Cabinetmaking Season
It's cabinetmaking season in Washington again. President-Elect Donald Trump has made his selections, and they're all working their way through their confirmation hearings. The outcome, for virtually all of them, is not in doubt. Unless three Republican senators disapprove of a nominee to the point of voting against his or her confirmation, Trump will get the cabinet he desires. To the victor go the spoils, and all of that.
Trump's cabinet is a mixed bunch, to state it as politely as possible. Some have a wealth of government experience to draw upon, some (like Trump) have none. Some seem to be sober and reasonable people, and some seem to be nothing short of bomb-throwers intent on an ideological goal. But the most interesting thing about them so far is the degree which they disagree with Donald Trump on certain issues (unless they're just "saying anything to get confirmed" -- always a possibility). It's not exactly the classic "team of rivals," but rather a team which may just contradict the president on basic viewpoints about reality (such as whether climate change is a Chinese hoax, for instance).
How this is going to work out is anyone's guess, at this point. It may be easier to predict how the individual cabinet members will act than to predict how President Trump is going to act (or react) on any particular issue. As Joe Biden recently commented, we all have "no freakin' idea" of how Trump's going to set about the job of being president. It'll probably be shocking in many ways, but at this point it'd be hard to be surprised by anything Trump does. His personal style is so erratic that anything is possible, really.
The biggest question for the cabinet is going to be whether Trump takes a hands-on or a hands-off approach to all the executive departments. Will he be content to sit back and delegate just about everything to his departmental secretaries? Or will Trump be micromanaging their every effort? Again, nobody knows.
The biggest danger to the cabinet members is if Trump switches between the two managerial styles without any warning. How would you feel if you had spent months implementing some policy agenda item only to have the rug yanked out from beneath all your efforts by a lone early-morning tweet from Trump? If Trump tweeted: "We're not going to do that. Bad idea!" then all your hard work would be for naught. This is not all that far-fetched a thing to contemplate (knowing Trump), but how will his cabinet members react, if this happens?
The other danger for Trump cabinet members is more normal for any cabinet members. Reportedly, the first thing a new cabinet member is expected to do when taking office is to write out an undated letter of resignation and give it to the president. The president keeps all these on file, so that he can fire any of them at any time for any reason -- but without technically "firing" them. Whenever a cabinet member leaves, the announcement from the president always begins: "I have accepted a letter of resignation from Secretary X...." This might just play out differently with President Trump (who, after all, would probably enjoy beginning his statement with: "Today, I told Secretary Z : You're fired!"). But no matter how the process works, being a member of a presidential administration means, at times, voluntarily falling on your sword to politically protect the president. This is true for any administration, but Trump seems quicker than most to throw subordinates under the political bus, as it were. Any perceived failure of a Trump agenda item is never going to prompt President Trump to admit error, to put it another way. Instead, he'll shift the blame and clean house. It's about the most predictable thing about Trump's presidency, in fact -- it'll never be his fault, it'll always be because somebody didn't do the job of making his vision into shining reality.
Of course, this works both ways, although it's normally quite rare to see it actually happen. Cabinet secretaries can step down on their own (whether Trump wants them to or not, in other words), and there's a pretty high likelihood that Trump's cabinet won't survive his first year in office intact. There could be a clash in viewpoints that is impossible to gloss over publicly. So many of them have contradicted Trump in their hearings that one of the areas of disagreement could become too fundamental to ignore -- such as if Trump actually did order that torture be revived as U.S. policy. There could be a clash of personalities as well, which wouldn't be too surprising considering how thin-skinned Trump has always been. A cabinet member deciding he or she had had enough wouldn't be all that big a surprise.
The most likely scenario for a cabinet member suddenly resigning, though, is if Trump does undercut one of them in a major way (that early-morning tweet I previously mentioned). Months spent on implementing a policy wrecked by a before-breakfast tweet may result in a cabinet member resigning by the end of the day. Unless Donald Trump is forcibly separated from his access to Twitter, this seems entirely possible. This is why the chances are pretty high that Trump's first cabinet will lose at least one member during his first year in office.
