WH officials are attempting to meet next week with moderate Democrats. @RepLynch was asked to come. He declined. https://t.co/CquKzGYUvz
— Matt Viser (@mviser) March 29, 2017
… The South Boston Democrat is among those who received a formal invitation to meet next week with Trump’s director of legislative affairs, Marc Short, as the White House makes a renewed push to cultivate moderate Democrats.
“I was asked if I would be interested in going over to the White House for a meeting,” Lynch said in a statement to the Globe. “They said they were looking for ‘moderate’ Democrats – which I am. But under the circumstances I felt like they were trying to divide our party so I declined the invitation.”
“My feeling is that the Trump White House has taken a ‘scorched earth’ approach so far,” he added. “I am usually someone who looks for middle ground, but Mr. Trump’s opening position, especially as reflected in his budget, has been so extreme that there is no middle ground. It’s a non-starter for me.”…
Lynch is the most conservative member of the Massachusetts delegation, and has in the past shown a willingness to buck Democratic Party lines. In 2010, he was one of the few to vote against final passage of President Obama’s health care bill.
Think of Steve Lynch as a low-profile version of Long Island’s Pete King; he’s got a job for life, as long as he doesn’t get crosswise of his base, whose strongest impulse is to reject anything not of its Tribe and its Tribal Traditions (aka ‘Southie Pride’). Lynch voters may not have been Trump voters, but they were at the very least Trump-persuadable. If Steverino is publicly spurning the outstretched Repub hand now, it means that Lord Smallgloves’ mojo has lost its magic, at least here in the redder reaches of the Peoples’ Commonwealth.
Which is a bit of a problem, if you read the Washington Post, company paper for the town whose monopoly industry is national politics:
Congressional Republicans are working aggressively to craft an agreement intended to keep the government open past April 28, but their bid to avert a shutdown hinges on courting Democrats wary of President Trump and skirting the wrath of hard-line conservatives and Trump himself.
The murky path forward on government funding sparked unease Wednesday within the business community and at the Capitol, where Republicans speculated that Trump’s request for money to build a wall along the border with Mexico and $30 billion in new defense spending may need to be delayed to avoid a shutdown…
But for the moment, neither House nor Senate Democratic leaders have committed to supporting a spending plan. Bipartisan committee negotiations are underway, and crucial elements of an agreement remain unfinished. Democrats, too, bring their own challenges to the negotiating table. They are under pressure from their liberal base to oppose virtually everything that Trump and Republicans do — especially, in the case of the budget, funding for a border wall. But they and most of their supporters also favor keeping government open, and they are vulnerable to being accused of hypocrisy if they are seen as playing a part in causing a shutdown after years criticizing Republicans for doing the same.
Meanwhile, several congressional aides said that Republicans are agitated by the lack of clarity from White House officials over a strategy to avert the awkward theater of a Republican-driven shutdown on the watch of a Republican president…
By writing off Dems, Trump put himself at the mercy of the Freedom Caucus. Now Trump gets that, but it's too late. https://t.co/RbOocm3MvI
— Josh Barro (@jbarro) March 28, 2017
But wait — this time, there’s a Plan B!
The White House is hoping black lawmakers could be the Democrats to play ball https://t.co/0k070SYY9B
— Brandon Wall (@Walldo) March 29, 2017
.
Why must everybody laugh at his mighty sword?
WereBear
“We cannot trample upon the humanity of others without devaluing our own. The Igbo, always practical, put it concretely in their proverb Onye ji onye n’ani ji onwe ya: “He who will hold another down in the mud must stay in the mud to keep him down.”
― Chinua Achebe, The Education of a British-Protected Child: Essays
debbie
Don’t trust them any farther than you can throw them.
debbie
@WereBear:
Or, Hillel via satby: “What is hateful to you do not do to your neighbor.”
Hunter Gathers
The only thing to do right now is to drop an anvil on that pig fucker. He’s a loser, the people who work for him are losers and the people that voted for him are losers. Wallow in your own shit, White America. And go fuck yourselves.
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone ???
Baud
@rikyrah: Good morning.
Iowa Old Lady
Good lord, on the basis of what? A meeting with Omarosa?
