After 35 days, the longest government shutdown in American history is finally over. Chuck Todd called it a 'temporary truce,' that is for now at least until February 15th when the continuing resolution ends. However, at the end of that time, there is no way the president forces another shutdown and survive politically. During the shutdown, the president said the 'buck stops with everyone,' but it doesn't. It indeed stops with him. With Mr. Trump reopening the government without money for his vanity border wall, the shutdown and the pain his administration caused was pointless... Pointless.
Without getting too much into the weeds with the 'winners and losers' in this shutdown fight suffice to say that politically President Trump and Republicans took at hit, Nancy Pelosi and Democrats came out on top, and the American people lost. Tom Brokaw explained that the shutdown, though partial, was more systemic than most people realized with farmers having to be in contact with government agriculture officials who weren't in. Things came to a head on Friday when air traffic at major airports was delayed. Mr. Brokaw also said that he didn't think the disconnect between the beltway and the rest of the country couldn't get any wider until this shutdown, however, that picture shouldn't be painted with as broad a brush as he used. Specifically, it was individuals in the Trump Administration that were completely out of touch namely the president's daughter-in-law Lara Trump and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who put the final rhetorical stake in the insulting injury. "I don't know why government workers have to go to food pantries...,' which PBS's Yamiche Alcindor put in stark relief.
NBC's Kristen Welker explained that the Administration had no strategy or plan B going into the shutdown, which is how Mr. Trump likes to play it, but as we've painfully found out it is no way in which to run a country. All this coupled with the news that Mr. Trump's long-time political advisor Roger Stone was indicted on Friday for obstruction and lying to Congress among other things, 7 counts in all leaves the presidency in a shambles. If there is any silver lining (or perhaps just gray) to come out of all of this it is that the legislative branch of the U.S. government is asserting its duty again. For all the naysayers in the Democratic party of Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) leadership when taking control of the House, she's been the best thing to happen for them (again) in combating Trump's erratic leadership and it has forced Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to get off the sidelines and start leading his caucus instead of just following the president.
As far as House Minority leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is concerned, he like other House Republicans is still blindly following the president saying that the president was the only one being reasonable in the negotiations. Really? How can the president be reasonable when he's not negotiating based on fact, just what he wants to believe. That's irrational. What was good to hear from the minority leader and Congressman Hakeen Jeffries (D-NY) was that Congress is considering legislation to stop shutting down the government.
With all the dysfunction we've discussed, it was refreshing to see Chuck Todd and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) have a rational discussion about border security and immigration. Political preferences aside, Mr. Rubio was part of the gang of eight in the Senate that put together a comprehensive immigration bill that had many elements of compromise, but at the time the Republican-controlled House didn't bring the legislation to the floor because of provisions that included a path to citizenship for the dreamers. They also discussed whether it would be better try and pass smaller measures or go big with something more comprehensive like the gang of eight bill. The problem at this juncture is that there isn't enough time to finalize anything, especially with the president being a wildcard when it comes to what he'll support and what he won't which can change from day to day.
Lastly, the indictment of Roger Stone has now shown the clearest link between Wikileaks and the Trump campaign. This has prompted many politicians on both sides of the aisle, in spite of the president's continued attacks, to support the Mueller investigation to its completion. The number of campaign officials and advisors indicted or who have pleaded guilty is simple untenable. It has clearly become a matter of 'what the president knew and when he knew it.' The key point in the indictment as Mr. Todd pointed out, is that a senior campaign official was directed to contact Stone about additional releases. This leaves the obvious questions of who was the senior campaign official and who directed that person? The fate of Mr. Stone withstanding, it seems these two individuals were too close to Mr. Trump for him not to know. When an indictment such as this prompts steadfast Trump supporter Hugh Hewitt to say that these two individuals might be going to jail with Roger Stone, you know there's serious trouble.
Finally, Mr. Todd featured a particular word cloud twice which featured the phrase 'wrong track' most prominently. In fact, 63 percent of Americans feel this way about the country. Nice hat, catchy slogan but it's now obvious that Mr. Trump isn't making America great again.
