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Thursday, September 7, 2017

The Art Of The Deal



This morning, various talking heads, including some politicians, are whining because President Trump cut a deal with the Democrats.

From GOP livid after Trump cuts deal with Democrats, at Politico (dated September 6, 2017):
President Donald Trump's and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's tête-à-tête on Tuesday — after a summer of sniping between the two — lifted Republican hopes that the GOP was finally back in sync ahead of a brutal fall of fiscal deadlines.

Not 24 hours later, the president cut a deal with Democrats on a short-term debt ceiling increase opposed by McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan. Just Wednesday morning, in fact, Ryan had scoffed at the Democratic offer that Trump accepted minutes later....
Read the rest HERE.

Well, GOPe, in your hurry to go on yet another of your recesses, you didn't fulfill your promise to repeal ObamaCare. And you are dragging their feet on tax reform and, of course, the Wall. Did you really expect President Trump to wring his hands and do nothing?

President Trump calls out the GOPe.

Related? McCain Throws Support Behind Graham-Cassidy Obamacare Repeal Effort.

120 comments:

  1. President Trump is out of his league. Capitol Hill houses the greatest collection of liars, thieves and psychopathic criminals in the nation.

    Schumer's an oily shyster with a crocodile smile who will rip the legs out from under President Trump when the time comes.

    Having said that, it doesn't matter, because the GOOP has no political philosophy, no legislative strategy, and no idea what it stands for other than reelection.

    Even with the majority, the GOOP is outgunned, outmaneuvered and out-strategized by the Democrats at every turn.

    If the Democrats regain control of the House--which is a real possibility--the Democrat (and some Republican) knives come out and things get really ugly.

    I passed the point of caring years ago. It just doesn't matter; DC has a dynamic of its own and none of us can change it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SF,
      President Trump is out of his league.

      Oh, I dunno. Business circles have plenty of crocodile smiles and knives. I've not learned that fact from personal experience, but Mr. AOW and I do have one good friend of Trump's generation, and this friend is fairly close to being in the same league in the business world. And he's a realist!

      We shall see what we shall see. The 2018 mid-terms will tell the tale.

      You are absolutely correct with this:

      DC has a dynamic of its own and none of us can change it.

      Somebody else has to wage the war, and I can't think of a single politician who would even try to do so.

      DJT is not a politician -- never mind that he's been elected to political office.

      Delete
    2. Silver, in my (admittedy limited) experience, I have seen the SAME deplorable dynamic come into play with virtually EVER type of organization at EVERY conceivable level.

      It is probably safe to say, "Where two or three are gathered together in the name of ANYTHING in PARTICULAR factions will develop, manipulative games of one upsmanship will be played, unpleasant attempts to gain power will occur, resentments will flare up, feelings will be hurt, and bitter enmities will develop.

      As caroonist Walt Kelly's immortal character POGO said so many years ago when i was only fourteen, "We have net the Enemy, and he is US!"

      Delete
    3. "...Schumer's an oily shyster.." Just can't help yourself, can you?

      Delete
    4. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      Delete
  2. Amphibious politicians love the swamp

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good for Trump! He's a qintessential pragmatist.

    I admire Pragmatists; they GET THINGS DONE

    Idealists either get left by the wayside, or nailed to a cross –– and they DON'T resurrect..

    The Republicans are far far WORSE than the Marxicrats.

    I hope they all get TROUNCED n the new election.

    If only IRMA would giv e DC a DIRECT HIT while both houses are in session!

    But nothing short of an H-Bomb will ever move THAT rotten crowd.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If DC, NY and LA were wiped out in a natural disaster or enemy attack, the nation would be much improved.

      Delete
    2. Then you must have admired WJC's pragmatism eh FreeThinke?

      Delete
    3. NO! I only admire pragmatists when they DO things I BELIEVE OUGHT TO GET DONE.

      Delete
  4. Trump just put Senators:

    Jeff Flake, AZ
    Bob Corker, TE
    Orrin Hatch, UT

    ...on notice. Primary challengers, an unpopular vote, and a stirred up base just in time for the 2018 election cycle.