Baud
Makes sense. People of color put Trump in the White House. /Confused Bro
Applejinx
Hell, there will come a time when you’ll see Trump trying to flip to Democrat to curry favor. He’ll do a Lincoln Chafee.
…if his Russian handlers want him to.
Because it would be incredibly disruptive and chaotic for the USA if that were to happen, and that is literally the name of the game. We are still being played, and nothing is impossible or off the table.
Keith P.
As Jerry Seinfeld would say, as he sips on his coffee with a smirk on his face, “That’s a shame”.
MJS
I hear Maxine Waters is eager to sit down and discuss things with Trump. He should call her.
satby
@debbie: words I try to live by. Good morning!
OzarkHillbilly
@debbie: “Or never wrestle with a pig. You only get covered in mud and filth and the pig enjoys it.”
ThresherK
@Iowa Old Lady: That’s after Trump’s gladhanding the HBCUs’ reps in the Oval Office and then backstabbing them.
Baud
@MJS: Maybe April Ryan can set it up.
satby
@rikyrah: and good (rainy) morning to you! ☕
rikyrah
I am a Democrat. Hell no. Don’t agree to anything. If the government shuts down, it’s on them. Period.???
Baud
The Internship, a new reality show coming soon to Fox.
Lurking Canadian
@rikyrah: I am very glad to see smiles back on your morning posts, rikyrah!
debbie
@satby:
Me too, but with varying success. Good morning to you too!
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
This doesn’t make any sense.
Why would any Dem sign on to a bill to take away insurance from 24 million people, especially if they voted for it in the first place.
The liburel media has a hole in their head to push this meme.
rikyrah
To quote the Businesses Insider article:
” Democratic voters hate Trump.”
You ain’t never lied. So, a Democrat best think long and hard about being seen working with Dolt45.
BruceFromOhio
@Hunter Gathers: THIS x 16 jillion. You broke it, you bought it, it is yours.
debbie
This is so typical of Trump. Abuse and abase your opponents and then try to win them over. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have the kind of charm required to achieve that.
NorthLeft12
I am not sure what the Repubs are expecting from the Dems here. Do they expect that the Dems will sellout completely to prevent a government shutdown?
Would the Dems agree to large cuts in social services to finance large tax cuts and military expenditures?
Personally, I would let the Repubs jack up the debt as much as they want to fund their plans as long as they don’t reduce any social spending. Or any spending that has value [ie. science/environmentally related].
Your politics are sometimes/always very baffling to this socialist Canadian.
rikyrah
@Baud:
No. Stop with the bullshyt. She has the title. She gets the check and the accountability.???
Eric
@Iowa Old Lady: reparations?
OzarkHillbilly
And speaking of filth: Eight executions in 11 days: Arkansas order may endanger staff’s mental health
Of course not, he’s a Republican.
Lurking Canadian
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: The media is hoping the centrist Democrats will reach across the aisle to write a sensible compromise bill that instead takes health care away from…say 16 million people. Maybe 15 million? Trump’s looking to deal!
p.a.
Paul Ryan + the CBC. Yeah Donnie, that’s a winning combo for ya.
Irish-American coworker once took a long term gig in Boston, tried to hang out in Southie bars. Almost got killed. The attitude was “We don’t care if you’re Saint Patrick, if you ain’t Southie you’re shit.” This was quite a while ago. Maybe thing have changed?
rikyrah
@Hunter Gathers:
Tell me how you REALLY feel???
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
She has a six-pack of Whooop Ass and is opening a can every day.
Spaniel
By Trump reaching out to Democrats, does it mean the Democrats will be become targets like the HFC folks about 10-days ago? Blame, Ban on threatening placing people on list of enemies, and threatening publicly to have elected officials to lose their jobs.
I say work with those Republicans in Congress and with Trump reenact the scene of Braveheart where the Scots crossed the field of battle and show the uppity self proclaimed lords their bottoms.
rikyrah
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:
Did you see the parts of the article from ELLE that I posted in yesterday’s threads about Waters and her response to Bill O’Reilly????
satby
@Baud: someone needs better handling? It’s got to be exhausting, having to try to keep tabs on the old goat while pretending to the entire world everything is fine and he’s the one in charge. But I’m not at all sympathetic, they enable him.