Panel: Yamiche Alcindor, PBS; Kristen Welker, NBC News; Tom Brokaw, NBC News; Hugh Hewitt, Salem Radio Network
Sunday, January 27, 2019
Sunday, January 20, 2019
1.20.19: The President Is Holding America Hostage
With regard to the on-going government shutdown, now in its 30th day, let's consider a few perspectives taken from today's program. First, American Enterprise Institute's Danielle Pletka explained that with the state given by President Trump yesterday, he has moved in offering some concessions to the Democrats, like 3-year temporary relief for DACA individuals and temporary status for immigrants seeking asylum. This is something the hard right has already called 'giving amnesty.' However, she ignored the core argument of the shutdown, which NBC's Heidi Przybyla clarified, which was that the Democrats are not going to negotiate border security while the government is shuttered. Virginia Senator Mark Warner (D) described it as hostage-taking and that Democrats will not negotiate under those circumstances.
Mr. Warner makes the correct argument inasmuch that if Democrats give into the president and his demand for a wall, what that means is that they have rewarded the Mr. Trump for unreasonable action, in order to end the shutdown. It sets a bad precedent in negotiating that any time the president wants something and doesn't get it, he will shutdown the government. To that end, Mr. Warner has it correct - first, open the government and then negotiate on border security, which runs counter to what Congresswoman Liz Cheney (R-WY) said in first getting border security and then opening the government. Ms. Przybyla also noted that there has been talk from the hard right about another shutdown over funding for Planned Parenthood - cut it off or shutdown the government again.
On both sides of the border, the president has shown no sympathy for the dignity of humanity. His administration has punished and dehumanized migrants and asylum seekers by separating people from their children and locking them in cages, while on this side of the border he has created hardships for not only the 800,000 federal employees but millions if you count their families and the businesses that economically rely on their business. The stories of hardship are innumerable, in which the president and he alone deserves the blame. His callousness has only served to hurt hardworking Americans.
As the panel discussed, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and the Democratic leadership are fighting for the principal of not giving into the hostage taking that the president is committed to. Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is willing to sit on the sideline and wait for Democratic capitulation as he's only interested in a political win. We know this because in the two years that the president presided over a completely Republican-controlled congress there was no sense of urgency for the wall and no threat of a government shutdown. If it was so urgent why didn't Mr. Trump force the issue then when he had the votes? Reason: Because there is no emergency as the president describes it at the southern border.
Ms. Cheney explained that Republicans voted for paying people while still having the government shuttered, but this is like putting a Band-Aid on a severed limb, only marginally helping individuals forced to return to work but not the hundreds of thousands have been furloughed. When the shutdown ends, which as NPR's Joshua Johnson mentioned none of us knows when that will be, the president will be the face of the pain it's inflicted.
The blame for all this disfunction squarely sits with Donald Trump. Hard stop. Not only has he taken 800,000 government workers hostage, he's taken all of us hostage.
The rest of us suffer through the president's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani continually changing the story on how the president or his campaign interacted with Russia. Not only did Mr. Giuliani deny that he said that there was never any collusion with Russia by the campaign earlier this week on CNN, today he said that the president had discussions about a Trump Tower Moscow project as late as October 2016, maybe even into November, which runs contrary to what the president had said during the campaign. Discussions about the project are 'dealings.' To use a word that Mr. Trump and Mr. Giuliani are fond of, the various entanglements the Trumps have had with Russia are disgraceful.
Mr. Giuliani even contradicted himself in today's interview when he first said that the president denies ever having the 'take it easy of Flynn' conversation with then FBI Director James Comey and then less than two minutes later he said that when the president had the conversation with Mr. Comey about Michael Flynn that did not amount to obstruction. 'Moving the goal posts' isn't an apt description because it suggests that this is some kind of game. It's anything but, and all Mr. Giuliani is doing and he knows it, is trying to create confusion for what is surely nefarious activity on the part of Donald Trump.
Panel: Heidi Przybyla, NBC; Danielle Pletka, American Enterprise Institute; Joshua Johnson, NPR; Peter Baker, The New York Times
One more thing...
This is what Donald Trump has wrought upon our country...
Boys from a Catholic school in MAGA hats mocking a native American. Hardly great... There are other words to describe this but this blog has a sense of decorum. A Kentucky diocese has already apologized for this incident. Should have never happened...
ABC News Story
Mr. Warner makes the correct argument inasmuch that if Democrats give into the president and his demand for a wall, what that means is that they have rewarded the Mr. Trump for unreasonable action, in order to end the shutdown. It sets a bad precedent in negotiating that any time the president wants something and doesn't get it, he will shutdown the government. To that end, Mr. Warner has it correct - first, open the government and then negotiate on border security, which runs counter to what Congresswoman Liz Cheney (R-WY) said in first getting border security and then opening the government. Ms. Przybyla also noted that there has been talk from the hard right about another shutdown over funding for Planned Parenthood - cut it off or shutdown the government again.
