Pelosi, Schumer To Trump: "Let's Debate Border Funds in Private"

[GMDino]

brilliant Video on Mitch McConnell pic.twitter.com/U5CButOGku

— PoliticsVideoChannel (@politvidchannel) January 12, 2019

This so sad and awful.  The leaders of the GOP (and many of their elected officials) have completely capitulated to the POTUS to the point that they are afraid and will not do their jobs.

[Belsnickel]

(01-12-2019, 03:30 PM)GMDino Wrote:

brilliant Video on Mitch McConnell pic.twitter.com/U5CButOGku

— PoliticsVideoChannel (@politvidchannel) January 12, 2019

This so sad and awful.  The leaders of the GOP (and many of their elected officials) have completely capitulated to the POTUS to the point that they are afraid and will not do their jobs.

Yeah, Senator Graham has been like "whoa whoa whoa, we cannot vote against the will of the president!" Meanwhile, that has happened a ton in the past twenty years.

The issue right now is that Trump's popularity is high among Republican voters, which means that other Republicans in power fear going against him. However, this is all causing a decline in the number of people considering themselves Republicans as they are shifting towards calling themselves independents. So is Trump that popular and the party has gone that far, or are the numbers falsely inflated because of a smaller Republican base? Either way, Republicans in Congress have not been acting as a co-equal branch of government. They are ignoring their duties in favor of partisanship.

I am not joking or trying to be hyperbolic when I say that I view this as a threat to our Constitution. Our government is not functioning as it was designed to and it is because of hyper-partisanship.

[GMDino]

So I have to admit I did know this until today:

In Trump's budget for FY 2018...that he signed off on...his administration requested $1.6 Billion for the "wall".

Exactly what was in the bill he refused to sign because now he wants $5.7 billion.

https://www.thebalance.com/fy-2018-trump-federal-budget-request-4158794

Quote:The chart below breaks down discretionary spending. The first column shows Trump's budget request. The second column shows OMB's estimate of FY 2018 spending. The third column shows what Congress enacted on September 19, 2018. The fourth column details what the House and Senate appropriation committees allocated.


Those details are from the Omnibus Spending bill that President Trump signed on March 23, 2018.


It's clear from the chart that Congressional appropriations could push actual spending above OMB's estimate. It depends on how much Congress allocates for Emergency Funding. Most of that goes toward Overseas Contingency Operations, which pays for military operations. It also goes toward disaster relief. In 2017, Congress added $15 billion in emergency funds for Hurricane Harvey and $19.5 billion for Hurricane Irma.



In the Omnibus bill, it added $1 billion to address the opioid epidemic, for a total of $4 billion. Congress added $10.6  billion in infrastructure spending for a total of $21 billion. It also dedicates $1.6 trillion to build 90 miles of wall on the U.S. border with Mexico. Congress added $2.3 billion across departments to school safety issues.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/12/us/politics/trump-budget-request.html

Quote:More for Immigration Enforcement and a Border Wall

The Department of Homeland Security would receive $46 billion, a $3.4 billion increase over the enacted 2017 budget, all part of the administration’s efforts to crack down on illegal immigration and build a wall on the border with Mexico. The request calls for $18 billion for border security, including $1.6 billion to build about 65 miles of the wall in South Texas. The request also calls for the department to hire 2,000 new Immigration and Customs Enforcement and 750 Border Patrol agents.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/politics/trump-budget-2019/?utm_term=.46f9ed6e1dbd

Quote:Department of Homeland Security


The Trump administration's budget seeks additional funds to catch, detain and deport immigrants living in the country illegally. DHS would get $47.5 billion in discretionary funding, a 12 percent increase.



Key proposed changes



Sets aside $1.6 billion for construction of 65 miles of border wall in South Texas.


Adds $782 million to hire and support 2,750 additional law enforcement officers and agents at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
 
Adds $2.8 billion to increase immigration detention to 52,000 beds per day.


 Adds $71 million for new technology at Transportation Security Admin.


 Adds $2.2 billion for Secret Service to hire 450 special agents, officers and professional staff.

[jj22]

I think Trump supporters should sacrifice their paychecks and work for free for "The Wall" that he now claims he never said Mexico would pay for, and admits they won't even pay $.02. Not even $.02!

[GMDino]

McConnell has just again blocks the Senate from voting to end the shutdown and reopen the government https://t.co/eBIoiZ7dOz

— Raw Story (@RawStory) January 15, 2019

[Yojimbo]

Hahaha. Total incompetence in the Whitehouse. Failed to accurately predict the damage to the economy from the shutdown because they didn’t figure in the 4.1 million government contractors. Only the best people...