    The Establishment Republicans (McConnell/Ryan) wanted to push the budget issue PAST the 2018 election. Sorry Charlie.

    Trumps "All in" for 2018.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Senate’s most senior Republican — Utah's Orrin Hatch — is seriously considering a run for an eighth term, a move that would reverse his 2012 declaration that he would retire at the end of his current term.

      Hatch is mulling a run for an eighth term in the 2018 midterms, according to Republicans in Washington and Utah, though he has made no final decision and will likely wait until the current election is over to do so. And if he were to run again, he could draw a primary challenge from Republicans that have been itching to run for a statewide seat since Hatch first announced his retirement plans.


      Trump to Orrin. Don't bother. It'll be a hornet's nest.

      Delete
    2. Hatch was born in 1934. That makes him 83. McPain was 80 this year, and has cancer of the brain. Bladdermouth McConell is 75, and has been showing telltale signs of incipient rigor mortis for years.

      Ryan is damnably young, strong and healthy, but somehow we've GOT to get rid of him. I don't think he's a fool, but he's TREACHEROUS.

      Treachery is worse than stupidity –– or is it? ;-)

      Delete
    3. btw - Senate Republican leadership is set for a major shake-up after the next election.

      Though Mitch McConnell plans to stay put for years to come, his leadership team is about to undergo its biggest overhaul in years: All four other GOP leaders are term-limited in their current posts, including Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas, Conference Chairman John Thune of South Dakota, Policy Chairman John Barrasso of Wyoming and Conference Vice Chairman Roy Blunt of Missouri.

      Delete
    4. There is leadership in the GOP Senate? Who knew!

      Delete
    5. FT,
      Bladdermouth McConell is 75, and has been showing telltale signs of incipient rigor mortis for years.

      LOL! So true!

      Delete
    6. FJ,
      Trump just put Senators:

      Jeff Flake, AZ
      Bob Corker, TE
      Orrin Hatch, UT

      ...on notice.


      Sure 'nuff! I love it!

      Delete
  5. Trump might just be a victim of Realpolitik.

    He's smart enough to know he can't get away with the usual Republican shenanigans when there is going to be large expenditures for relief to Texas and Florida. Now McConnell just cares which way the wind is blowing so he went along.

    Now stop mourning over this foolish agenda:

    ACA repeal - if you had been able to compromise you might have succeeded.

    The Wall - Strictly Kabuki. "Mexico will pay for it" should have tipped you off.

    Tax cut - Very difficult without the ACA repeal (which was just as much a tax measure). The base still thinks they're going to benefit. Silly things.
    It's primarily a corporate measure and the suckers think it will create jobs.
    No,no,no. It's going to executive pay and stock buybacks which inflate the value of executive stock options.

    So be thankful for what you have:

    1. Rescinding a climate initiatives (Irma and Harvey thank you).

    2. An immigration policy which treats people who have been in the country for years and have been productive as if they are drug gang members.

    3. Restoration of the failed, expensive "war on drugs"

    4. Betsy DeVos rescinding protections agains student loan fraud.

    The list goes on but it's quite a record.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alfred McGuffin said

      You forget that Senor Pato enjoys Most-Favored-Nuisance status here. The boss loves him for some ungodly reason.

      Delete
    2. Alfred,
      Duck most certainly does not enjoy Most-Favored-Nuisance status here, nor does the the boss, that would be I, love him.

      What the boss notices, however, is that Duck minds his p's and q's here -- for the most part.

      Delete
    3. Speaking of Betsy De Vos:



      Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said Thursday that the Obama administration's guidance for how campuses address sexual assault "failed too many students" and announced that she intended to replace the department's current approach "with a workable, effective and fair system."

      DeVos said the system needed to do more — for survivors of sexual assault and to ensure fair due process for the accused.

      "Every survivor of sexual misconduct must be taken seriously. Every student accused of sexual misconduct must know that guilt is not predetermined," she said....

      Delete
    4. There's a simple answer to campus rape: When it is alleged, call the cops and let the justice system take care of it instead of ill-equipped star chambers packed with tribal advocates.