Lurking Canadian
@NorthLeft12: The problem isn’t running a deficit, it’s that stupid “debt ceiling”. The Republicans can literally hold a gun to the economy of the entire planet, then ask for whatever Randian unicorn they want this week and dare the Dems to vote against them.
It’s hard to play chicken with somebody who is so fucking crazy he thinks the collision won’t hurt.
?BillinGlendaleCA
Guess April will have to set up a meeting.
@Baud: I like the way you think Baud.
Iowa Old Lady
@Eric: Yeah, that’ll happen.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
@rikyrah: yes. Don’t play for no fool.
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
You is slow.
debbie
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:
Never, ever make fun of a woman’s hair.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: Someone should inform Trump that having sex with interns is an impeachable offense.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@NorthLeft12:
Yes. As I understand the “strategy”, such as it was, on health care, first they would blow up the ACA and kick everybody off insurance. Then the Dems would be so desperate to repair the damage they’d agree to anything calling itself “replace”.
As a master plan it’s right up there with “the war will pay for itself with captured oil”.
So I guess because it worked so well against the Dems on health care, it’s a cinch for the debt ceiling.
Baud
@Lurking Canadian:
FWIW, if it’s clean debt ceiling increase, I don’t think the Dems should fight it. Not one condition though.
rikyrah
I’m still in my feelings about last night’s Underground. I still don’t know how to deal with it. This show really should be used as a teaching curriculum about slavery.
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Oh, snap!
pluky
@p.a.: with the seaport redevelopment the gentrification pressure on southie has seriously ratcheted up, but the old core is as insular as ever.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
rikyrah
@Lurking Canadian:
The debt ceiling was NEVER a problem until the Black man became President.???
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Spaniel: Democrats are already on the enemies list.
rikyrah
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:
We knew that the 10% wasn’t Obama’s fault.
And that the 4.7% should never be credited to Dolt45.
Folks know the deal , Ezra.??
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: I’m sick, give me a break and I’ve been watching a Photoshop course.
Lillian Barron
@Hunter Gathers:Oh, what a lovely way to start the day! I could not have said it better. And you made me chuckle, which is always good!
SiubhanDuinne
@Baud:
Once she stops shaking her head.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
James E Powell
@Lurking Canadian:
It isn’t the Republicans who are crazy. It’s their voters. They are such fanatical bigots that no matter what the Republicans do, they won’t lose support. As we’ve seen in the last 15 years or so, the only time their voters turn on them is when they work with Democrats. On anything.
Baud
@James E Powell: This.
Baud
@SiubhanDuinne: So sassy.
artem1s
considering he didn’t know what the CBC was until a month ago, I suspect he has no idea WTF he is blathering on about here. He really does believe that anyone will fall for his Krazy Klown Kon. The CBC is not going to come to the WH, hat in hand and beg for an audience with him. I dare him to have a meeting with Maxine. She will blow that dead animal straight off his head.
Cermet
A CR is fine as long as the thugs don’t add riders; but a budget is another issue entirety and the dems need to strike a hard deal or walk away. But that is some time off.
OzarkHillbilly
Gun lobbyist group posts pictures of moms for gun safety; moms get death threats
And they wonder why some people think they should lose their guns.
AxelFoley
@Hunter Gathers:
This.
germy
Does John McCain yearn for war? He’s been talking shit at the NK lunatic. Insulting his weight. WTF?
AxelFoley
Trump and his people are even stupider than I thought.
Kay
I just don’t see how it works. The more moderate Democrats he gets the more he loses conservative Republicans. He’d have to promise the conservative Republicans the tax cuts for rich people to get them on board and then he loses moderate Democrats, because moderate Democrats may want tax cuts for rich people but unlike Republicans moderate Democrats will look at budget numbers and the money for health care will have to be there. The whole “brand” of moderate Democrats is they say “no” – that’s their role in the Democratic Party.
So he said “no” to a President of his own Party and that makes it more likely he’ll say “yes” to a really unpopular President not of his Party? No it doesn’t. It means he’ll probably say “no” which is (unsurprisingly) what he’s doing.