Their prediction was -0.1 percent for every two weeks to quarterly growth GDP growth. New estimate is -0.1 percent every week. So, they had to double their forecast.

https://www.npr.org/2019/01/16/685845545/shutdown-will-be-worse-for-economy-than-first-thought-white-house-says

[Belsnickel]

(01-16-2019, 05:33 PM)Yojimbo Wrote: Hahaha. Total incompetence in the Whitehouse. Failed to accurately predict the damage to the economy from the shutdown because they didn’t figure in the 4.1 million government contractors. Only the best people...

Their prediction was -0.1 percent for every two weeks to quarterly growth GDP growth. New estimate is -0.1 percent every week. So, they had to double their forecast.

https://www.npr.org/2019/01/16/685845545/shutdown-will-be-worse-for-economy-than-first-thought-white-house-says

What ticks me off is that this causes our state revenues to go down, because of the high number of federal employees and contractors living here, which means we don't meet our budget goals to give state employees a raise.

[GMDino]

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/425377-Trump-shares-article-blasting-federal-workers-calling-for-long-shutdown?__twitter_impression=true

[/url]

Quote:[url=https://thehill.com/people/donald-trump]President Trump on Monday shared an op-ed from a writer claiming to be an anonymous senior member of his administration who harshly criticizes federal workers as disloyal to the White House and worthy of losing their jobs.


The writer of the op-ed, published by conservative news site The Daily Caller, argues the partial government shutdown is an opportunity for Trump to greatly reduce the size of government.


“On an average day, roughly 15 percent of the employees around me are exceptional patriots serving their country. I wish I could give competitive salaries to them and no one else,” the op-ed reads. “But 80 percent feel no pressure to produce results. If they don’t feel like doing what they are told, they don’t.”


Later in the op-ed, the author states that the first goal of the shutdown should be to win better security particularly at the southern border. Uniformed border officials should be paid, but nonessential employees should be let go, the author writes.


"Furloughed employees should find other work, never return and not be paid," the op-ed states.
The second goal should be finding savings for taxpayers, according to the op-ed.


If the shutdown is just about "rhetorical bickering," it is a loss, the author states. "But if it proves that government is better when smaller, focusing only on essential functions that serve Americans, then President Trump will achieve something great that Reagan was only bold enough to dream."


Trump shared the op-ed on Tuesday, a day after it was published by The Daily Caller, by retweeting a tweet by his son, Donald Trump, Jr.


The writer of the op-ed, headlined "I'm a Senior Trump Official and I Hope a Long Shutdown Smokes out the Resistance," is described by website as a senior official in the Trump administration “whose identity is known to us and whose career would be jeopardized by its disclosure.” 


The story does not indicate whether the writer is a political appointee of Trump or a civil servant. 


The government has been shut down for 25 days over Trump's demand for funding for a southern border wall. Roughly 800,000 federal workers are furloughed or working without pay.


The op-ed's argument that most federal workers should lose their jobs and that the shutdown should be a way to drive them out is at odds with the public comments of Republican lawmakers and even Trump, who have cast federal workers furloughed or working without pay as a result of the shutdown as victims. 


The writer claims that a majority of federal workers “do nothing that warrants punishment and nothing of external value.”


“That is their workday: errands for the sake of errands — administering, refining, following and collaborating on process,” the op-ed reads.


A long shutdown can eliminate the sabotage and waste in the government so workers can focus on the president’s agenda, the author of the story wrote.



“Most of my career colleagues actively work against the president’s agenda. This means I typically spend about 15 percent of my time on the president’s agenda and 85 percent of my time trying to stop sabotage, and we have no power to get rid of them,” the op-ed states. “Until the shutdown.”


“Federal employees are starting to feel the strain of the shutdown. I am one of them. But for the sake of our nation, I hope it lasts a very long time, till the government is changed and can never return to its previous form,” the op-ed states.


The Daily Caller, which was founded by Tucker Carlson and Neil Patel, in its note on the op-ed said it was publishing the story by an anonymous author because "we believe publishing this essay anonymously is the only way to deliver an important perspective to our readers.”


This isn't the first time a publication has published a story from an anonymous author claiming to be working within the administration.


The Daily Caller op-ed appears to be a response to a blistering op-ed titled  “I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration,” which ran in The New York Times in September.


The writer of the Times op-ed also claimed to be a member of the Trump administration and tore into Trump's "amorality," describing a group of White House staffers working against Trump’s “misguided impulses.”


The president tore into the author of that anonymous piece, calling them “an anonymous, gutless coward.”


“You look at this horrible thing that took place, is it subversion, is it treason?" Trump asked during a campaign-style rally in Montana. 


The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment on the latest op-ed.


UPDATED at 11:27 a.m.: This story was updated to reflect that Trump shared the story by retweeting a tweet by Donald Trump Jr.


CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misstated the founder of The Daily Caller.

So a "senior Trump official", who agrees with Trump's shutdown and spends most of their time fighting the internal resistance didn't want their name known?

