Senate The US Politics discussion

I think W.C. Fields said the following: "If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, then baffle them with..." well, you know.

Trump has apparently subscribed to that philosophy.

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Given that Arnie was one of the more prominent figures on the left-wing of the Republican Party (is he still one of them)?


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-40392321


maybe he'd be a good candidate for Republicans who actually disapprove of Trump's actions, to rally round.

 

He's ineligible, thank God.

 

I was thinking mostly in terms of speaking out against Trump's actions, drawing attention to them, maybe calling for him to be impeached, even.

If the Democrats + the anti-Trump Republicans team up, they might do more damage to his power than either faction could alone.

 

After Scott Brown won, the House and the Senate were preparing for conference committee after passing their separate bills. Since nothing would no longer make it through the Senate, the House passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as-is. Then, the Senate, to accommodate the House, passed some changes through reconciliation that could be passed that way and they were going to agree to in conference committee, and that was the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act (they combined it with student loan reform, which didn't nearly get the attention it deserved that college students now only have to pay no more than 10% of income on federal student loans, the loan forgiveness programs for teaching and nonprofit work, ended subsidies to banks, and increasing subsidies to community colleges).

 

But then wouldn't this indicate that the Republicans need 60 votes to pass their "healthcare" bill too?

Also, if they don't need 60 votes why did they float the weird idea (which I believe McConnell shot down and he did shoot down nuking the legislative filibuster) to have Pence come in and re-write the rules of the Senate so that they would only need 50 votes?

This article describes that approach:

With Pence as chair, he would be empowered to make decisions about what can be passed through budget reconciliation, a procedural distinction that has a simple majority-vote-threshold. That would allow Republicans to bypass the larger, 60-vote requirement that would otherwise be required to repeal and replace key components of the Affordable Care Act -- a major roadblock.


Again, it seems to me that the real plan is if they get 50 votes, then the Senate parliamentarian will block most of it, and then they'll cynically blame a gov't bureaucrat for rigging the system against them.

 

If this happens, it will be a huge deal.

Replacing Kennedy would result in a reliable 5-4 conservative majority on the Court. At that point, the progressive movement would be dead for at least a generation. If RBG passes between now and 2020, it will be two generations.

No amount of electoral comeback will matter--in Washington or in the states--with a 6-3 conservative majority on the Supreme Court. Even if progressives tried to pass federal laws guaranteeing reproductive, LGBTQ and voting rights, the Court would simply strike them down.

This is the most serious consequence of Trump's election, and the most damaging in terms of lasting impact. I don't think he cares about abortion or gay rights, but it doesn't matter. He'll nominate arch-conservatives, as long McConnell and Ryan move to give the ultra-rich tax breaks. Which of course, will benefit him personally.

I haven't yet reached appleseed levels of despair, but I am full of disgust. The majority in America is being ruled by the minority, and there doesn't seem to be a way to stop it.

 

With each passing day, I grow closer to giving up on this country completely. Damage is being done through this administration, the effects of which won't be fully ameliorated in my lifetime. If I had the financial means, I would move to a different country, but alas, I don't.

 

Here's the GOP compiling your data

Oops.

Safe to assume the Dems do the same?

 

Same here.

Barring a major economic collapse that would almost totally destroy the system (not that it's worth preserving), it's safe to say America will become a not as terrible version of Russia.

 

It will be worse. Russians know that they live in a corrupt plutocracy.

 

The five wealthiest people-- men-- own more than the poorest 50% of humanity, which is about 3,750,000,000 people. The whole world is a plutocracy.

 

Will you please not show me up while I'm trying to show Americans up?

 

END THE WORLD

EVANAROLA

 

Isn't that a Kenarola?

 

EVANKENGULARITY

 

No no no. EVANAROLA calls for an end to the moral disrepute of the Earth and castigated its wickedness. His is a fundamentally transformative process that depends on a reorientation towards goodness and an inward transformation.

Other Jabba's is a physical argument for the literal destruction of earth based on nominal rather than psychic damage to existence. There is very much a Cartesian divide in their philosophies.

 

Other countries have went backward before. Iran. Turkey is doing it right now. Afghanistan used to have female doctors and teachers. There's no reason why America cannot continue to go backwards as well. Between Trump's insanity, Ryan's desire to destroy the New Deal and a strong Conservative Majority on the Supreme Court, there is only one conclusion: America as anything even approaching an advanced country is a thing of the past.

Eventually, people and institutions of means and conscience are going to have no choice but to leave America.

 

Because this worked out so well in Iraq.

Of course, it fits perfectly with the concept of "wag the dog", which will likely take on greater urgency if anything comes of the Russia probe, or if the GOP seriously thinks it might lose the House next year.

Oh, and this is interesting, too.

 

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway on Sunday came right out and said what so many Republicans are probably thinking ― that taking Medicaid away from able-bodied adults is no big deal, because they can go out and find jobs that provide health insurance.
Apparently nobody has told Conway that the majority of able-bodied adults on Medicaid already have jobs. The problem is that they work as parking lot attendants and child care workers, manicurists and dishwashers ― in other words, low-paying jobs that typically don’t offer insurance. Take away their Medicaid and they won’t be covered.

 

the 'competition ' argument is getting old. yes competition can bring down prices, but there are a lot of car companies on the market and i don't see any of them for 10K

 

Ambassador Kislyak is heading back to the Motherland soon, reportedly:
Report: Russian ambassador Kislyak being recalled amid election controversy

Probably he knows stuff they don't want him blabbing about in America, potentially lol

 

Its been interesting to see an increasing number of Trump supporters say a variation of this: "Even if Trump colluded with Russia, that isn't actually a crime." While it's hard to believe that any of the principal members of Mueller's team would leak anything of value, my guess is that people see what's coming and are doing their best to preempt it.

I don't think there's much chance that if Mueller is allowed to finish that he doesn't find strong evidence indicating collusion of some type between the Trump campaign and Russia, to say nothing of obstruction of justice committed by Trump to prevent investigation of possible collusion.

House Republicans may well sit on whatever evidence Mueller's team finds, but that won't change the facts themselves.

 

Trump supporters, much like Clinton supporters, voted for him more because of who he isn't than who he is. He got as many "anything but her" votes as Clinton got "anything but him" votes. This shouldn't be overlooked. The things he promised are irrelevant. Few of his voters actually care about them. Ask J-rod or Starbob if they care. They don't. It is at best secondary.

Both sides are more concerned with preventing the other side's agenda than advancing their own.