Baud
@AxelFoley: What they mean is they think black lawmakers are unprincipled and can be bought off with a small amount of cash in the budget.
beergoggles
Many Lynch voters are supporters of 45. I’ve canvassed that neighborhood and have to deal with these people on a daily basis.
I’m pleasantly surprised by what Lynch said but I still wouldn’t vote for the guy.
Lurking Canadian
@Baud: Oh, yes, they should rubber stamp a clean debt ceiling bill. I’m just afraid there won’t be one. There will be a Debt Ceiling and Block Grant Medicaid bill, or a Debt Ceiling and Repeal ACA bill, or a Debt Ceiling and No More Taxing Capital Gains bill. I would be happy to be wrong on this point.
Cermet
Not a good morning since a co-worker I’ve known over ten years died yesterday afternoon at the gym while running on the tread mill here – just found out. Of course a heart attack cannot be generally predicted so one must wait until it happens and hope for the best (as one gets older this or cancer is a common occurrence. Still, better to work out than not. In any case, that type of issue is still an under researched medical condition (read – #1 killer that almost no one studies methods to prevent) and will get the majority of people someday, anyway.)
efgoldman
@p.a.:
Southie isn’t Southie any more. For the last ten years, and probably the next 10-15, it is the hottest high-end housing and office district in the state, What was once a gritty working class neighborhood with doube- and triple- decj homes that were passed down for generations, it’s now a sea of high rise condo and office buildings, upscale restaurants, hotels around the convention center…
Lynch is still the congresscritter, and as Anne said the seat is his for life, but the state senator in Bill Bulger’s old district is now a Haitian woman.
Betty Cracker
@OzarkHillbilly: That’s one reason I’m against the death penalty in all cases; it degrades the humanity of the people charged with carrying it out — even those of us who passively participate by paying for it. Also, it’s demonstrably racist in its application, etc.
Kay
I wouldn’t support the wall if I were a Republican because it’s guaranteed to be a huge, corrupt shit-show and that will go for years. It will take years to build that wall.
Trump is a horrible manager so double the cost and time estimates and add in a corruption investigation somewhere around Year Two.
Peale
@James E Powell: yep. Let’s see…the last time the government was shut down, the republicans were “punished” by the biggest electoral sweep in our history. Voters were so fed up with Republican antics that they gave them governorships in and senators all over the place. The Freedom caucus is correct here. Shut it down and keep it shut down though 2018. Nothing bad will happen to them. Democrats aren’t going to show up in mid terms. Republicans won’t miss the government.
OzarkHillbilly
@Betty Cracker: I am against the death penalty for so many reasons it would take all day just to list them. The idea that they would attempt 8 in 11 days? All because their last supplies of the drug are about to go past the expiration date? Hutchinson has no soul. He is in a rush to kill just so he can say he did.
Peale
@Kay: the fact that it will be a shit show and a very public failure is why I hope Democrats can’t block it. Let him build his wall and bury him under it.
WereBear
@Betty Cracker: Right. It could be said works as designed when implemented perfectly, and that’s not even tried for.
Betty Cracker
My guess is this “Trump wants to work with Democrats” garbage is just spite posturing aimed at the Freedumb Caucus. Trump is pissed off at them, so he’s doing what he always does — issuing childish threats. Meanwhile, my blue doggy-ish Senator Nelson has apparently signed on to filibuster Gorsuch. He must have seen some polling that scared the centrist out of him.
Betty Cracker
@OzarkHillbilly: Let me guess — he ostentatiously declares himself a Christian too, right?
gene108
@Baud:
Nepotism rules means a President cannot employ a relative. It does not prevent relatives from volunteering to help out.
Edit: To clarify, Trump can’t put family on the payroll, but they can pitch in to help, without pay.
efgoldman
@Kay:
@Peale:
I read last week that more than 600 companies have entered bids to get in on the graft and grift. Bet they’re all “cost plus” too.
Jeff R.
@efgoldman:
All true about Southie. I work in the so-called South Boston Waterfront which 10 years ago was the brick wharf buildings where my office is and lots of parking lots. But even the old residential parts of Southie, the triple deckets and such, is heavily gentrified. And Lynch is a strong union guy, he actually was an iron worker and later an attorney for the union. He’s moderated on a lot of things including SSM.