On both sides of the border, the president has shown no sympathy for the dignity of humanity. His administration has punished and dehumanized migrants and asylum seekers by separating people from their children and locking them in cages, while on this side of the border he has created hardships for not only the 800,000 federal employees but millions if you count their families and the businesses that economically rely on their business. The stories of hardship are innumerable, in which the president and he alone deserves the blame. His callousness has only served to hurt hardworking Americans.
As the panel discussed, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and the Democratic leadership are fighting for the principal of not giving into the hostage taking that the president is committed to. Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is willing to sit on the sideline and wait for Democratic capitulation as he's only interested in a political win. We know this because in the two years that the president presided over a completely Republican-controlled congress there was no sense of urgency for the wall and no threat of a government shutdown. If it was so urgent why didn't Mr. Trump force the issue then when he had the votes? Reason: Because there is no emergency as the president describes it at the southern border.
Ms. Cheney explained that Republicans voted for paying people while still having the government shuttered, but this is like putting a Band-Aid on a severed limb, only marginally helping individuals forced to return to work but not the hundreds of thousands have been furloughed. When the shutdown ends, which as NPR's Joshua Johnson mentioned none of us knows when that will be, the president will be the face of the pain it's inflicted.
The blame for all this disfunction squarely sits with Donald Trump. Hard stop. Not only has he taken 800,000 government workers hostage, he's taken all of us hostage.
The rest of us suffer through the president's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani continually changing the story on how the president or his campaign interacted with Russia. Not only did Mr. Giuliani deny that he said that there was never any collusion with Russia by the campaign earlier this week on CNN, today he said that the president had discussions about a Trump Tower Moscow project as late as October 2016, maybe even into November, which runs contrary to what the president had said during the campaign. Discussions about the project are 'dealings.' To use a word that Mr. Trump and Mr. Giuliani are fond of, the various entanglements the Trumps have had with Russia are disgraceful.
Mr. Giuliani even contradicted himself in today's interview when he first said that the president denies ever having the 'take it easy of Flynn' conversation with then FBI Director James Comey and then less than two minutes later he said that when the president had the conversation with Mr. Comey about Michael Flynn that did not amount to obstruction. 'Moving the goal posts' isn't an apt description because it suggests that this is some kind of game. It's anything but, and all Mr. Giuliani is doing and he knows it, is trying to create confusion for what is surely nefarious activity on the part of Donald Trump.
Panel: Heidi Przybyla, NBC; Danielle Pletka, American Enterprise Institute; Joshua Johnson, NPR; Peter Baker, The New York Times
One more thing...
This is what Donald Trump has wrought upon our country...
Boys from a Catholic school in MAGA hats mocking a native American. Hardly great... There are other words to describe this but this blog has a sense of decorum. A Kentucky diocese has already apologized for this incident. Should have never happened...
ABC News Story
Sunday, January 13, 2019
1.13.19: Donald Trump Is Leading Us Into Uncharted and Devastating Terrain
"A producer would reject it," The Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan said in response to Chuck Todd's assertion that the FBI opening a counterintelligence investigation into the President of the United States was like a bad Hollywood movie script.
But this is where we are...
Donald Trump is taking this country into all kinds of unknown dangerous terrain on several different levels, the first of which to address is what is now the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, with federal workers now having missed their first paycheck. In listening to both Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Time Kaine (D-VA) during their respective interviews, both sides are blaming the other for rejecting bills that would have kept the government open. Even if there is ambiguity on which party is at fault, there is certainty that the Republicans in the Senate were prepared to vote on a Continuing Resolution that the president squashed by tweeting that he would reject such a bill. The biggest obstructing factor in this situation is the president, himself.
The wall or barrier is a vanity project of the president's that the majority of Americans do not support. Even many Trump supporters on the Texas border do not support it, but it was Mr. Trump's loudest promise on during the campaign so he's being egged on by xenophobic right-wing media while he has effectively stifled Republicans in congress afraid of their base that has been taken over by Mr. Trump. What was equally loud was Mr. Trump's promise was that Mexico was going to pay for the wall, which he is now walking back with a nuanced answer that through the new trade deal, they will, but the reality of that is the money won't go into the Treasury, instead to private corporations, and Americans will still float the bill. The wall should not be built on the backs of U.S. taxpayers. Hard stop.