      Delete
    5. gotta admit, Most-Favored Nuisance Status is pretty funny...

      Delete
    6. @ Ducky: Rescinding a climate initiatives (Irma and Harvey thank you).

      Only a loony lefty would make that connection.

      Really? The impact of bailing out of a useless agreement before it even got started was that quick?

      Please explain.

      And the only thing that can explain it is that Gaia is really, really mad and punishing Texas and Florida for voting in President Trump

      #MAGA Moonbat Madness

      Delete
    7. Well. Silverfiddle, I didn't really think I could slip in a little editorializing without being called.
      None other than PBS had a guest on Newshour who allowed that it would take considerable study to determine if Harvey was attributable to warming. Meanwhile I'm surprised you, especially with Irma, that you consider climate initiatives, "worthless".
      Please not that withdrawing from the Paris accord is not President Happy Hands' only effort. There is also the effort to revive coal and the prioritizing of fossil fuel in general.

      But let's all deal with it eyes wide shut.

      Delete
    8. SF,
      gotta admit, Most-Favored Nuisance Status is pretty funny...

      Noted, and I agree.

      Delete
    9. Show me a chart correlating the money thrown down the UN Rathole with lower earth temperatures and we'll have a basis for discussion.

      Delete
    10. The UN is not the issue.
      We are behind the curve and could change that fact.

      India and China are cutting way back on coal fired plants even as the meme that it doesn't matter what we do since they are greater polluters so let's promote coal.
      Denmark expect to be nearly completely renewable in the near future.
      Some European car makers are phasing out gasoline engines in the very near future.

      Progress can be made without adversely affecting the economy.
      Trump is doing nothing but throwing a bone to the fat cat fossil fuel industry.

      Delete
    11. "Progress" is dummies in other nations quadrupling their light bills in a bow to green energy while we continue our lifestyle.

      Delete
    12. India and China are cutting way back on coal fired plants even as the meme that it doesn't matter what we do since they are greater polluters

      Who knew?

      Delete
    13. Following the trend of all developing countries.

      Who knew?

      Delete
    14. Where are all the cut-backs in the chart, ducky?

      Delete
    15. Notice that farmer's chart ends at 2010.
      Cheap trick.

      Delete
    16. Give it a read, Farmer

      "In September 2016, China's cancelled more than 103 under-construction and planned coal-fired power plants, a total of 120 gigawatt hours (GWh) of capacity."



      Delete
    17. Ducky: Pathetic effort. China canceled plans...

      Show us charts of output/year.

      Did you know the US met Kyoto goals even though we were not a signatory?

      Delete
    18. In that case, ducky, Congress has certainly cancelled MORE plans and cut MORE energy budgets.

      Delete
    19. Oh wait, ducky has a point. The Chinese are only planning to build 14x the USA peak coal capacity rather than 20x...

      Delete
    20. Alfred McGuffin said

      If from the evidence presented on this thread, anyone believes Senor Pato is minding his P's and Q's, he or she is operating on an entirely different set of standards from those with which I was gently and carefully raised.

      So be it!

      I rest my case, and will now withdraw gracefully from the field.

      Delete
    21. Alfred,
      My blog, my property, my rules.

      Take you insults and trolling elsewhere -- as you promised toward the end of your last comment.

      This is not your blog!

      Delete
    22. Alfred McGuffin: "I rest my case, and will now withdraw gracefully from the field."

      Too late for that, old chap.

      Delete
    23. Lets not forget in addition to coal, Trump will bring back Blockbuster Video jobs!

      Delete
    24. You mean that Trump AND the Democratic Congress will bring back Blockbuster Video jobs, don't you?

      Delete
    25. It's always the prog elitists who laugh at the plight of the working class.

      Delete
    26. Hardly Silverfiddle. But it plays well in the halls of elite billionaire conservatives.

      Delete
    27. RN: You may want to check where the Silicon Vally money and the Wall Street money went this last election (hint: It went to Democrats)

      My comment was in response to your leftwing sidekick up there laughing about Blockbuster jobs and manual labor.