And re EF’s mention of the local state senator, she now hosts the infamous St. Patrick’s day breakfast. (Infamous for incredibly lame jokes.)
Hunter Gathers
@Betty Cracker:
Since the only people giving positive poll responses for Captain Pig Fucker and his Army Of Swine Rapists are The Deplorables, its not exactly a profile in courage. But we’ll take all the help we can get.
bupalos
@Betty Cracker: I don’t know betty. I think the Republicans generally have a real and permanent problem as far as governing. The bill has come due on promises they’ve made on completely non-existent vapor-issues that were designed to give their base a political cultural identity. The assumption was that these issues would keep them in a governing majority. But the reality is proving to be that since none of the base actually cares about the true functioning of these vapor issues, there is now no reason for them to make the slightest concession on any of it. You’re asking them to give up their identity in return for nothing.
Faced with this reality, I do think the Trumpublicans are going to be increasingly desperate for Dem lifelines.
We need to make sure this doesn’t happen on our side, btw. It’s a great time to have a real agenda (not just resist!) and start to lay the groundwork for getting it done when the election moves this balance in the other direction. Going ahead and pushing R’s to nuke the filibuster is probably a good part of this groundwork.
satby
@Cermet: Damn. Sorry to hear that!
MomSense
I go way back in Southie to the early 80s when I studied there and then in the late 80s and early 90s I did literacy work (spent lots of time in Villa Vittoria which is a place locals will know) and student teaching. Now it’s pretty well gentrified/ruined but even then it was a haven for people in the arts and LGBTQ community.
efgoldman
@Jeff R.:
For six years thru 1974, I had my Army reserve drills at the old Boston Army Base (now Black Falcon Terminal on one side, was the Boston Design Center on the other, now something else). You could drive down there on a weekend morning and not see another car on Summer Street or Congress Street. Northern Avenue was still cobblestones, and a few of the old (19-teens) electric trucks were still used to haul fish on the pier.
You could see the changes start to happen in that part of town when the courthouse went up; I worked at the Trade Center (formerly Commonwealth Pier) in the late 90s until 2001. You could see the change accelerating – the two office buildings and the hotel across the street, the convention center going up….
Last time I was there was a Saturday around dinner time. The traffic! It’s impossible. I can’t imagine doing that commute any more.
MomSense
@Cermet:
So sorry, Cermet. My dear friend would have died on the elliptical three years ago but the nurses who worked out at the same time kept her alive. Unfortunately her heart never fully recovered so she tries to make the best of things with a lot of limitation. In her case it was a virus that caused the heart problem. There are apparently a number of viruses that cause this and it is more common than I care to think about.
OzarkHillbilly
@Betty Cracker: It’s Arkansas. The question answers itself.
bupalos
@?BillinGlendaleCA: That is some stone cold stuff right there, my friend. Have to say, I enjoyed that one more than I should have.
Kay
@Peale:
I don’t think they should block it either. Key to his ridiculous promise on the wall was that it be free. He didn’t just promise them a wall- he promised them a free wall. They’re going to get a very expensive abandoned construction site.
We had Tea Party people take a majority on our city council for 2 years. They stopped renovation of the sheriff’s department building because they wanted to posture on frugality. It’s across from my office. It sat there, half-finished and abandoned for a year. Birds were nesting in the building and there was water damage. It became a kind of symbol of how they were bad managers and they lost their majority in the next election. It’s finished now.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@rikyrah:
He’s aiming to restore that 10% – conservatives need that in order to thrive politically.
When U6 is at that level, it is an employers’ market. The wealth and power of the pinnacle of the status quo is magnified at the expense of the bottom. Religious grifters salve the uncertainty, and blame can be laid at the feet of cosmopolitan elites.
Baud
@gene108:
But why doesn’t this apply?
MomSense
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
WIN!
geg6
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Is this the kind of messaging that Ivanka was given an office in the West Wing to produce?
Betty Cracker
@bupalos: Good point about the vapor-issues, and I agree that the Dems should throw anvils instead of lifelines. Let them fail and flail, mired in endless scandals.
