Trump, July 2017: Tweet more

well it's easy, shift the narrative to "OMG the media is the enemy" and let the base connect the dots - they "took him out of context", they "painted him in an unfair light", "they faked the interview"

Yeah and then Lizza just shrugs and uploads the tape.

Anyway

Ron Johnson says he appreciates Ryan's statement on skinny but adds: "The Speaker only has so much power in what he can actually assure."

— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) July 28, 2017

Sen. Wicker: if we pass bill tonight..

Reporter: what's in the bill?

W: (Long pause) You want me to start at section 1?

Reporters: "YES!"

— Paul McLeod (@pdmcleod) July 28, 2017

lol

I made a mistake in trusting in a reporter. It won't happen again.

— Anthony Scaramucci (@Scaramucci) July 28, 2017

Worth a read re Trump/influencing Congress

Thread: I want to talk about this, because it actually demonstrates the incompetence of the Trump administration. /1 https://t.co/ArzRbWPUCa

— (((tedfrank))) (@tedfrank) July 28, 2017

Just noticed Cornyn has somebody answering selected questions for him on the thread for his FB post about healthcare.

Re: Single-Payer

The Senate voted on a Medicare for all amendment today. No Senators voted in favor of it. Here's the roll call vote if you'd like to take a look: https://www.senate.gov/.../roll.../roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm...

Also, has this been brought up?

http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/27/politics/spending-bill-vote-border-wall-money/index.html

Despite Trump's pledge to make Mexico pay for the wall, the bill earmarks taxpayer money to construct a carrier along the southwest border. To avoid having those Republicans who oppose the measure vote on it directly House Republican leaders tucked it into a procedural measure that set the debate plan for the so-called "minibus" funding bill for several federal agencies.

related:

The executive director of the National Butterfly Center is seeking answers after she found work crews on her property clearing trees and brush that she said is endangering protected wildlife in the area. The Army Corp of Engineers has admitted responsibility only setting surveyor stakes on the property.

Marianna Treviño-Wright said she discovered the crew Thursday morning while doing a routine check of the 70 acres of private property owned by the National Butterfly Center located south of the Rio Grande River levee.

The crew of five people, Treviño-Wright said, had chainsaws, two mechanized brush cutters and other pieces of machinery. She confronted the crew from the Alaska-based Tikigaq Construction LLC firm who told her they were on orders from U.S. Customs and Border Protection clearing land for the border wall.
http://www.progresstimes.net/news/local-news/9668-nbc-director-stops-army-corps-of-engineer-crews-from-clearing-its-property.html

I have to say, Huckleberry is really bringing the lolz on this

Privately some Republicans predicted Ryan would have to act to sooth the senators’ concerns. Asked what such a guarantee would look like from Ryan, Graham compared it to pornography.

“You know it when you see it,” Graham said. 

Also - that border wall funding in the House appropriations bill will never make it through the Senate, where it will require 60 votes.

Xxp

Also CBP is a nightmare org

So the bill's been released and they're going to vote on it in...four hours?

Right-wingers I have seen in the wild are bringing out three layers of response to the Scaramucci-New Yorker thing:

1. Didn't happen (what, you believe someone from the MEDIA?).

2. This is scripted, like wrestling, and Bannon's in on it. (Seriously posited by several people.)

3. Eh, let it play out, a brawling, indiscriminate wrecking ball is what is sorely needed in Washington.

the hell does even mean? Conference committees reconcile legislation; they don't write it.

Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC), one of the ringleaders of the short-lived revolt, said around 9:30 p.m. ET that after speaking to House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) by phone he was convinced the House would agree to go to conference with the Senate to hammer out a bill.

“He said he doesn’t believe the skinny bill is good policy or good politics,” a weary Graham relayed to a large gaggle of reporters. “He doesn’t want to be the party that repeals part of Obamacare and leaves most of it in place. Paul sees the skinny bill as a vehicle to find a better solution.”

Thread

Uh this is not a skinny repeal bill. The changes to the waivers here are huge.

— Paul McLeod (@pdmcleod) July 28, 2017

i fucking hate this ben saassee guy. your not funny or clever or the "adult". fuck you.

you're

i was watching chuck todd earlier today because i guess i hate myself, and he asked george will, basically, to name ANYONE in the republican party who wasn't an asshole. will thought for a moment and then said ben sasse and jeff flake.

eat a dick, Will

Gonna pass

Huckleberry lovin all the attention

so what is it? 3 "No" votes that stops it?

do we have any sense of the timeline if/when it passes? does the house have to vote on anything before it goes to conference? is there any sort of deadline or can they basically hold off on a final vote until they are able to come to some sort of deal?

