Donald Trump ran, of course, on the basis of what an incredible business leader he is, his ability to make great deals — the greatest deals — and his expertise in getting things done.
So the federal government is running into one of its all-too-regular show-downs of shut-down chicken, because the budget process is broken and too many GOP congresscritters don’t think we should have a federal government in the first place, so every day those poor takers can’t suck the country dry with their “Medicare” and “Social Security” and “Veterans Benefits,” the better off we are.
Getting the Democratic leadership on-board for avoiding a shutdown is critical. In the House, those radical conservatives in the GOP would be perfectly happy to shut the government down (no skin off their noses). Paul Ryan needs Democratic votes. He needs the cooperation of Nancy Pelosi.
In the Senate, the specter of the filibuster means that Mitch McConnell needs Democratic votes as well, as his narrow 52-vote majority can’t even reliably get stuff passed, let alone the no-getting-around-it need for 60 votes this time out. Mitch McConnell needs the cooperation of Chuck Schumer.
This was never going to be easy, esp. after all the dodges taken by the GOP to avoid such cooperation. Now that there’s leverage, Pelosi and Schumer are expected to do some hard bargaining in order for a deal to be reached.
And presiding over it all is the “Art of the Deal” President, who kicked off the negotiations with this little turd on Twitter this morning:
Meeting with “Chuck and Nancy” today about keeping government open and working. Problem is they want illegal immigrants flooding into our Country unchecked, are weak on Crime and want to substantially RAISE Taxes. I don’t see a deal!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 28, 2017
Certainly a man who knows how to make a deal happen. I mean, I always start my negotiations by slandering and insulting the other side, just like it says in the classic How to Make Enemies and Torque Off People.
Of course, since it’s Donald Trump, we always have to ask …
… is this what he really thinks, or is he just tossing red meat to his base so that they don’t turn on him for negotiating with the Enemy?
… does he actually start negotiations by walking around the table and spitting in
the other side’s coffee?
… does he want a deal to fail (since he’s already threatened a shutdown a couple of times this year) because he figures he can then blame the Dems for the results, and breaking things is easier than actually leading people to success?
This last may be the actual deal here. Schumer and Pelosi have said they won’t go to the meeting with Trump today, but would rather negotiate directly with Ryan and McConnell. In response, the White House had a sad:
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders called it “disappointing” that Schumer and Pelosi are refusing to meet with Trump. The president’s invitation to Democrats “still stands and he encourages them to put aside their pettiness, stop the political grandstanding, show up and get to work. These issues are too important,” she said in a statement.
Which is almost as outrageous reality-challenged as the tweet from her boss.
Business as usual in the Northern Hemisphere, I see. In these islands we don't have such regular budgetary convulsions. However, a large number of our elected federal representatives are sitting in the Parliament illegally, so there's still entertainment.
I suspect he thinks he'll win the blame game if a shutdown happens. He may only be angling towards winning the blame game with his fans, which is an even worse prospect.
It probably won't be, but this could be a significant turning point in the Trump Administration.
In the past, Trump has followed a hard-line negotiating strategy on a number of fronts. We won't stay in the Paris climate accord until we get a better deal. We won't stay in the Trans Pacific Partnership until we get a better deal. We won't stay in NAFTA until we get a better deal. We won't extend U.S. government funding until we get a better deal. Oh, and we don't negotiate with groups, just with one party at a time. Let's talk about a bilateral trade deal with a single European nation. Let's invite the Democrats to a negotiating session, but exclude leaders from the Republican Party.
But what happens if Trump – and the U.S. – is sidelined?
What if the major powers want to talk about climate issues and convent a meeting of the G-19 – in other words, the G-20 minus the US?
And with the Trans Pacific Partnership, it's already happened. While Trump was in Vietnam, everyone but Trump got together to talk about the accord. (See link.)
And, while there are geographical hurdles, it's possible that there could be a trade agreement between Canada and Mexico that excludes the U.S.
Which brings us to this point, where Trump, rather than dividing his enemies (the Republican leadership and the Democratic leadership), may end up uniting them. If Ryan, Pelosi, McConnell, and Schumer can hammer out a deal, then defections from the Republican (or Democratic) ranks, or even the threat of a Presidential veto, won't matter. A unified Congress could govern without Trump.
And the resulting tweets would entertain the fan base.
http://money.cnn.com/2017/11/13/news/economy/tpp-11-without-us-what-next/index.html
Based on the tweet from 20 minutes ago, it was all a way to paint the Dems as tax and spend, anti military, anti American, etc, so the GOP SOP.
+Stan Pedzick
>>> After North Korea missile launch, it's more important than ever to fund our gov't & military! Dems shouldn't hold troop funding hostage for amnesty & illegal immigration. I ran on stopping illegal immigration and won big. They can't now threaten a shutdown to get their demands.
Yup, pretty much.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/935686205429157888
"won big". Well, I guess I shouldn't expect him to start telling the truth now.
The Demwits want this "tax bill" for their donor class all the same as the Reptiles. Incompetence reins on both sides. As for spitting in coffee? Of course all Trump does is try and throw people off balance upfront; anyone that hasn't noticed that childish tactic by now is just stupid. e.g. Chucky and Nancy. They should meet with the turd then immediately report on his bullshit and keep this front and center. But nope, it's all about sexual harassment! Who cares about Matt Lauer? I sure as shit don't. It's like I said.. they want this to pass because 1) they are both shills for Wall Street, and 2) they think they can use it to score political points.. Hoping the rest of us get fucked.