      He's obviously a metrosexual elitist who thinks gas magically appears at the pumps and food just show up in grocery stores.

      I know enough about your hard-knocks background to know you understand this, so please note the context before standing up for idiotic comments.

      Delete
  6. At least it's not Hillary pushing the Democrat agenda.

    /sarcasm

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ...cuz we all know just how effective Mitch and Paul are at pushing the Republican one.

      *eyes roll*

      Delete
    2. FJ,
      Don't get me started on Paul and Mitch!

      Delete
    3. The fake conservative party gets another fake conservative President.

      It makes me feel all warm inside watching people get what they deserve.

      Delete
    4. SF,
      It looks to me as if Trump has gone to war with the GOPe. **smiling**

      And the GOPe can't say that I personally didn't warn them on October 12, 2015. One of my last acts before I got so sick that I didn't give a damn, and it put a great physical strain on myself. My conscience is clear.

      Delete
    5. Are you by any chance calling Donald J. Trump a "A Fake Conservtive," Silver?

      I beg to differ. Mr. Trump never for a moment PRETENDED to be a Conservative –– the way Bladdermouth McConnell, John McPain, Lindsey Grahame, Marco Rubio, Mitt Romney, the SEVERE Conservative, and so many others have done for years, and even decades.

      As I said above, Mr. Trumo is a PRAGMATIST. What I should have added was that he is a PRAGMATIST with generally WORTHY, eminently HUMANE objectives that HE honestly believes would best serve the interests of OUR nation as a WHOLE.

      I supported, and still support President Trump, because I'd prefer to have a genuine Pragmatist leading the band than a FAKE Conservative.

      With a FAKE Conservative at the helm, we might as well have elected Hillary Clitton who is a totally, unabashedly FAKE HUMAN BEING.

      If I have misunderstood you, Silver, please forgive my opacity.

      I'm only halfway through my second cup of coffee, and the whole world seems atremble with thoughr of Impending Doom from a dozen different directions at least.

      Delete
    6. FT,
      Mr. Trumo is a PRAGMATIST.

      And THAT is why he got elected. People are looking for solutions -- not fancy blather.

      Delete
    7. FT,
      HRC is a FAKE HUMAN BEING.

      Hahaha! She surely is!

      I note that many Democrats are fed up with her new book -- before it has even hit the stands.

      Delete
    8. FT, I agree with your comment, and yes, President Trump is a pragmatist, and that is what I like about him.

      But I am unhappy at his performance:

      President Trump's biggest mistake was fulminating and blustering against the DC swamp, threatening, flaming and lambasting the establishmentarians, and then rolling into town unprepared for the inevitable Armageddon his bombast naturally provoked.

      Delete
    9. SF,
      But don't overlook what Trump has achieved.

      One example of many:


      EPA Workforce Approaching Lowest Levels Since Reagan: Hundreds of employees take early retirement under Trump
      .

      I personally know one such retiree, and she told me that she made her decision on November 9, 2016.

      Now, I don't much like Trump's bluster and overall manner of speaking. But he has apparently scared off at least some swamp rats, albeit low-ranking ones for the most part.

      Delete
    10. If you're going to flame people like that, you better be ready to do battle. Trump shot off his mouth, rolled in unprepared, and now he's neck deep in the swamp and sinking.

      Despite my dismay with El Presidente--we all knew he was, as Churchill observed, a bull who carries around his own shop--Paul Ryan and the GOOP 'leadership' is the grand disappointment.

      Paul Ryan is the most over-hyped flop since New Coke. He's the Milli Vanilli of politics. He needs to go away.

      Delete
    11. point of order... Paul Ryan didn't just give the Democrats a debt ceiling increase in exchange for notadamnthing. What a deal!

      But, as the informed citizen knows, Trump didn't even write the Art of the Deal book.

      Delete
    12. When Ryan actually accomplishes something I'll acknowledge it.

      I do agree that President Trump's "Deal" with Pelosi Galore and Schmucky was indistinguishable from the many 'deals' Obama struck with our enemies.

      Delete
    13. I wonder how many Republicans will vote to impeach Trump when they get the chance.