In terms of declaring a national emergency, the president circumvent Congress and have the military, Army Corps of Engineers, built the wall. The president has said that "I may do it... I have the absolute right to do it... I'd rather not do it. Congress should easily do it." However, if it were really an emergency, wouldn't the president have made this declaration already? It's obviously not an emergency, or as Chuck Todd explained, the president is threatening a national emergency because of his political emergency.
On the heels of the New York Times story that the FBI opened up an unprecedented counterintelligence investigation into Mr. Trump and his relationship to Russia, we learn from the Washington Post that the president has gone to unusual lengths to keep the transcripts of his private meetings with Vladimir Putin secret from everyone in government including his senior staff in the White House. At this point, no one can say that the president has nothing to hide. He's hiding the transcripts! As NBC's Carol Lee explained, though it's not being said publicly, Republicans in Washington are concerned. And despite what defenses Senator Cruz offered today with regard to Mr. Trump's 'actions' of being tough on Russia. (As an aside: Mr. Cruz has no credibility when discussing a government shutdown, as the one he orchestrated in 2013 was purely political.) If the administration is being tough on Russia why did the Treasury Department seek to quietly lift sanctions on Russian Oligarch Oleg Deripaska in December? When Treasury Secretary was brought before Congress this week in a closed-door meeting and asked about it, he apparently didn't have a good answer.
As the New York Times Michael Schmidt explained, we now know that the FBI investigation, which the Mueller probe has now inherited, was two-pronged with the obstruction and collusion. The FBI was worried that the president may be an witting or unwitting asset of the Kremlin. Lawfare's Ben Wittes added that the FBI saw the investigations in a light that we should all should focus our attention, and that is that the obstruction - the firing of James Comey, the president's attempts to shutdown the Mueller investigation and his continued attempts to discredit law enforcement - and the collusion are linked. The obstruction of the investigation is part of the collusion with President Trump trying to prevent the FBI from figuring out what happened in the 2016 election.
As Mr. Wittes stated flatly: The investigation into Trump is about Russia. Full stop. Uncharted and devastating terrain indeed.
Panel: Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal; Carol Lee, NBC; Al Cardenas, Republican Strategist; Cornell Belcher, Democratic Strategist
But this is where we are...
Donald Trump is taking this country into all kinds of unknown dangerous terrain on several different levels, the first of which to address is what is now the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, with federal workers now having missed their first paycheck. In listening to both Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Time Kaine (D-VA) during their respective interviews, both sides are blaming the other for rejecting bills that would have kept the government open. Even if there is ambiguity on which party is at fault, there is certainty that the Republicans in the Senate were prepared to vote on a Continuing Resolution that the president squashed by tweeting that he would reject such a bill. The biggest obstructing factor in this situation is the president, himself.
The wall or barrier is a vanity project of the president's that the majority of Americans do not support. Even many Trump supporters on the Texas border do not support it, but it was Mr. Trump's loudest promise on during the campaign so he's being egged on by xenophobic right-wing media while he has effectively stifled Republicans in congress afraid of their base that has been taken over by Mr. Trump. What was equally loud was Mr. Trump's promise was that Mexico was going to pay for the wall, which he is now walking back with a nuanced answer that through the new trade deal, they will, but the reality of that is the money won't go into the Treasury, instead to private corporations, and Americans will still float the bill. The wall should not be built on the backs of U.S. taxpayers. Hard stop.
In terms of declaring a national emergency, the president circumvent Congress and have the military, Army Corps of Engineers, built the wall. The president has said that "I may do it... I have the absolute right to do it... I'd rather not do it. Congress should easily do it." However, if it were really an emergency, wouldn't the president have made this declaration already? It's obviously not an emergency, or as Chuck Todd explained, the president is threatening a national emergency because of his political emergency.
On the heels of the New York Times story that the FBI opened up an unprecedented counterintelligence investigation into Mr. Trump and his relationship to Russia, we learn from the Washington Post that the president has gone to unusual lengths to keep the transcripts of his private meetings with Vladimir Putin secret from everyone in government including his senior staff in the White House. At this point, no one can say that the president has nothing to hide. He's hiding the transcripts! As NBC's Carol Lee explained, though it's not being said publicly, Republicans in Washington are concerned. And despite what defenses Senator Cruz offered today with regard to Mr. Trump's 'actions' of being tough on Russia. (As an aside: Mr. Cruz has no credibility when discussing a government shutdown, as the one he orchestrated in 2013 was purely political.) If the administration is being tough on Russia why did the Treasury Department seek to quietly lift sanctions on Russian Oligarch Oleg Deripaska in December? When Treasury Secretary was brought before Congress this week in a closed-door meeting and asked about it, he apparently didn't have a good answer.
