Donald Trump ran, of course, on the basis of what an incredible business leader he is, his ability to make great deals — the greatest<\/i> deals — and his expertise in getting things done.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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:<\/p>\n
\nMeeting with \u201cChuck and Nancy\u201d 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\u2019t see a deal!<\/p>\n
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 28, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n