Then there's a scenario which is downright worrisome to contemplate. Trump sees the world in a certain way. Sometimes, his worldview simply does not match up with reality. Take a look at his campaign statements on the unemployment rate, to cite a prominent example. On all sorts of subjects, Trump just flat-out disagrees with numbers he doesn't like, because they don't reflect his own view of the situation. But with Trump in charge of the executive branch, he'll be in charge of the departments which provide such data to the public. Normally, this wouldn't even be an issue. But with Trump, anything is possible. What happens when the unemployment rate goes up during Trump's presidency (again, this is but one example, substitute any economic indicator you like here)? Will Trump sit idly by while the economic figures get worse, or will he insist that these numbers are "rigged" and decide to meddle with them? After all, he'll control the number-crunching departments which put out official government data. If reality conflicts with the Trumpist view of the situation, will Trump tell the number-crunchers to make the numbers look better than they are? This is a real possibility, and a real danger. It's easy to see a department head (perhaps at a lower level than the cabinet) very publicly resigning in protest over such a conflict.
There's one final danger for the incoming cabinet, one that has roots in presidential history. Will Trump even pay much attention to his cabinet? Or will he, instead, rely more on a "kitchen cabinet" of family members and other trusted advisors who don't actually serve on the official cabinet?
The term was coined during Andrew Jackson's presidency (the "kitchen cabinet" was differentiated from the real cabinet, called the "parlor cabinet"). Jackson, like Trump, was the ultimate Washington outsider who rode a wave of seething populism into the White House. Once there, he relied on his adopted son Andrew Jackson Donelson and a group of men who had earned Jackson's trust -- including two newspaper editors (Amos Kendall and Frances Preston Blair, namesake owner of the "Blair House," directly across from the White House). Jackson fought bitter battles with his official cabinet, and at one point dismissed them all (because -- you just can't make this stuff up -- their wives were snubbing one particular cabinet wife, in what was known as the "Petticoat Affair"). He is the only American president to have fired his whole cabinet, in fact.
After Jackson, the kitchen cabinet term was used for other presidents, most notably in modern times for Ronald Reagan, who also had a group of close advisors he relied upon (sometimes to the exclusion of the actual cabinet).
Donald Trump, pretty obviously, is going to have his own kitchen cabinet that the Senate will have no say in confirming. Several members of his family will form the core of Trump's kitchen cabinet, along with anyone else he decides is worth listening to. How much of a clash this sets up with the real cabinet remains to be seen. Trump famously makes up his mind depending on the last person he talked to, so if the real cabinet is undercut on a regular basis by the kitchen cabinet, it could prove to be incredibly frustrating for Trump's actual cabinet members. This is another dynamic that will bear watching, for sure.
Since Trump is so unpredictable, it's impossible to say how his cabinet will function. Until we see him actually govern, nobody has any idea how he'll interact with his cabinet, or how effective they'll be (either on their own initiative or under Trump's close supervision). Will Donald Trump's cabinet work well with the new president? Or will it be a dysfunctional mess? Will he wage public battles with them over Twitter, or will he just leave them alone to do their jobs? Will Trump trash one of his own cabinet members in public, if they have a personality conflict? Will one (or more) of them decide their job is impossible, and walk out unexpectedly? Or will Trump call a hasty news conference to announce "You're fired"? Will members of his own family have veto power over cabinet-level decisions, or will they remain behind the scenes as merely personal advisors? In this season of cabinetmaking, it's easier to articulate the open questions than it is to predict any possible outcomes. But then that was probably a given, for a Donald Trump cabinet.
[Pedantic Program Note: Some publications insist on capitalizing "Cabinet" as part of their style guidelines. I have chosen not to, in the same way I don't capitalize "president" unless followed by a name ("Today, President Obama said that as president, he had..."). I realize that styles differ, so I just wanted to publicly state my own style choice in this regard.]
-- Chris Weigant
Cross-posted at The Huffington Post
Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant
Anybody who believe Price's blind trust just stumbled on to an investment in a medical stock just before Price voted on a bill that popped its share price needs to win some award for gullibility.
Perhaps we need a new award: "The Udumb".
Tom Price wins the "Udumb" for thinking we believe his blind trust blindly lucked into a short term gain in a stock he had material control over the share price of.
Everywhere else this would be investigated by the SEC as insider trading, but, another "Udumb" award goes to congress who exempted themselves from insider trading laws.
Trump's management style is very free flowing, and it seems chains of command are simply ignored. His quote to the Tech execs who he invited to meet with him late last year is one insight into his management structure:
"We’re going to be there for you, and you’ll call my people, you’ll call me. It doesn’t make any difference. We have no formal chain of command around here."
