WASHINGTON (AP) — Threatening to tank Congress’ massive COVID relief and government funding package, President Donald Trump’s demand for bigger aid checks for Americans is forcing Republicans traditionally wary of such spending into an uncomfortable test of allegiance.
Two things happen. Either Trump folds and signs, or Congress devises some acceptable sop to him (though far short of his $2000 demand and insistence on chopping other expenditures) so he can save face, and he then signs.
The Donald may well pull off the impossible – giving the Democrats two Senators from Georgia and making Mitch the minority leader.
This only makes sense if he is seeking to ruin the country and the GOP, sort of an Operation Nero as another meglomaniac tried in 1945 (but was thwarted by his military).
Trump is a master negotiator, and the deep state will never stop him from succeeding.
He’s proven his unbelievable negotiating skills from Casinos to the White House with remarkable success!!!
…House Republican lawmakers complained that Trump threw them under the bus…
Anyone who is surprised by this is a dolt. You hitched your wagon to a turd, and now you’re surprised that you’re not zooming past the Andromeda galaxy?
A mercurial Trump is the worst-case scenario for just about everyone. Two Republican candidates for the Senate have been caught flat-footed. McConnell could lose his majority. Democratic members of the House and Senate know what needs to be done – but unanimous consent could thwart fulfilling those needs. At the end, Trump could change his mind again because he’s nuts.
The better-case scenarios: By some odd circumstances, we may see a bigger stipend passed as an amendment. The Democratic caucus now has a better chance of expanding by two in January.
The Donald may well pull off the impossible – giving the Democrats two Senators from Georgia and making Mitch the minority leader.
^^ This is what I want for Christmas.
Third possibility: Congress grows a pair, and both houses vote to override the veto.
Negotiating with someone who is as obviously mentally ill as Trump, is a losing proposition. As my grandmother said, “Never argue with a crazy person.”
The president’s push to increase direct payments for most Americans from $600 to $2,000 for individuals and $4,000 for couples splits the party with a politically painful loyalty test, including for GOP senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, fighting to retain their seats in the Jan. 5 special election in Georgia.
The problem with Democratic candidates Warnock and Ossoff is that despite being attacked by the Republican incumbents with the most hysterical falsehoods, they have chosen to take the high roads instead of rubbing their faces in Trump’s shitty ass.
Happened at least once years ago with a bill for new sanctions on Russia. Not a veto override but passed 98-2 in the Senate and sent on up. Trump hemmed and hawed and complained and said he built a great business and could make better deals but finally implemented it weeks later. If I remember three years ago maybe some of them do too.
Nice Christmas Eve gift the Republicans are giving everyone.
Trump’s goal (in my opinion), is either to say “I alone gave you this money, don’t let Biden steal the Presidency from me!”
This is insanity, I know, but I fully believe he is insane at this point, and considering who he is talking to, I don’t put anything past him.
The other possible goal is to shut down the government and cause as much chaos as possible.
He lost. He can’t deal with it, so the narcissist reaction is to hurt everyone who is to blame. He is doing that with the military, the Republican Party, the Biden Administration and the American people.
Oh yeah, he seems to be setting us up for war with Iran.
I’m not going to sleep well until January 20.
Difference is that now, Trump is a lameduck looking at indictment in January. He appears fully willing and sufficiently unhinged to try to burn it all down around him, including the GOP, who he is most able to hurt.
That to me suggests they’d be more likely to override a veto. My impression is it’s kind of a tradition in that town to help you understand the situation when your status changes.
I realize that people are hurting now, and Trump is playing games or taking a spanner to the works is his go to move, but what I worry about is that into the new year with vaccine shots advancing coverage, there will still be hurt. That hurt will come from lay off of city and state employees, hurt will come for the economy and not Wall St recovering slowly, and I know Joe said he’d ask Congress for more money. So how will Republicans proceed then? Will they point to the $3200 people got in 2020, or will they actually listen to people and not the Lou Dobbs, Navarros, and the like?
Aha he’s got as many brain cells for negotiation as an actual euglena
Never look past the end of your nose when understanding donald.
The $2000 would go to plenty of MAGAts who are not in financial distress and who, collectively, have already given a couple hundred mil to donald’s “election defense fund” AKA donald’s debts and donald’s pockets.