President Trump: Making America Great Again...

[Bo Diddley]

That's not what I meant or said. Where I have a Constitutional problem with what is happening is McConnell acting like Trump is his boss by not allowing bills to even have a chance to get voted on because Trump doesn't want it. If both the House and Senate can pass something, Trump should have to use his veto. The system we have was set up to create co-equal branches of government. If the Senate wants to vote those bills down, then fine. But the boss surely knows at least one of them to reopen the government would probably pass the Senate and doesn't want to deal with taking responsibility for it. In his usual coward stance he wants McConnell to do that for him. What is happening is not technically illegal, but it flies in the face of what the Constitution intends.

And McConnell also knows very well that something that would reopen the government would pass the Senate or he'd have no problem letting it get voted down to help make Trump's point and score a point against the dems and the House. It's all about fear for those two. Trump is afraid of offending his 35% base, but especially those extreme right wing media nutjobs who presume to speak for his base. And McConnell is scared a Trump fan is going to force him to compete in a primary in the next election. The will of the majority in both houses of Congress and most of the country be damned. This is what our founders would have called "tyranny."

I disagree. It's simply a function of one political party controlling the Senate and Executive. I think the founders foresaw these types of stand-offs.

[BlueK]

I disagree. It's simply a function of one political party controlling the Senate and Executive. I think the founders foresaw these types of stand-offs.

They didn't foresee political parties and didn't write the Senate rules that allow the majority leader to ignore the majority within his own branch of the government, nor did they intend for the leader of the Senate and House to just roll over and allow the President to become their boss. Same nonsense we've seen from McConnell and Ryan for the last two years. They should have gotten a lot more good stuff done but for the most part were too scared to pass anything. But we'll see how it shakes out. IMO, part of it has already shaken out, in the form of the results of the last election.

[myboynoah]

White House tries to minimize shutdown’s effects as talks completely break down

More cowardly moves. If you are intent on shutting down the government, then shut it down and let people feel the consequences. Give Americans some skin in this game. The Dump is too afraid to do so.

Senior White House officials receive frequent updates on how many Transportation Security Administration staffers are calling in sick to work, aware that major delays at airports could prompt a huge backlash.

To try to contain other fallout, thousands of federal workers are being rushed back to work, almost always without pay, to prevent the shutdown from having a cascading effect on the economy and the United States’ standing in the world.

. . . . . .

And some agencies have had to deal with small-scale rebellions among the employees they are requiring to continue showing up for work. These employees have recently refused to put any work-related travel expenses on their personal credit cards, unsure when they will be repaid. Other agencies are ordering employees to return to work, without pay, to minimize the shutdown’s impact on a range of industries, including agriculture firms, ranchers, loggers, bankers and fishing companies.

The White House and federal agencies have received a blizzard of requests for help, from lawmakers and industry groups, and Trump has remarked that he thinks his senior staff and Cabinet members are doing a good job blunting the impact.

“People are very impressed with how well government is working with the circumstances that we’re under,” he said to surrogates in a call Tuesday afternoon. “We’re working very hard to make sure that happens.”

[CardiacCoug]

White House tries to minimize shutdown’s effects as talks completely break down

More cowardly moves. If you are intent on shutting down the government, then shut it down and let people feel the consequences. Give Americans some skin in this game. The Dump is too afraid to do so.

The truth is that things will probably be just fine without at least half of these federal employees staying home.

This is probably a good exercise to figure out who is really necessary.

[frank ryan]

The truth is that things will probably be just fine without at least half of these federal employees staying home.

This is probably a good exercise to figure out who is really necessary.

Sounds like you pulled that figure out of your ass. Laying off half the federal work force would do wonders for the economy!

[Bo Diddley]

They didn't foresee political parties and didn't write the Senate rules that allow the majority leader to ignore the majority within his own branch of the government, nor did they intend for the leader of the Senate and House to just roll over and allow the President to become their boss. Same nonsense we've seen from McConnell and Ryan for the last two years. They should have gotten a lot more good stuff done but for the most part were too scared to pass anything. But we'll see how it shakes out. IMO, part of it has already shaken out, in the form of the results of the last election.

Well the wrote about them in the Federalist papers, so I don't see how the didn't forsee the possibility at the very least. I'm not familiar with any evidence one way or the other how they felt about congress writing rules for how they operate. The power is still vested within that institution to rewrite those rules as they see fit. Perhaps the rub of the current situation will give them the will to seek a better way of conducting business.

This might be the Libertarian in me, but as a general rule, I prefer less legislation to more.

[Moliere]

Sounds like you pulled that figure out of your ass. Laying off half the federal work force would do wonders for the economy!

Yes, that’s exactly what Cardiac wants.

[hostile]

The truth is that things will probably be just fine without at least half of these federal employees staying home.

This is probably a good exercise to figure out who is really necessary.

My youngest brother works for HUD in Dallas /Ft Worth. He has been documenting his furlough on Instagram with pictures of his baking stuff from a Martha Stewart cookbook. Maybe he will open his own bakery

[frank ryan]

Well the wrote about them in the Federalist papers, so I don't see how the didn't forsee the possibility at the very least. I'm not familiar with any evidence one way or the other how they felt about congress writing rules for how they operate. The power is still vested within that institution to rewrite those rules as they see fit. Perhaps the rub of the current situation will give them the will to seek a better way of conducting business.

This might be the Libertarian in me, but as a general rule, I prefer less legislation to more.

Parties weren't addressed in the constituon was written. The Federalist papers represent the opinions of just a few important people.

[Bo Diddley]

Parties weren't addressed in the constituon was written. The Federalist papers represent the opinions of just a few important people.

Well I know James Madison wrote about it, and he's one of the most important. Who knows how many of the founders' views he represented?

[Uncle Ted]

LOLz... Drumpf canceled the Dems' European vacation:

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I guess they didn't get the memo about the government being shutdown.

[myboynoah]

The truth is that things will probably be just fine without at least half of these federal employees staying home.

This is probably a good exercise to figure out who is really necessary.

Yeah, that's why the White House keeps bringing people back off furlough at no pay to keep things running. Let it go on longer and you'll see more and more people ordered back to work because surprise, we need them.

Surprise! We need the federal government.

[myboynoah]

LOLz... Drumpf canceled the Dems' European vacation:

Exhibit 5 billion of American ignorance of world geography.

[Uncle Ted]

Good one.

I'm confident Obama, Romney, George W., or Ross Perot would have at least treated them to a meal. I mean here they are one of the only sports teams to actually show up and this is what they get? Big Macs and Whoppers. I'm starting to think the Warriors knew something we didn't.

LOL... When Bama won the national championship Obama didn't even give them a french fry:

Shortly before 1 p.m., White House officials gathered the team in the State Dining Room, at the opposite end of the South Hall from the East Room, where the ceremony would be held.
[...]
The program called for no food to be served
[...]
The day cost Alabama at least $85,000 -- including $79,000 for the Delta charter round-trip flight from Tuscaloosa to Reagan National Airport, $1,700 for four charter buses in Washington and $3,300 for box lunches (including a few extra sandwiches; this was, after all, a football team) delivered by Chick-fil-A to the team after the visit.

http://www.espn.com/college-football...van&id=4981683

Obama made them flip the bill for their Chick-fil-A... what a dork.

[CardiacCoug]

Yeah, that's why the White House keeps bringing people back off furlough at no pay to keep things running. Let it go on longer and you'll see more and more people ordered back to work because surprise, we need them.

Surprise! We need the federal government.

Meh. The IRS is a dumb example — the tax code should be radically simplified and you wouldn’t need most of those IRS workers.