Woo-hoo.
My guess is that Trump will take all the credit when something goes right and trash the most visible person when something goes wrong.
If I were the Democratic leadership I'd pick on the cabinet member who does anything unpopular and use the following tactic:
1. Refer to the unpopular decision as a "Trump administration disaster"
2. Single out the cabinet member personally, rather than Trump
3. Repeat and point to polls that show the unpopularity of the decision and tie it to Trump's personal unpopularity
This will allow Trump to pretend to himself that people aren't blaming him, but his cabinet appointee, and that the popularity numbers are that person's fault.
As soon as Trump fires that person, move onto another cabinet target.
The Democrats should avoid blaming "Republicans" or Ryan or McConnell - they aren't going anywhere anyway, and people think Trump = Republican anyway.
Pretty quickly nobody will want to be in Trump's cabinet. The confusion should eliminate any action and frankly, four years of the Republicans doing nothing suits me.
Possible targets and issues for the "Empty the Cabinet" campaign:
1. Price - healthcare disaster after Obamacare is repealed and the drug and insurance companies won't let their politicians allow Trumpcare to be pass
2. Sessions - marijuana
3. Tillerson - Russia turns out to not be our new best friend after all
Neil [2]: You may be onto something, Neil. Everyone around Trump seems to be acting as though he's the actual McGuffin in this little heist story, perhaps we should too.
I'll tell you who doesn't believe all the horsecrap about 'the republican wave' and 'the Democrats are toast' - anyone who will have to stand for re-election two or four years from now.
Democrats have to treat Trump as a moth should probably treat a light bulb. Stay away - publicly, rhetorically, philosophically, and financially. Concentrate on issues, where left of center thinking is popular with the electorate.
That includes engaging Cabinet members and congressmen rather than engaging Trump himself. Trump is like one of those alien entities in SciFi that gains strength when attacked; that sort requires the deployment of passive, rather than direct, resistance.
A joke I made up today: The Trump folks are so desperate for celebrities for the inauguration that they asked Sarah Palin if she can do a Tina Fey imitation.
Balthasar [5]
Good one ... or Alec Baldwin to take the oath ...
It's cabinetmaking season in Washington again. President-Elect Donald Trump has made his selections, and they're all working their way through their confirmation hearings. The outcome, for virtually all of them, is not in doubt. Unless three Republican senators disapprove of a nominee to the point of voting against his or her confirmation, Trump will get the cabinet he desires. To the victor go the spoils, and all of that.
Yup...
His personal style is so erratic that anything is possible, really.
And yet, his success is undeniable...
So, give me erratic any day of the week and twice on Sunday... :D
Or will Trump be micromanaging their every effort?
Based on Trump's success in other areas, my guess is he will hire good people, give them marching orders and turn them loose.
That's what a GOOD leader does..
As opposed to Obama who has to run everything.. We see the disastrous results in Libya, Syria, Iraq, HealthCare, etc etc etc..
This is true for any administration, but Trump seems quicker than most to throw subordinates under the political bus, as it were.
For example.....??????
We KNOW that Obama will throw people under the bus at the drop of a dime.. Reverend Wright, Israel, etc etc...
Take a look at his campaign statements on the unemployment rate, to cite a prominent example.
Key words being "campaign statements"... You can't really gauge those as a measure of how Trump will govern...
After Jackson, the kitchen cabinet term was used for other presidents, most notably in modern times for Ronald Reagan, who also had a group of close advisors he relied upon (sometimes to the exclusion of the actual cabinet).
Hmmmmm WHO does THAT sound like??? {{cough}} Valerie Jarret{{cough}}{{cough}}
Overall, an excellent commentary, CW...
If only Reid hadn't done away with the filibuster, Democrats MIGHT have had some influence on Trump's cabinet choices...
The Trump folks are so desperate for celebrities for the inauguration
Really??
They got Toby Keith, Lee Greenwood, etc etc etc..
Doesn't seem like they are desperate for celebrities to me..
Of course, I am not a Party slave, I can think for myself.. So, of course I wouldn't see anything like that..
My guess is that Trump will take all the credit when something goes right and trash the most visible person when something goes wrong.
Again, WHO does that remind you of??
I'll give you a hint... B. Obama... No, no, that's too easy... Barack O.
:D
Really?? They got Toby Keith, Lee Greenwood, etc etc etc..
