What Will Eddie Munster Do?
And this is how political momentum and excitement die within a party- when you come to realize those you would elevate are unworthy of your energy.
Looks like the Pelosi/Schumer Party Platform this year will be once again- âWell, at least weâre not those guys.â
But when pressed by reporters on whether she will whip her Democratic caucus to vote against the bill, which would imperil its passage, she demurred, saying only that she has told them she personally will vote no even though she views it as âa good bill.â
She wants to have it both ways, and I cannot say I donât sympathize:
âI fought very hard for many of the things in there,â she said.
As for this:
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), in order to end the government shutdown a few weeks ago, promised Senate Democrats an immigration debate with an open amendment process. Pelosi said she will vote against the bill unless Speaker Ryan makes the same pledge.
Why not at least ask the caucus to do the same?
A fairly popular slogan, as I understand it.
Democrats have a tell. They are going to give in when they put on a political show like a filibuster . They used Bernie to do it in 2010 right before Obama caved on Bushâs tax cuts being made permanent. I knew when the media made a deal out of Pelosi doing the filibuster speech that it was all over.
Iâm not saying going along with the budget deal is a bad thing, I wish they could just do it without the theater. Then again, there are always those who will go gaga over the meaningless gesture. As long as many keep wetting themselves over useless theater, it will continue.
I genuinely believe once the Democratic Party starts to actually support and fight for the populist cause, we will win again.
But right now the fact that our momentum is built firmly upon their overreach rather than our good works is truly disappointing.
But. now DACA is being treated as a separate issue then the spending bill, which it should be. trump repealed DACA in order to hold it hostage for wall money in exchange for keeping the govt open. Ryan went along and now their both losingâŚ
I know what you mean, but the term âpopulistâ is inherently ambiguous and there are many who treat it as a pejorative, because (I hope) they havenât actually taken the time to think about what it means. If equated to demagoguery, then obviously âpopulismâ is a bad thing â and what else would reactionaries want us to think about it?
Minority âLeaderâ Pelosi used the Dreamers as props the same way Donald Trump used coal miners as props. This is why so many potential Democratic voters are under the impression that there is no difference between the Parties. Spending eight hours on the floor of the House and then not backing it up with real consequences wonât do shit for dreamers, but it will do wonders for her fundraisingâŚ
And really effective too. For RepublicanâtsâŚ
Iâm giving Rep Pekosi the benefit of the doubt here. Sheâs an intelligent woman that makes good decisions and I believe she knows what sheâs doing.
Government shutdowns are not popular. Itâs a noble but losing battle, especially when you consider a good number of people are averse to it if itâs seen as âprotecting those illegalsâ (not saying DACA receipients are illegal, but people perceive them as such)
Democrats donât have the numbers to change the legislation. Yes, talking is good game but in the end the GOP has the House, Senate and presidency. The only real way to change it is to get out and vote.
There are polls on the subject. I discussed one of them earlier today:
My populism is in the form of dinner table issues; bread and butter items for the working American.
Guess you didnât notice Dems are in the minority. Nothing of worth can be done until we (are you a Dem, btw?) take the house. If each member must make a local calculus for that to happen, go for it. Donât start a fight that you cannot win.
Most educated people with intelligence know that the Democrats are a better choice. H.H.Humphrey pointed out the problem as it was way back in the twenties right before the crash of 1929. He is speaking of the South Dakota town of Doland here:
Out of 660 people in Doland, only a dozen or so were Democrats. The equation was simple:Republicanism was synonymous with respectability and Protestantism. As a boy, I felt that to a Democrat was to be, if not pagan, at least less than holy.
Most of America is religious to a degree. Republicans have once again painted themselves as the only moral choice. Until Democrats figure out how to counter this false perception, they will be going uphill.
I just think itâs Paul Ryanâs fault, and thatâs what we need to say. Repeatedly.
Never mind the blame this or that Democrat, just drop it. As far as Iâm concerned, this is entirely the fault of Republicans, each and every one of them, and the only fault to the Democrats is in trying to find a way to get the things we need done without having any real power to do so.
Sometimes their tactics or strategies donât work, or maybe they donât work fast enough, sometimes they seem wrong, but really, without power or a reliable or non subservient media the certainty to shutdown or not shutdown, work together or not work together, are choices without clear cut answers, polls of opinions notwithstanding.
Republicans are truly the enemy, not Democrats, good bad or indifferent decision making strategies. There may be good Republicans, but until they step up and take ACTION, unlike Flake, theyâre just essentially good Germans.
This is a very smart strategy by both Schumer and Pelosi. There isnât support in the public or the Dem caucus for a shutdown over DACA, but there isnât enough GOP only support for the compromise budget bill. The reality of the DACA issue is that there is no DACA constituency in the middle or red parts of the country to make a shutdown a defensible vote for red state Dems. In the Senate, it looks like McConnell will honor the deal and I think a Durbin-Graham bill will pass the Senate.
So, Dems have set this up to where they are playing with house money. If Ryan canât get the votes from his caucus, heâll need Nancyâs commitment to deliver votes. She is not making any such commitment without a DACA bill either attached to the House version of the budget or as a standalone vote. If Ryan either calls the Demsâ bluff and/or the FC bluff and sends the bill to the floor on the assumption that a majority will vote for it or makes/reneges on a promise to hold a DACA/Dreamer bill vote, the Dems will have an election issue. People on the far left and some activists may complain, but I think most voters will get the simple matter of congressional math and will know where Nancy and the Dems stand on DACA after her 8 hour marathon. DACA as an issue will flip several seats in the SW, TX, FL and other metro areas. This would also extend to state houses and governorâs races as well. As I scan congressional districts around the country, nearly every Dem running mentions DACA. Itâs a big deal.
For Ryan, there is the added pressure of a market downturn (currently happening). His tax cut has introduced the possibility of a slowdown in the economy in 2018 itself because of the high borrowing request from the Treasury and the expectation that Q1 and Q2 revenues will be lower because of lower withholdings/estimated tax payments based on the lower 2018 tax rates. The growth promised by these tax cuts wonât materialize in Year 1 (if at all).
With Kelly getting beaten up right now over his mishandling of the spousal abuse issue, the WH might be completely ignored in this debate, leaving Durbin to shape things. This is a good spot for Dems to be in and presents the best opportunity for a Dreamer bill to be passed.
I wish media would start covering important things, and stop reporting tabloid worthy crap. It really diminishes their worth, and professionalism. Looking/listening to any European news agency is so eye opening even with news about US.
I still believe that George Lakeoff has unlocked this problem on perception- if only we would commit to his form of message discipline.