Trump, June 2017: From [Covfefe] with Love

CONDITIONS for any interview: Previously granted permission from senator AND Rules Committee of Senate

— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) June 13, 2017

Sorry, that's a reply to a previous tweet, which is here:

ALERT: Reporters at Capitol have been told they are not allow to film interviews with senators in hallways, contrary to years of precedent

— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) June 13, 2017

I would think Flake in AZ might be pressurable on AHCA as well...?

McConnell keeping this all behind closed doors, with no CBO score etc. is very smart - it makes it really hard to rally opposition because there's no talking points, no handy metrics, no specifics that people can point to as being especially odious. It makes it easy to frame any opposition look irrational, misinformed, premature. Like what can Dems oppose when there is literally nothing there, no bill to dissect, no hearings to ask questions at? All the Senators can do is maintain ranks and maybe try to personally buttonhole colleagues, while the grassroots works the phone banks for possible GOP swing votes. I don't think there's too many other viable tactics.

doesn't the senate bill requires a CBO score before it can be voted on?

fixed

It makes it easy to frame any opposition as irrational, misinformed, premature. Like what can Dems oppose when there is literally nothing there, no bill to dissect, no hearings to ask questions at? All the Dem Senators can do is maintain ranks and maybe try to personally buttonhole colleagues, while the grassroots works the phone banks for possible GOP swing votes.

Yes Senate Bill requires a CBO score but it probably won't be released until a couple days before the vote, so there won't be much time.

it makes it really hard to rally opposition because there's no talking points

idk "the GOP is trying to pass a healthcare bill so awful they're ashamed to talk about it public" is a pretty good one

yeah, and I'm seeing that passed around

xxxp I also totally advocate beating the drum for more public outcry about how the sausage is getting made.

And yes, to Dan S., there must be a CBO score. But the tactic seems to be to send it to CBO first. Then pass by reconciliation in a flurry, without hearings, before there's time to react.

So yes delay is good but how.

McConnell's plan is to keep the details of the bill totally hidden up until the point when he thinks he has the votes, then he will submit it to the CBO and try to get it voted on as quickly as possible before anything bad in the CBO score can be used as ammo to swing votes against it. This is probably all going to happen in the last couple weeks of June/first week of July.

xp

btw this tweet is now "unavailable" for some reason so idk how much stock to put in it:

🚨CODE RED: Senate Dem chiefs of staff from NV, WV, OH say Heller, Capito, Portman are likely to vote yes on Trumpcare. 🚨
— Topher Spiro (@TopherSpiro) June 13, 2017

(I admit I'm naturally inclined not to trust anyone who goes by "Topher")

"They're afraid to let the PEOPLE see what they're up to / they're afraid to talk to the PEOPLE" should an effective populist message in this alleged age of populism.

If the inevitable countercharge is "wull, Obamacare was rammed down our throats TOO," well, A. Demonstrably not so; there were a zillion town halls on ACA (it was in the papers and everything). And B. Which side is supposed to be the people's champion vs. the elites here?

tldr: Boring lazy-ass tu quoque shit is boring; film at 11

what time is the sessions hearing?

2:30 ET

if there's manila envelopes maybe he's planning a Budd Dwyer 2.0

The universe is rarely so generous.

Everyone's happy to own this

Alexander, on Murray's request for a hearing on AHCA: That bill isn't my jurisdiction; talk to SFC. "You might take it up with Sen. Hatch."

— Erin Mershon (@eemershon) June 13, 2017

Good luck with that:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRt7tqlD-og

damn

Victory has a thousand fathers, but they're all insisting everyone else in their group get the paternity testing.

the press needs to start seriously pushing back on the new hallway interview restrictions

Ah, but no, for you see, it's for everyone's financial health

Incredible defense of cracking down on TV cameras from Senator Tim Scott: cameras could catch the PIN numbers of senators at ATM machines.

— Paul McLeod (@pdmcleod) June 13, 2017

Anyway, I wouldn't want to make any juvenile associations based on the name of a certain Senator and the activity in which he was involved at the conclusion of this excerpt, and you shouldn't either, because that would be, as I said, juvenile. We are pure.