As the New York Times Michael Schmidt explained, we now know that the FBI investigation, which the Mueller probe has now inherited, was two-pronged with the obstruction and collusion. The FBI was worried that the president may be an witting or unwitting asset of the Kremlin. Lawfare's Ben Wittes added that the FBI saw the investigations in a light that we should all should focus our attention, and that is that the obstruction - the firing of James Comey, the president's attempts to shutdown the Mueller investigation and his continued attempts to discredit law enforcement - and the collusion are linked. The obstruction of the investigation is part of the collusion with President Trump trying to prevent the FBI from figuring out what happened in the 2016 election.
As Mr. Wittes stated flatly: The investigation into Trump is about Russia. Full stop. Uncharted and devastating terrain indeed.
Panel: Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal; Carol Lee, NBC; Al Cardenas, Republican Strategist; Cornell Belcher, Democratic Strategist
Sunday, January 06, 2019
1.6.19: So Much for the Great Negotiator
We're in the 16th day of the latest government shutdown and a quick end doesn't look likely. Both sides are entrenched in their positions with new House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) saying that "a wall is an immorality," and the president threatening to enact emergency powers, diverting pentagon funds, to get it built.
If the president were to deploy the military to build a wall, wouldn't it be a needless misappropriation of funds and resources? Not to mention that the border is not a military emergency, despite what the president says. Also, Newly appointed Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney called the situation at our southern border a 'crisis.' It's not a crisis of people coming in, but what is really the crisis is the inhuman way the administration has been caging and housing new arrivals.
For a self-proclaimed 'great negotiator' President Trump has certainly backed himself into the proverbial corner. Mr. Mulvaney stated that the $2.5 billion dollar deal that the vice president had discussed with Senate Majority Mitch McConnell (R-TN) wasn't what the president wanted. This, in turn, lead to Mr. McConnell's bringing a vote to the floor of the senate that the president wouldn't sign, in essence embarrassing the Tennessee senator. Now, feeling that burn, Mr. McConnell will not bring any vote to the senate floor that the president won't sign. What this really says is that Mr. McConnell doesn't think that the president can be held to his word via his second in command Mike Pence.
As New York Times columnist David Brooks explained the obvious deal is border security money in exchange for a DACA deal (path to citizenship for the dreamers), which Senator Susan Collin (R-ME) also mentioned was voted on last March. However, because of the outcry from right-wing radio and television pundits, Mr. Trump backed away from such a deal and now insists on $5.6 billion for a wall or the government will not reopen.
[Aside: whether concrete or steel, it's still a wall.]
As House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) pointed out, the Democrats this week voted on a Republican to keep the government open, but again Senator McConnell will not take up the bill because the president won't sign it, which only serves to alienate senate Republicans further. And when Chuck Todd asked Mr. Mulvaney what concession the president was willing to give the Democrats to make a deal happen, he said that the president agreed to take a concrete structure off the table. Really? Who would even take that concession seriously? Mr. Mulvaney also said that the president is interested in something more comprehensive, but as Kasie Hunt outlined, a bigger fix is simply not in play in such a short time.
So far three Republican senators have come out publicly to urge the president to reopen government and then continue negotiating on border security - Cory Gardner (R-CO), Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Susan Collins, who said that shutting down the government as a means to a policy end is never a good idea. All three of these senators will face difficult reelection challenges in 2020. Also, keep in mind what for Congresswoman Donna Edwards said that 80 percent of the government workers affected by the shutdown are outside Washington DC, approximately 640,000 people who are most likely already going to miss one pay check. If the shutdown goes until the 25th of January, that will be two. In other words a month of working without getting paid, a situation that will quickly become untenable.
Washington Free Beacon's Matthew Continetti said that the president is fixated on his base, which will be soon impacted greatly by this shutdown. However, for someone so focused on 35 percent of the population (his base), he sure seems to NOT be doing them a solid. Even in rural America, a large part of the president's base, he's hurting them as the trade war with China continues to do damage to their bottom line and soybean crops sit in silos unsold - U.S. farmers losing billions of dollars. Mr. Trump hasn't made the best deal for them, that much is clear. Not to mention companies like Harley Davidson and Jack Daniel's being hurt by retaliatory tariffs in Europe.