Reassuring!

GOP aides say if "skinny repeal" passes the Senate, it's a "coin flip" whether it becomes law https://t.co/8dIBG2GRO0

— Axios (@axios) July 28, 2017

This is so fucking stupid

now they've done this, definitely expect to see war with iran soon

Nah

Dude knows what's up

.@ChrisMurphyCT explains how the #SkinnyRepeal bill that Senate GOP doesn't want to become law...will become law. A must watch. pic.twitter.com/uwgNKkP07n

— CAP Action (@CAPAction) July 28, 2017

I've been trawling through all sorts of right-leaning Twitter feeds and nobody, absolutely nobody, is saying either the process works or, more importantly, the bill itself is any good. Obviously from a different angle, but they treat it as pointless garbage and its collective authors as weak morons. Kind of amazing.

The collective response seems to be "We will own this in 2018 and we will be shredded at the ballot box, especially after we have to bail our way out of the disaster we're creating."

1) Raise premiums on people who actually vote
2) ?????
3) 2018 landslide victory https://t.co/QxvamwvnYx

— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) July 28, 2017

That sounds weirdly realistic

Xp

Chris Murphy impressed me every time I see him.

All these GOP swing voted refusing to say how they will vote - even tho they've already decided - is not a good sign

did you guys ever see that "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" where Peter Lorre bets Steve McQueen over a series of cigarette-lighter ignitions, and if Lorre wins he can chop off Steve's thumb? That's where we are, only it's our head.

I'd support him in a Dem primary if he runs, he's wonky enough, strong stance against guns and he's the only Dem who reliably speaks out against our cozy relationship with the Saudi gov't

(it's a Roald Dahl story of course) xp

that chris murphy video is kind of chilling. i hope he's wrong. if you're like me and don't really have a good idea of what he meant by "martial law", as applied to the house of representatives and the skinny bill, this info might be useful:

The House has invoked what’s known as “martial law”, which means that they have waived rules prohibiting same-day consideration, causing some critics to suspect that they intend to pass the skinny repeal as it stands. In an e-mail to fellow House Republicans obtained by Politico, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California) wrote:

While last votes are currently scheduled to take place tomorrow, Members are advised that — pending Senate action on health care — the House schedule is subject to change. All Members should remain flexible in their travel plans over the next few days.

Molly Reynolds, a Brookings Institution fellow in governance studies, explained the process of enacting “martial law” and what it could mean:

When significant bills come to the floor of the House, they generally do so under what’s called a “special rule,” which dictates how long the bill will debate, which amendments can be offered, etc. That “special rule” is reported out of the Rules Committee and voted on by the full House; if it is approved, then debate begins under its terms. Under House rules, to consider a “special rule” on the same day it is reported from the Rules Committee, 2/3rds of the House needs to agree to do so. Alternatively, the House can waive the rule prohibiting same day consideration–that’s what called “martial law.” It’s used periodically in situations like this one, where there’s a major piece of legislation and a deadline they want to meet (here, the August recess) that means they’d prefer not to wait the extra day.

The big question here is whether the House actually wants to consider the bill the Senate might pass, or whether they’d prefer to enter into additional negotiations with the Senate. If the House does want to consider the bill, the martial law authority allows them to do so more quickly.

http://www.snopes.com/2017/07/27/martial-law-skinny-repeal/

Asked if there is any chance this bill becomes law, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn replied: "No, I don't."

— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) July 28, 2017

Oh cool so he's voting no then

I love Andrew Dice @Scaramucci !

— Roger Stone (@RogerJStoneJr) July 28, 2017

I feel like anybody who takes an appointee job in this admin is one of the following:

1. naive little dutch boy
2. closet accelerationist
3. complete sociopath who's never grown out of the 7th grade locker room
4. actual psycho in a suit who is worse than 2+3 put together multiplied by whatever scott adams is now

Watching Enzi speak on c-span wtf w this avuncular dithering n doddering routine i thought all his kind were extinct

more and more i'm beginning to think they're not going to conference with this.

Pence in the house, apparently. Ready to work his magic.

Tbf, if Senators are voting on a bill they hope does not become a law, and it does end up becoming a law, then they can continue to run on repealing health care.

I'm actually boggled at how much everyone is paying attention to this healthcare kabuki.

what else should we be paying attention to? mooch?

It's as if you all think the end result is in question, or ever has been since November.

I hate C-Span clips with empty chairs behind the speakers.

All Congressmen should be compelled to be in the chamber as long as floor business is being handled (barring illness, etc.).