Betty Cracker
@Baud: Honestly, I’d rather have politicians and/or unqualified hacks related by blood to politicians on the payroll than off it. That salary is important symbolically, even if Ivanka could produce a larger haul by shaking out her sofa cushions. The money means you work for us.
japa21
@Kay: There is an assumption that the contractor’s would actually be paid what they are promised. We all know that goes totally against Trump’s business ethos. So $12 billion is probably correct.
captnkurt
OMG Anne, thank you for reminding me about “A Wedding In Cherokee County“!
Now I’m relistening to my favoritest Randy Newman album ever.
bystander
@p.a.: The only time I ever felt endangered the ten years I spent in Boston from 1997 until 1998 was in Southie in broad daylight. Oh, and one time on the T when I foolishly was wearing a Yankees ballcap. Two drunks tried menacing me in the middle of the train. Boston may be a lot smaller than NYC but the a/hole to normal people ratio is way higher.
rikyrah
@Kay:
That wall will not be built.
There are only 3 ways to build it.
1. On the American side.
2. In the middle of the Rio Grande
3. On the Mexican side.
#3 isn’t an option…
so, who’s going to tell all those American ranchers that eminent domain is gonna take their land.
Uh huh.
rikyrah
@OzarkHillbilly:
tell the truth
Kay
@japa21:
It’s not the same as ripping off The Paint Spot in Florida though. Trump steals from small contractors because he knows they can’t carry the unpaid invoice. They also can’t afford to sue him for long. They probably ignore his past practices because it’s a big contract and they’re thrilled to get the work.
This will be big national contractors. They will get paid.
OzarkHillbilly
@Betty Cracker: Good point.
Baud
@rikyrah: Trump, as a real estate developer is a huge fan of eminent domain.
bystander
@Betty Cracker: Unless Ivanka is going to advise the POS on improving ways to go to fittings at the dressmaker, Louboutin vs. Clergerie, and best colorists in a three-block radius of the Puck Building, she’s out of her depth and area of expertise. Trump has to keep daughter-wife close by the way Moe and Larry had to be close with the cheese when Curly lapsed into fits.
ETA Trump will probably not accept so much as a morsel of cheese from Melania without the Royal Taster in between them.
OzarkHillbilly
@bystander:
Heh. ;-) So “Boston years” are like “dog years” only worse?
O. Felix Culpa
@Peale:
Strongly disagree. Times have changed and people are mobilized at a level I’ve never seen before. Dems at the grassroots level have already started organizing for midterms. In that, 45 may have done us a backhanded favor.
Edited for grammar and clarity.
Peale
@Kay: yep. I’m thinking of forming a group “Democrats for the Wall”. Get myself some of that right wing cash. I’ll get media coverage. “Gay former liberal democrat, fed up with Obama immigration policy now wants a wall. See how Democrats have failed me” I’ll get my crew to engage in civil disobedience whenever the wall doesn’t meet my high standards. Those spots where it only cost effective to build a fence? Chain myself to the fence until they agree to replace the fence with a 40 foot wall. Build it right through the national parks. Make it as expensive an as unpopular as possible. Hell, shoot at me, please. I want “Trump shoots at border activists” headlines.
amk
@Baud: All kindsa shit including treason are being normalized under twitler and corrupt gopee. Dems better not be tools to any of this pos’ shenanigans.
japa21
@Kay: I forgot the sarcasm font.
Baud
Reuters
bystander
@Kay:
Not because of Trump but because the GSA will be cutting the checks from our collective bank account. It’s when creditors expect that welcher Trump will pay from his funds debts he has incurred.
Peale
@Baud: yep. Please, please, please, Trumpkins…make the wall as unjust to ranchers as possible.
Baud
@amk: I’m more concerned about people looking for signs of Dem failure than I am of Dem failure.
amk
@Baud: Have you heard of the term centrist repubs? Me neither.
Baud
@amk: I’ve heard of moderate Republican, but that’s a mirage.
We have to deal with the reality that there are not enough progressive minded people in the country to expect complete parity.
amk
So much for twitler’s ‘outreach to dems’.
It lasted for what, about 5 minutes?
japa21
@Baud: I think there are a lot more people who are progressive then we realize. It’s just that a large number of them don’t even realize that is what they are and would be horrified to be called progressive.
