US Politics January 2018: "You All Just Got A Lot Richer"

meanwhile

BREAKING: Pennsylvania Supreme Court throws out state's congressional map, ruling that gerrymandering violates constitution.

— The Associated Press (@AP) January 22, 2018

the GOP is trying to kill children

In other words... another Tuesday?

xpost Cool, let's see how long it takes the SC to overturn that one!

WHOA re SC-PA and gerrymandering, I'm not sure people were optimistic about the outcome of that case.

it's a 'commonwealth' steve, but

Important: Because this lawsuit relies solely on Pennsylvania's *state* constitution, there would be little room for the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a decision striking down the map https://t.co/BE1AC9tsrT

— Stephen Wolf (@PoliticsWolf) January 19, 2018

The GOP isn't wrong in thinking that "Dem shutdown for illegals" is a politically strong hand.

It's catnip for Red Hatters, who've been pushing the distorted optics fostered by Comrade Combover of hurting the military to save these people who shouldn't have been here in the first place.

lmao https://voterguide.dallasnews.com/2018-primary/races/40/#candidates=candidate-82,candidate-83

― 𝔠𝔞𝔢𝔨 (caek), Monday, January 22, 2018 1:22 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I suspect that the reason Trump and the GOP expect North Korea, Iran et al to capitulate entirely on negotiations is because they're so used to negotiating with Democrats.

— Malcolm Fleschner (@CultureShlock) January 22, 2018

lol xp

*massive bong rip* legalize weed

lmao already

how did the Dems bungle this so badly

― frogbs, 22. januar 2018 20:57 (twenty-five minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The point is that if no deal is made, McConnell will put a clean DACA on the Senate floor. Where it will pass. It would pass the house as well. Ryan then has to block the bill, knowing full well it would lead to a shutdown.

McConnell will put a clean DACA on the Senate floor.

you sure about this

McConnell will promised to put a clean DACA on the Senate floor.

a distinction with a difference

It's the point of the deal. The fact that he might be lying doesn't change what the deal is.

And yes frogbs. Back in December McConnell promised to put an immigration bill on the floor if there was one. There isn't. This time he promised to put a DACA bill on the floor if there is no immigration bill.

Per my previous, he also promised Collins a vote to shore up health care in exchange for their tax votes.

Basically, the second this turns sour - like, tomorrow? as soon as the president farts into his phone? - I finally have reason to call my senators and be angry.

It's definitely going to turn sour. I'd say in three weeks...

McConnell managed to delay a SC appointment for almost a year under a sitting president. I wouldn't put anything past him/them.

He is a lying piece of shit, so yeah.

been thinking about taking up prayer just for pieces of shit like him

is it ok to whine about Dem fecklessness yet?

kinda wonder what Harry Reid woulda done? prob not this?

“The three richest people in the US own the same wealth as the bottom half of the US population (roughly 160 million people).”

https://splinternews.com/heres-how-we-distribute-the-wealth-at-the-moment-1822297968

From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs amirite

To each according to his tweets.

i can't tell you how many times i have seen a stat like that dismissed with "yeah but they pay more taxes, so"

BREAKING: Trump to impose 30 percent tariff on solar cell imports https://t.co/55ESgTPtgI

— CNBC (@CNBC) January 22, 2018

Coal is BACK, BABY!!

https://i.imgur.com/NdQytF2.gif

the good news is that we can count on the big green groups to unite and spearhead a huge nationwide protest this saturday, taking advantage of the pent-up frustration of progressives who already got fucked over once today. people who are angry about the dreamers and about trump's anti-environmental policies should intersectionality the shit out of the cities this weekend, in the fucking intersections.

but jk, big green groups aren't going to unite

still can't believe Trump spent all weekend being pouty in the WH and wound up getting everything he wanted

14,000 people marched in knoxville for the women's march, according to the police

unprecedented action in recent decades afaik

The flip side is that the president was sidelined - cuckolded, if you will - while congress fooled around without him. I am not hopeful, because why would I be, but given this only goes to Feb. 8, CHIP is now off the table, and apparently The Wall is not included, this is going to happen again in less than a month if DACA is not addressed. And may happen again in less than a month even if DACA is addressed. But this time the Dems bought themselves extra cover. And the president's only role as usual will be in fucking it all up, which only helps the Dems. If Mitch lied again, they've got cover. If the president fucks up again, they've got cover. When the house scuttles the whole thing, they've got cover. Of course, they may just back down again, but at least they'll be in a better position if they decide to fight.