These are real estate deals where it's two-sided and if you don't like the terms, you can walk away. When you walk away from deals as the President of the United States, hundreds of thousands of people get hurt, the people you took an oath to serve.
Panel: Kasie Hunt, NBC; fmr. Congresswoman Donna Edwards; David Brooks, the New York Times; Matthew Continetti, the Washington Free Beacon
One more thing...
For now, cooler heads in the Democratic party are prevailing on impeachment talk, as they should. Once the Mueller report comes out, then the pieces will all start falling into place so while Democrats are conducting rigid oversight of this administration (sorely needed), it's politically best to wait until then.
If the president were to deploy the military to build a wall, wouldn't it be a needless misappropriation of funds and resources? Not to mention that the border is not a military emergency, despite what the president says. Also, Newly appointed Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney called the situation at our southern border a 'crisis.' It's not a crisis of people coming in, but what is really the crisis is the inhuman way the administration has been caging and housing new arrivals.
For a self-proclaimed 'great negotiator' President Trump has certainly backed himself into the proverbial corner. Mr. Mulvaney stated that the $2.5 billion dollar deal that the vice president had discussed with Senate Majority Mitch McConnell (R-TN) wasn't what the president wanted. This, in turn, lead to Mr. McConnell's bringing a vote to the floor of the senate that the president wouldn't sign, in essence embarrassing the Tennessee senator. Now, feeling that burn, Mr. McConnell will not bring any vote to the senate floor that the president won't sign. What this really says is that Mr. McConnell doesn't think that the president can be held to his word via his second in command Mike Pence.
As New York Times columnist David Brooks explained the obvious deal is border security money in exchange for a DACA deal (path to citizenship for the dreamers), which Senator Susan Collin (R-ME) also mentioned was voted on last March. However, because of the outcry from right-wing radio and television pundits, Mr. Trump backed away from such a deal and now insists on $5.6 billion for a wall or the government will not reopen.
[Aside: whether concrete or steel, it's still a wall.]
As House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) pointed out, the Democrats this week voted on a Republican to keep the government open, but again Senator McConnell will not take up the bill because the president won't sign it, which only serves to alienate senate Republicans further. And when Chuck Todd asked Mr. Mulvaney what concession the president was willing to give the Democrats to make a deal happen, he said that the president agreed to take a concrete structure off the table. Really? Who would even take that concession seriously? Mr. Mulvaney also said that the president is interested in something more comprehensive, but as Kasie Hunt outlined, a bigger fix is simply not in play in such a short time.
So far three Republican senators have come out publicly to urge the president to reopen government and then continue negotiating on border security - Cory Gardner (R-CO), Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Susan Collins, who said that shutting down the government as a means to a policy end is never a good idea. All three of these senators will face difficult reelection challenges in 2020. Also, keep in mind what for Congresswoman Donna Edwards said that 80 percent of the government workers affected by the shutdown are outside Washington DC, approximately 640,000 people who are most likely already going to miss one pay check. If the shutdown goes until the 25th of January, that will be two. In other words a month of working without getting paid, a situation that will quickly become untenable.
Washington Free Beacon's Matthew Continetti said that the president is fixated on his base, which will be soon impacted greatly by this shutdown. However, for someone so focused on 35 percent of the population (his base), he sure seems to NOT be doing them a solid. Even in rural America, a large part of the president's base, he's hurting them as the trade war with China continues to do damage to their bottom line and soybean crops sit in silos unsold - U.S. farmers losing billions of dollars. Mr. Trump hasn't made the best deal for them, that much is clear. Not to mention companies like Harley Davidson and Jack Daniel's being hurt by retaliatory tariffs in Europe.
These are real estate deals where it's two-sided and if you don't like the terms, you can walk away. When you walk away from deals as the President of the United States, hundreds of thousands of people get hurt, the people you took an oath to serve.
Panel: Kasie Hunt, NBC; fmr. Congresswoman Donna Edwards; David Brooks, the New York Times; Matthew Continetti, the Washington Free Beacon
One more thing...
For now, cooler heads in the Democratic party are prevailing on impeachment talk, as they should. Once the Mueller report comes out, then the pieces will all start falling into place so while Democrats are conducting rigid oversight of this administration (sorely needed), it's politically best to wait until then.
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