Fester Addams
Because the Trumpzies assume they’re all corrupt. And gullible. Because they’re, you know, black.
japa21
@amk: Some of the responses are hilarious.
rikyrah
@Betty Cracker:
YES!!
amk
@japa21: He is dinging both the kkk kaukus and the dems. He is plain nuts.
Just One More Canuck
@gene108: how big will her expense account be?
The Moar You Know
Just no. No to anything from these people. They’ve wanted to run the government themselves without Dems for the last eight years. Let them. Let them dig their own graves.
Barbara
@Kay: There will also be legions of stories of people whose families have owned land for generations being pushed around by the federal government to give up their rights and their ability to use the Rio Grande for their cattle. Whatever you think of ranching in the southwest, and I don’t think much of it, it is obnoxious and outrageous that your property rights would be expropriated because a paranoid racist made a stupid pledge to get elected and now must execute it or lose face.
Baud
@japa21: Sorry, if they don’t realize it then they are not it. We can’t impose progressivism on others.
Chris
@O. Felix Culpa:
Agreed. I really freaking hope it lasts. That is to say, if we do win back enough of the government, we’re going to need the grassroots organization and enthusiasm to stick around.
Barbara
@Betty Cracker: One day Steve Bannon is fraternizing with Republicans to keep the toxic health cuts on the table only with more draconian provisions to keep the sociopaths on board. The next day Trump is reaching out to moderate Democrats. There is no strategy here. None at all. There is just endless grifting to see which sucker bites first.
Iowa Old Lady
@rikyrah: And if they work for us, they can’t, for instance, jet off on ski vacations any time they feel like it.
hovercraft
Um, has he met, or even heard of Maxine Waters? Her attitude towards him and the contempt she expresses is not an anomaly. The CBC, and yes I’m aware that up until a couple of months ago, he had no idea what that was, has been aware of him and his activities for decades. Asking the black man to prove he belongs, not only in this country, but at the elite institutions he attended, has not endeared him to the CBC.
If that’s his ace in the hole, good luck!
Barbara
@Cermet: So sorry to hear this. I have had several co-workers who have died from heart attacks that were not preceded by any apparent warning, and it is hard to accept that they are gone so suddenly.
@MomSense: I have a friend who died at the age of 28 from a virus that invaded her heart. It was shocking, and devastating to her family, with three small children including a newborn.
Barbara
@Baud: Of course he doesn’t. I mean, even I have difficulty fathoming the depth of Ryan’s sociopathic fealty to wealth, but one thing is certain, having any Democratic involvement means people will end up with benefits and that means other people will not get their tax cuts. That is the ONLY thing Ryan lives for. Nothing else matters. We could be standing in the middle of nuclear rubble and Ryan would still be scheming to give wealthy people tax cuts.
rikyrah
@Barbara:
I was naive. I had never heard of a heart having a virus, until I saw on public access television a fundraiser for a childhood friend’s brother. Had known her family from around 6 years old until they moved away during high school. Her little brother was 16.
rikyrah
@Barbara:
Keep on with the truth
hovercraft
@debbie:
But the media keeps telling me that he’s so charming in person! Katy Tur, who he kept targeting at all his rallies says that one on one he’s a real charmer.
@rikyrah:
You got to love the media, the GOP screwed Obama at every turn, in unprecedented ways, and now that it’s time for payback, they want to charge the democrats with hypocrisy? Fuck these people, for every action there is a reaction. This is ours, go fuck yourselves.
You built this!!
hovercraft
@Betty Cracker:
Technically she is hauling in a lot more from us right now, it’s just not in the form of a paycheck. But looting the treasury and enjoying all the perks of an official makes her accountable to us, whether it’s official or not. Tiffany can maintain whatever privacy she wants, Lucretia on the other hand has forfeited any such rights.
a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio)
@David Canadian Anchor Baby Koch: More like one of those big flats you can get at Costco.
schrodingers_cat
@hovercraft:
Media whores are paid to write and say shit like that about Republicans.
Rathskeller
@Baud: not just a small amount of cash, but apparently for neighborhood basketball programs and the like. That’s how I read Barro’s article.
schrodingers_cat
Good for Lynch he has more sense than those who say that Democrats should cooperate with T on healthcare and infrastructure.