      Delete
    14. Enough to oust him, my money sez.

      Delete
    15. Bonus if they do it before the mid-term elections.

      Delete
    16. I wonder how many Democrats will vote to impeach their new best friend in the White House?

      Delete
    17. If they try it, it won't happen until after the midterms, and only if Dems get the House majority.

      Schmucky and Pelosi Galore will lead the charge.

      Delete
    18. Alpha's are "fascists" in a post-modern world.

      Delete
    19. Somebody should send Red State some diaper rash cream. Maybe pajama boy and William Kristol can help him apply it.

      Had they and the GOP politicians abandoned their idiotic blathering and Milton Friedman parroting and actually put some conservatism into practice, Donald Trump wouldn't have gotten within ten miles of the Republican Party. He would have had to run as a Democrat.

      Delete
    20. Conservatism in practice? Megyn Kelly could get that left-wing pantywaist off a stage. You know why he pussied out on debating Ted Cruz one on one.

      The Clintons set their boy Trump up to fail with an impossible task... look worse than Hillary.

      Delete
    21. TC,
      I don't believe that the Clintons set their boy Trump up to fail with an impossible task... look worse than Hillary.

      I do recall how relieved the DNC, including HRS, was to see Trump running for POTUS. They never imagined that he could get elected. He got elected, in part because of the failure of the GOPe, which he opposed.

      Delete
    22. DJT has been saying basically the same things for at least 25 years. Until the failure of the GOPe and the failure of the DNC, he didn't stand a chance to get elected.

      Timing is everything in politics.

      Delete
    23. TC: You dodged the main point: Newt Gingrich forcing reforms on congress and Clinton was the last big conservative thing the GOP did.

      They are all talk, no action. The GOP has become indistinguishable from Democrats. Sure, good conservatives like Ted Cruz Mike Lee inhabit the party, but they are too few.

      The Democrats roll like a panzer korps toward their progressive goals. The GOP scatters like cats on fire.

      Feh on all of them. President Trump is their punishment, and I'm enjoying their whining wails.

      Delete
    24. But that enjoyment of the whining bottom lines at enjoying the Republican Party get rolled by.... progressive Democrats.

      Did I leave out the kazoos and champagne?

      Delete
    25. You shouldn't be surprised. We both agree Donald Trump is a New York Democrat. What did you expect?

      Too late now, and I have no patience for whiners like Red State, setting himself up to say "I told you so" is childish and boring.

      Face it, politics is a war of lies, pandering and flip-flops.

      Delete
    26. Well, I don't go for slinging insults at people who are generally on my side, but what do you call people who vote Republican because they believe all that GOP hogwash about free markets, balanced budgets and repealing Obamacare.

      The GOP is running a scam, and has been for decades.

      Delete
    27. SF,
      The GOP is running a scam, and has been for decades.

      I came to the realization a few years ago.

      For the record, I am not a registered Republican. I have always been registered as an Independent -- from the first day that I was eligible to vote.

      I voted Republican for several recent election cycles because the GOP candidate was the lesser of two evils.

      For a time, I voted for a different candidate, and I watched the Dem candidate win every time.

      Delete
    28. what do you call people who vote Republican because they believe all that GOP hogwash about free markets, balanced budgets and repealing Obamacare.

      Well sir, you call them #NeverTrumpers.

      Free markets? Trump is a protectionist drooler not much different in worldview than a WTO rioter in Seattle settimg a dumpster on fire and shoving it into a Starbucks.

      Balanced budgets? Who will bail out Trump when he can't build a profitable casino?

      Repeal Obamacare? Would be done already if Trump didn't insist on replacing it at all much less with something worse.

      Trump supporters aren't on my side on anything. Never were.

      Delete
    29. You're Trump-fixated, and I don't know who you are arguing against. I've made it very clear I view Trump as an incendiary grenade.

      Trump is a self-promoter and NY Democrat, so we could expect those actions from him.

      The GOOP on the other hand, has no excuse.

      You are projecting. President Trump is what happens when America has no conservative parties.

      Delete
    30. SF,
      President Trump is what happens when America has no conservative parties.