Here's what a Senate communications director told me about the Senate press rules changes. https://t.co/7lltv8Ee7H pic.twitter.com/ZWKDjSwk4x

— Haley Byrd (@byrdinator) June 13, 2017

The press has a very good reason to follow Idaho senators into the bathroom.

haha

I don't really care about the hallway restriction thing tbh, if you've seen recent footage it is pretty insane how clogged those halls are now that Trump has put everything into this hyper-aggressive news cycle/all scandal all the time reporting

otoh making Senators uncomfortable is a good thing so idk

They should restrict the number of Senators allowed in Congress, too.

keep in mind its still cool with Americans to bodyslam journalists apparently

how many times are you gonna make that joke today

xp

keep in mind its still cool with Americans to bodyslam journalists apparently

not really, he was charged and convicted

altho yr right re: voters, who have always been enamored of violent jerks

Crying all the way to congress.

how many times are you gonna make that joke today

Did I make that joke already? My bad if so, but don't remember doing so. It feels like it's been one long day for months.

I suggest Al Franken does a Judo Chop on Alex Jones

attempting to chase Senator Crapo into the bathroom attempting to chase Senator Crapo into the bathroom attempting to chase Senator Crapo into the bathroom attempting to chase Senator Crapo into the bathroom attempting to chase Senator Crapo into the bathroom attempting to chase Senator Crapo into the bathroom attempting to chase Senator Crapo into the bathroom attempting to chase Senator Crapo into the bathroom attempting to chase Senator Crapo into the bathroom attempting to chase Senator Crapo into the bathroom attempting to chase Senator Crapo into the bathroom attempting to chase Senator Crapo into the bathroom attempting to chase Senator Crapo into the bathroom attempting to chase Senator Crapo into the bathroom attempting to chase Senator Crapo into the bathroom attempting to chase Senator Crapo into the bathroom

brb gotta go chase senator crapo into the toilet *flush* you're WELCOME

crapo chap house

Makin' a quick trip to the bathroom for a Crapo and some Lindsay head, brb.

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/766053468398292992/UMFSlHNB.jpg

Crapo, Capito. Capito, Crapo.

Never forget:
http://i2.cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/170116202235-donald-trump-inauguration-porta-potties-moos-pkg-erin-00015424-full-169.jpg

30 minutes til Sessions, 30 minutes til Sessions

Places everyone!
https://media4.giphy.com/media/gpXfKa9xLAR56/200_s.gif

m/l don't care about these hearings, he'll clam up about things that could implicate him, obfuscate about others, etc. They're gonna be p deferential to a former colleague, even a perjurious one.

did we discuss the PPP poll today
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2017/06/plurality-of-voters-think-trump-obstructed-justice.html

-42% of Trump voters think it's appropriate for GOP politicians to body slam reporters, compared to 45% who think it's inappropriate. By contrast only 6% of Clinton voters think it's ok for them to body slam reporters, to 89% who think it's inappropriate. Overall 22% of voters think it's ok for GOP politicians to body slam reporters, to 69% who think it's not.

calling Obama "right wing" is patently bullshit FYI

They're gonna be p deferential to a former colleague, even a perjurious one.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/12/us/politics/jeff-sessions-senate-hearing-trump-russia.html

Should Sessions Expect Senatorial Courtesy? Not This Time

But who knows?

Saw an interesting contradiction today that hadn't occurred to me. Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation, but was still involved with the Comey firing. So people said, aha, you said you would recuse, and others said, well, it had nothing to do with Russia, it had to do with his job, specifically how he mishandled the Clinton email situation. But ... in his confirmation hearing he promised to recuse himself from anything involving the Clinton email investigation!

Not that this matters. Not that anything matters anymore.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi believes President Donald Trump will “self-impeach” and that Democrats should wait for the Russia investigations — especially special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe — to play out before pushing to remove him from the Oval Office. Pelosi also believes that if Trump fired Mueller — which some Trump allies are encouraging the president to do — it would be enough to push Republicans to begin seriously considering acting against the president on their own.

Well, so much less work for her.

http://www.joemygod.com/2017/06/13/nancy-pelosi-predicts-trump-will-self-impeach/

crüt, i guess it all depends whether you're being deported or bombed, or otoh not being prosecuted for torture or being a Wall St robber baron.