El Caganer
Sure, the Dems can make a deal. They can offer Ulysses Grant terms – immediate and unconditional surrender. Anything else would be worthless…unless, of course, you trust Trump…..
evodevo
@Iowa Old Lady: I would say that was within the realm of probability, considering Chump’s general level of tone-deaf … “Hey! She’s a winner! Everybody would like to meet with her! Of course they will work with us for that privilege! She’s black, right?”
Barbara
@rikyrah: My grandmother’s heart problems were caused by having rheumatic fever as a child, and in an earlier age this was much more common. The heart is such a strong muscle that you can live with some compromise until your mid-50s, and then the natural weakening of age compounded by iatregenic or congenital damage becomes problematic.
Это курам на смех
@germy:
Does the sun rise in the east?
Uncle Cosmo
@hovercraft: Hang on, I thought the CBC was the Can-“eh, Jen” Broadcorping Castration…
Uncle Cosmo
@Cermet: Almost exactly what happened to legendary quarterback John Unitas…on the first anniversary of 9-11. No sign, no warning–bang, gone. (Unitas was 69.) Condolences.
Debbie1
@rikyrah: No I know, right? And the person who wrote that veiled warning to Democrats not to appear hypocritical, I say Ha! Like that ever hurt Republicans. The press never brought it up during elections & now look at the political landscape.
TomatoQueen
@Baud: In my agency, SSA, the question of volunteering comes up with every threatened and real shutdown, as we GS8s all offer to volunteer so we can get our work done, knowing what it’s like to come back to The Pile, and the supervisors, who are GS9s and above, tell us thanks but we can’t allow you to because this is routine daily work being shut down. Then, we get told we are on the excepted employees list so we can continue to do our work and get called back early. or never go out on furlough at all if luck and/or sense return. That way, the retirement and disability payments continue without interruption, the application process continues, and the court deadlines are met. “An officer or employee of the United States Government or of the District of Columbia government may not accept voluntary services for either government or employ personal services exceeding that authorized by law except for emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property. This section does not apply to a corporation getting amounts to make loans (except paid in capital amounts) without legal liability of the United States Government. As used in this section, the term “emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property” does not include ongoing, regular functions of government the suspension of which would not imminently threaten the safety of human life or the protection of property.” Ivanka needs to take the dollar in the dollar-a-year salary tradition, and pretend to be part of that group of worthies, rather than strike out on her own as something unprecedented, cos otherwise she’s a grifter in a new grifter’s hat.
Miss Bianca
@Betty Cracker: Wrote a letter to Senator Bennett this morning. Bolster, bolster, bolster those wavering Dems!
@rikyrah: They’re already sending letters to private landowners along the border – we’ll see how that works out…
Ella in New Mexico
@Hunter Gathers:
This, to me, is the number one best attitude to have right now: let the dumbasses who voted these people get a nice taste of the misery they brought on themselves. Then proceed to destroy the illusion of Trump being anything but a corrupt motherfucker. Illuminate the truth about the Republican Party today and watch it die a nasty death over the next two years.
Of course, Dems need to keep on objecting, keep on talking about all the reasons these guys are outrageously fucking over their own voters. But NO quarter for these assholes, as tempting as it might be to protect Americans from their evil deeds. No compromising, no collaboration, no bipartisanship on anything other than getting the truth out on the Russia story and all it’s delicious tentacles. Demand accountability, demand a special prosecutor, demand indictments.
The only thing Dems need to be doing is being the sane, decent, law-abiding party of caring, practical, truth-based, common-sense policies for a 21st Century America.
Ella in New Mexico
@OzarkHillbilly:
Someone needs to tell the people who will be tasked to commit these executions that they don’t have to show up for work that day or any other day. There ARE other jobs out there.
Camassia
Sigh. Please stop comparing indigenous tribal people and ‘tribal traditions’ to Republican idiots. We have enough problems without using terms that refer to our peoples as also referring to raving assholes. Thank you. Signed, an actual tribal citizen (and no, that isn’t a bad thing, and no I am not an alcoholic and no I do not own a casino)
ruckus
@japa21:
12 billion is the starting bribe pool. You know that the real cost would end up far more. And that’s not even counting all the fuck ups from hiring all the wrong people and then stiffing them and having to start over every six months.