Erik Loomis:

A) CHIP is a huge policy win for Democrats. You might say that Republicans had to deal with this anyway. No they didn’t. It’s a party of nihilists who don’t care if children die. Taking CHIP off the table for 6 years is a positive win.

2) Taking CHIP off the table undermines Republican leverage for the next battle. They have no policy position that Democrats must vote for going forward.

3) The deal is only for a few weeks. On February 8, if the Republicans have not dealt with Dreamers, then Democrats can shut the government down again, this time with the very clear narrative that Mitch McConnell is a liar and that they gave Republicans a chance to fix the problem and they are all lying liars who lie.

4) Despite the incredibly inhuman injustice of our immigration policy, no Dreamers will be deported before February 8.

Now, if February 8 comes and Democratic senators back off of a confrontation to protect Dreamers, that’s really bad. But this gives another few weeks to ratchet up the pressure on them and on Republicans to get this done.

I don’t see a downside here. But then I am just a neoliberal shill who apologizes for the Democratic Party.

Yeah but I still saw a photo of McConnel today with a shit-eating grin and I want to be mad at someone.

Pundit on the radio just now basically predicted that a DACA bill won't even make its way out of the Senate.

So called neutral bill with amendment process? I don't see how they don't fuck that up.

Jonathan Swan of Axios reported Monday night, based on “three sources with direct knowledge,” that FBI Director Chris Wray “threatened to resign” if FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe “was removed” from office. The threat apparently came in response to pressure on Wray by “Attorney General Jeff Sessions—at the public urging of President Donald Trump” to fire McCabe. Swan also reported, based on one source “familiar with the situation,” that “Sessions told White House Counsel Don McGahn about how upset Wray was about the pressure on him to fire McCabe, and McGahn told Sessions this issue wasn’t worth losing the FBI Director over.” It isn’t entirely clear from the story when these events took place—that is, whether the controversy that led to Wray’s threat of resignation is ongoing or if it occurred sometime earlier and has since subsided.

https://www.lawfareblog.com/power-and-integrity-fbi-chris-wray-stands-president-and-attorney-general

This fucking asshole just loves some bullshit conspiracy stories. The #secretsociety hidden Hillary email text must have been playing hard on fox this morning.

https://d2ffutrenqvap3.cloudfront.net/items/2v0g1z3F1T2d2V3n282D/America%20Shutdown.jpg

I think of all the disappointing news yesterday the 30% tariff on solar panels is by far the most depressing

Just wait until The Don issues his executive order that all of America's faucets and AC units must be run 24/7. We're gonna kill off this biosphere yet!

a tire fire on every corner, a song in every heart

a pokemon go-style app where you get points for actually shooting endangered animals

also Trump cheerfully gloating that the "DEMOCRATS CAVED!!!" over and over despite spending the whole weekend sulking is pretty depressing too

We wouldn't even need to bother with other alternative energy sources if we could figure out a way to harness the power of the nihilistic spite and resentment that fuels the pleathery corpus of our president.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/23/us/politics/jeff-sessions-special-counsel-russia.html

Someone explain something to me: what the Dems got, if anything, was the promise of some sort of DACA vote in the next couple of weeks. But Mitch said it's an up or down vote, which means no filibuster, so ... it just needs a majority, 51. What are the odds it won't be some shitty pseudo-DACA bill will all sorts of horrible stuff attached in the amendment process that then passes, just by picking off some chickenshit Dem or two? What do the Dems do then? For that matter, what do they do when Mitch says he fulfilled his promise for a DACA vote and either a) they don't vote for it, or b) they threaten to shut down the government again? How does that put Dems in a better position?

CHIP.

The bill will be loaded with poison pills that are only meant to be surrendered as pawns for arming up ICE like a branch of the military and imposing unmeetable income/employment standards on those who are allowed to say.

This is possibly the first time the President has really shown his negotiating chops. He didn't take DACA away to throw the dreamers out. He took it away to hold it hostage for a whole slew of stuff that would never have otherwise even made it to the table. We are actually going to have a wall, or big stupid parts of one.