
By the way, environmentalists claim to be worried about the roads that would let the Border Patrol quickly reach trespassers detected by drones or electronic means (look up the new LIDAR proposal). I can tell you from my experience in ANWR that wildlife finds them no barrier at all, and actually PREFERS roads when they are available.
Donald just doesn't have support for a wall in Congress. So why are federal employees paying a price for Trump's political failures? Does anyone really think not paying the guy at the airport checks your bags really advances Trump's political interests?
--Hiram
Does anybody think that Democrat obstruction on a tiny sliver of government spending is anything BUT a political stunt? That when they say, "open the government and we can negotiate the wall" they are Lucy holding the football?
I think there are politics involved. Nobody cared about a wall prior to the mid term. And there was little Republican support for it in Congress. Republican border congress people don't want a wall in their districts. The measure was simply fading away, as many bad ideas do. But Trump after suffering his humiliating loss felt the need for a political victory, and so he revived the wall issue just prior to Christmas. He wanted to bloody some Democratic noses. Unfortunately, what he didn't figure out was that he had no political leverage. The house is now democratic, and in the senate Republicans are sitting the fight out.
there is of course a deal to be made. As has been frequently pointed out, Democrats have been willing on a number of occasions to provide funding for the wall. It's just that Trump has backed away from those deals out of fear of the wrath of Ann Coulter.
==Hiram
A basic reason Democrats don't want to fund the wall at all, is that because if we win the election in 2020, the wall will become a dead political issue. Any money spent on it will be wasted and any portion of it that someone does manage to get built will simply be a blight on the border. There is little reason to build this kind of project where there isn't bipartisan support.
--Hiram
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