Were they just afraid to attribute it to John Miller? 

[Dill]

(01-16-2019, 06:12 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: What ticks me off is that this causes our state revenues to go down, because of the high number of federal employees and contractors living here, which means we don't meet our budget goals to give state employees a raise.

Wages will rise once the wall is built and illegals are not taking state employees jobs.

[Belsnickel]

This morning's The Daily was an excellent listen. I would recommend it to everyone when thinking about the border issues. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/17/podcasts/the-daily/will-hurd-border-wall-trump.html

[GMDino]

Earlier today I joined my freshmen colleagues in looking for @senatemajldr. Just want to give him our letter asking him to #EndTheShutdown. Couldn’t find him, but we’re still trying. #WheresMitch pic.twitter.com/kXpj3gLata

— Rep. Mike Levin (@RepMikeLevin) January 16, 2019

[*Nately120*]

(01-16-2019, 11:23 PM)Dill Wrote: Wages will rise once the wall is built and illegals are not taking state employees jobs.

Hard to imagine the narrative during the W Bush administration was that illegals were just doing jobs union democrats were too lazy and entitled to do.

[GMDino]

(01-17-2019, 09:20 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: This morning's The Daily was an excellent listen. I would recommend it to everyone when thinking about the border issues. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/17/podcasts/the-daily/will-hurd-border-wall-trump.html

Now that is THREE podcasts you have me listening too!

On top of the dozen I have already!

[Belsnickel]

(01-17-2019, 12:26 PM)GMDino Wrote: Now that is THREE podcasts you have me listening too!

On top of the dozen I have already!

If you weren't already subscribed to The Daily, then you were doing it wrong. It's what I listen to first thing after I get out of the car and head to my office.

[GMDino]

(01-17-2019, 12:46 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: If you weren't already subscribed to The Daily, then you were doing it wrong. It's what I listen to first thing after I get out of the car and head to my office.

I literally have a five minute commute (if I hit the lights) so I just turn on the local radio and try to catch the sports update.

But I had avoided all the political podcasts for a long time.  These are just the right length for me though when I'm working around the house and such.

[Belsnickel]

(01-17-2019, 12:59 PM)GMDino Wrote: I literally have a five minute commute (if I hit the lights) so I just turn on the local radio and try to catch the sports update.

But I had avoided all the political podcasts for a long time.  These are just the right length for me though when I'm working around the house and such.

I have about the same length of a commute, but walking from the car to the office and then doing my morning routine, I will listen to this. What's nice is that this isn't just a political podcast. It has a lot of politics to it, because it is a news podcast, but it will have other things as well.

[BmorePat87]

The House passed a stopgate funding bill by voice vote today. Afterwards, Republicans whined that they wanted a roll call vote. They're trying to accuse Democrats of pushing this through and not giving them a chance to oppose the bill by a roll call vote.

Problem is video of the session shows that Democrats gave Republicans a chance to oppose/request the roll call and none responded. Serious leadership issues if they are making these kinds of procedural blunders.

[Belsnickel]

(01-17-2019, 04:53 PM)BmorePat87 Wrote: The House passed a stopgate funding bill by voice vote today. Afterwards, Republicans whined that they wanted a roll call vote. They're trying to accuse Democrats of pushing this through and not giving them a chance to oppose the bill by a roll call vote.

Problem is video of the session shows that Democrats gave Republicans a chance to oppose/request the roll call and none responded. Serious leadership issues if they are making these kinds of procedural blunders.

McCarthy is showing himself to be quite the ineffective minority leader.

[BmorePat87]

(01-17-2019, 05:27 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: McCarthy is showing himself to be quite the ineffective minority leader.

I was following this on twitter and reporters were surprised that they didn't even assign a floor watchdog for situations like this.

[GMDino]

Someone on Facebook shared this today.  It is a poll taken during the campaign in 2016.

https://www.businessinsider.com/poll-trump-supporters-atlantic-ocean-wall-2016-8?r=US&IR=T&fbclid=IwAR1-itdgpLEjzor5li7H-Qxn_1Xau-yNosF43aNsiIqtRhljhJF_rZemqCk

Quote:Donald Trump's supporters really like walls.


A new Public Policy Polling survey found that 31% of the Republican nominee's supporters would be in favor of building a wall on the Atlantic Ocean to prevent Muslims from entering the US.



17% of Trump supporters were unsure about such a proposal, and 52% opposed it.


Among Hillary Clinton voters, support for an Atlantic Ocean wall was only 8%.

The construction of a US-Mexico border wall has been a core tenet of the Trump campaign since its inception last summer.



The New York businessman reiterated early Tuesday morning that he would "build a great wall," as speculation swirls about whether he may abandon his hardline immigration proposals.

That amused me.