      I would add this: "and no electable conservative candidates."

      Delete
    31. Trump is what happens when Hillary Clinton is the worst thing some unimaginative people can imagine.

      Delete
    32. Finally, we arrive at a clearly-stated difference of opinion.

      You preferred Hillary, others preferred Trump. You lost.

      Delete
  7. FT + 1

    Yes,"HRC is a FAKE HUMAN BEING"- LOVE IT!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks. Hey! She's not even good enough to be a ROBOT. More like dress store dummy in a shop for fat girls with an electronically simulated loud brassy monotone voice.

      Delete
  8. Pat Buchanan provides the most incisive take on President Trump and Congress: Trump Dumps the Do-Nothing Congress

    Thanks in equal parts to Congress's own crouching cowardice and the imperial presidency of Barack Hussein Obama, our torpid congress has gotten into the habit of ceding their powers while lapsing into obnoxious but ineffectual pontificating.

    The progressive Infotainment Media Complex abets this dereliction with statements like "Trump Tosses Dreamers' fate Congress," and "Trump could kick Iran Deal to Congress," as if a president presenting an issue of great national import to our elected legislators is some kind of presidential abdication.

    The Checks have bounced and our nation is UnBalanced.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Word has it Trump and Schumer have another deal in the works: remove the debt ceiling altogether. Way to eliminate one of the GOP's crucial weapons for their tantrums. Great to see a Dems win among the GOP controlled House.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Replies
    1. Pssst, the Dems are working WITH Trump now. Who are they going to run against in 2018?

      Delete
    2. The Dems have embraced Hitler/Fascists/THE Devil Himself. I wonder how THAT plays with their Base?

      Delete
    3. I wouldn't make too much of Dems "working with" President Trump.

      More like jackals taking freebees from a damaged president. Schmucky and Pelosi Galore will stick the knife in deep when they get the chance.

      Delete
    4. When the carrots no longer dangled before them... but til then, enjoy the chase!

      Delete
    5. The buck stops where?

      Oh wait, it's not fair to measure Trump's alleged leadership skills. Let's give him a gold star for showing up.

      Delete
    6. Funny, until last week nobody in Congress was in the least bit interested in Immigration reform, whereas today...

      Delete
    7. That would be the leader that got your vote on the promise to end DACA and now wants Congress to preserve DACA?

      Update your scorecard accordingly.

      Delete
    8. DACA is ending, just like he promised. The wall is its price, just like he promised.

      Delete
    9. Thanks for the alternate universe dispatch. Now tell us how that big meanie McConnell is making Trump adhere to the Iran nuclear deal.

      Delete
    10. A two war military doesn't provoke a war of choice when it is elsewhere occupied. :)

      Delete
    11. "Are you sure it's not because Trump is all bark and no bite?"

      That makes him a perfect fit for the GOP!!!

      HA HA HA!

      Delete
    12. Trunp is doing exactly what the Clintons recruited him to do.

      Delete
    13. Somebody's been huffing the Alex Jones

      Delete
  11. Replies
    1. Addendum: The ObamaCare bill passed by the House was a disaster. Nothing for Ryan to brag about, IMO.

      Delete
    2. Isn't that the Obamacare repeal bill that Trump threatened to primaey against conservatives for making it fail?

      Delete
    3. TC,
      I dunno. It's hard to keep up with political news with these two hurricanes gobbling up all the attention.

      Delete
    4. There were no hurricanes in the news when the Great Dealmaker was threatening conservatives in Congress for not voting for that worse than Obamacare plan that he endorsed.

      Delete
  12. Gareth McDevitt said

    I hope everyone will join me in an earnest prayer of supplication for the slow, gruesome, agonizing death of This One and all the other vicious, intolerable bigots, perverts and mental defectives who pollute the blogosphere.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Dear Lord Jesus, help Mr. McDevitt with his above stated afflictions. Bring him around to realize love for his enemies as you have commanded, and turn him away from his lack of self-awareness. In your name, Amen.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I sleep extra comfy at night knowing ineffectual twits are wishing me death on the internet.

    ReplyDelete

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