Government shutdown

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Mori Chu
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Government shutdown

Post by Mori Chu »

Congress and the President are unable to agree on a federal budget, so the government has shut down. Is America great again yet?

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/ ... ump-352222

The sad thing is, by all accounts the Ds and Rs had come up with a bipartisan budget compromise that would have prevented the government from shutting down. And the President said at a meeting that he'd sign whatever the people on the committee agreed on. But they brought it to him and he shot it down.

Having such a volatile and capricious President undermines the ability of the already heavily polarized parties from being able to find common ground and compromise.

It is also important to remember that the two issues the Dems are fighting for here, DACA and CHIP, both have the following important properties:

- Both of them were existing Obama policies that Tr*mp went out of his way to cancel, defund, or lapse.

- Both could easily be put up for a vote in the House and Senate if they wanted to.

- In polling, both have clear bipartisan majorities of support and would pass.

But instead, the GOP has intentionally let these important programs lapse without voting on them so that they could save them until these budget negotiations, so that they could use them as political leverage against the Dems.

The way that this current administration tries to get you to "compromise" is roughly the following: take away something crucial; make you give them something hateful (wall, deportations, benefit cuts, etc.) in order to get the crucial thing back; blame you for not "compromising" if you don't.

This government shutdown hurts real people. Food stamps and other benefits stop going out, for example. National parks close. Lots of other services just stop. Every day that DACA is lapsed, there are people getting deported. Every day that CHIP has no funding, there will be children unable to get life-saving medicine. People will literally die because of this petty BS.

The administration hollowly claims that they want a "merit-based" immigration system. The immigrants who are part of DACA have demonstrated ample merit: They have jobs, educations, they work, they pay taxes, they are required to have zero criminal record. They have complied with every request. Yet for some reason, the GOP is utterly uninterested in reassuring their citizenship.

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Nodack
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Re: Government shutdown

Post by Nodack »

These things are always a game of political chicken with each side of course blaming the other side. I am getting numb to it and almost don’t care anymore. It’s like watching Ground Hog day over and over again.

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Superbone
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Re: Government shutdown

Post by Superbone »

Trump will go down as the worst president in United States history. He is ruining America. (At least trying (not trying?) his hardest.) I am embarrassed about what the rest of the world is witnessing.
"Be Legendary."

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Mori Chu
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Re: Government shutdown

Post by Mori Chu »

Superbone wrote:Trump will go down as the worst president in United States history. He is ruining America. (At least trying (not trying?) his hardest.) I am embarrassed about what the rest of the world is witnessing.
I really do think you're right that he will go down in infamy as our worst leader ever, a mark of shame on the history of our country. I keep wondering how many years it will take to repair the damage he's doing every day. I think it will take decades.

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Nodack
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Re: Government shutdown

Post by Nodack »

He’s doing a better job than Putin at undermining all of America’s institutions.

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Mori Chu
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Re: Government shutdown

Post by Mori Chu »

The thing I don't get is, suppose you're a true-red Republican and want tax cuts and want tighter immigration and so on. So maybe you like some of the things Trump and his admin are passing. But are you fine with how it's being done? The erosion of norms, of compromise, of democratic governance? Are you fine with the gutting of the State department, Interior, and many others? The lack of basic class and decency? Are you fine with the President's behavior, his tone, his rhetoric? Is this really worth it to you to get a small tax cut?

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specialsauce
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Re: Government shutdown

Post by specialsauce »

Superbone wrote:Trump will go down as the worst president in United States history. He is ruining America. (At least trying (not trying?) his hardest.) I am embarrassed about what the rest of the world is witnessing.
Easily the worst.

He likes that the government has shutdown.

This is a total fucking joke. They should have their salaries all withheld on both sides and there should be significant fines against them for being unable to keep the government running.

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Mori Chu
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Re: Government shutdown

Post by Mori Chu »

Salary withheld is kind of the opposite of his current situation. He is making money hand over fist because of his businesses that he refused to divest from. He's hosting parties at Mar a Lago resort, charging tens of thousands of $$$ per plate, where people pay to hang out with the President and family. This is a clear violation of the emoluments clause, but I guess nothing matters any more.

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Nodack
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Re: Government shutdown

Post by Nodack »

I noticed the banner ad at the top of the page at this moment. A Trump approval rating poll from Newsmax. They are a conservative site. You have to give them your name and email to vote. That I won’t do.

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Cap
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Re: Government shutdown

Post by Cap »

Marty [Mori Chu] wrote:Salary withheld is kind of the opposite of his current situation. He is making money hand over fist because of his businesses that he refused to divest from. He's hosting parties at Mar a Lago resort, charging tens of thousands of $$$ per plate, where people pay to hang out with the President and family. This is a clear violation of the emoluments clause, but I guess nothing matters any more.
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/ ... 4019?snl=1

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ShelC
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Re: Government shutdown

Post by ShelC »

The thing that bothers me the most is hypocrisy. It happens all around, on both sides, but you just know there would be congressional hearings and people going batshit crazy if Bill and Hillary were holding dinners and charging people $100K a plate while in the White House.

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Indy
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Re: Government shutdown

Post by Indy »

ShelC wrote:The thing that bothers me the most is hypocrisy. It happens all around, on both sides, but you just know there would be congressional hearings and people going batshit crazy if Bill and Hillary were holding dinners and charging people $100K a plate while in the White House.
And then a week's worth of coverage about how they were so cheap they used plastic spoons to dish out the caviar.

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Mori Chu
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Re: Government shutdown

Post by Mori Chu »

So, they ended the shutdown. It seems to me that they didn't get much; still nothing on DACA. McConnell promises to talk with them about immigration, but what is that promise, really?

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Superbone
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Re: Government shutdown

Post by Superbone »

Marty [Mori Chu] wrote:So, they ended the shutdown. It seems to me that they didn't get much; still nothing on DACA. McConnell promises to talk with them about immigration, but what is that promise, really?
At least Trump was the bigger man. Kidding. "Democrats caved!"
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