Sounds like a group of mediocre crackers to me...
Sounds like a group of mediocre crackers to me...
Of course it does...
Patriotic Americans tend to bring out that kind of response in elitist Left Wingers...
Singing about love of country!? pppppfffffftttttt
Lefties HATE that....
Democrats have to treat Trump as a moth should probably treat a light bulb. Stay away - publicly, rhetorically, philosophically, and financially.
Yep... Become the Party Of NO...
Make my prediction dead on ballz accurate... :D
"Then your journey to the Dark Side will be complete!!"
-Emperor Palpatine
:D
Patriotic Americans tend to bring out that kind of response in elitist Left Wingers...
I wouldn't say that. We just have a different Style..
Yep... Become the Party Of NO...
Nope. Become the party of "Depends...what are you putting on the table?"
Democrats WILL back Trump's infrastructure plan, as long as it isn't just a bunch of tax breaks for corporations. Democrats WILL help Trump secure Medicare and Social Security for future generations. Hell, Obama said that he'd back any health care plan that does at least as much for folks as the ACA...
That's already more cooperation than we got out of McConnell in eight years.
I wouldn't say that. We just have a different Style..
Yea... Hurling racist slurs...
That's the Left Wingery "style"....
http://www.fuse.tv/image/57740ad62c1a5fd33700000b/768/512/katy-perry-march-02-2016-patriotic-outfits.jpg
Who is this "Hillary Clinton" that is on that tramp's chest????
Oh yea.. Wasn't she the clown who was going to win in a 50-state landslide than LOST to someone like Donald Trump?? :D
Yea... Hurling racist slurs...
That's the Left Wingery "style"....
Present company excepted, of course.. :D
"I don't plan to attend the inauguration. It will be the first one that I miss since I've been in Congress. You cannot be at home with something that you feel that is wrong, is not right."
-Congressman John Lewis
Of course, this Congress Critter is lying his ass off... Lewis also boycotted George Bush's inauguration too.. Because Lewis thought that BUSH was not a legitimate president..
Sensing a pattern here.. Unless the POTUS has a '-D' after their name, they are not "legitimate"...
What a dumb-ass....
But duty calls, and Hillary and Bill Clinton are patriots. Their presence on the inaugural stage next week sends the strongest possible message that they value country above all.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/01/19/hard-luck-hillary-clinton-s-second-case-of-the-inaugural-blues.html
And, of course, the opposite is true...
Those who boycott Trumps Inauguration are NOT patriots and they DON'T value country above their own petty partisanship...
I'm looking forward to tomorrow. Day 1 Trump is going to:
1. Repeal Obamacare.
2. Label China a currency manipulator
3. Build a wall.
4. Erase the EPA restrictions on coal.
Any I've forgotten?
If there are any Trump experts out there, which is Trump's day 1:
a/ Friday 20th?
b/ Saturday 21st?
c/ Monday 23rd? (he said he wanted to take the weekend off, but doesn't that mean that Friday is Day 1, because you can't take time off from a job you haven't started.)
By the way, if Trump takes the weekend as vacation on Monday morning he will have been on vacation for 2/3 (67%) of his time as president - 4/5 (80%) if you count Friday as a 1/2 day since he isn't sworn in until Noon).
Lazy!
Oh yes - Mexico is going to pay for the wall, not U.S. taxpayers.
And an border adjustment (=import tax) is not Mexico paying for the wall, it is U.S. consumers via higher prices. And the border adjustment applies to all countries - so we are going to pay for the wall many times over via higher prices on everything from China, Vietnam, the E.U., Africa, even Russia (services for hookers for 1600 Penn?).
Another question for any of the Republican experts out there, has the possibility of all our trading partners imposing their own "border adjustment" on U.S. goods - let's face it, if we can get this past the WTO then so can everybody else.
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/01/democrats-trump-administration-wilderness-comeback-revival-214650
No matter how ya want to spin it, the Democratic Party is in a very VERY bad place right now...
The very first step in overcoming a problem is to first ADMIT that the problem exists...
Democrats are a whole are loathe to admit that...
Until they can, the won't be able to extricate themselves from the mess of their own making... They are the engineers of their own destruction...
I'm looking forward to tomorrow. Day 1 Trump is going to:
1. Repeal Obamacare.
2. Label China a currency manipulator
3. Build a wall.
4. Erase the EPA restrictions on coal.
Any I've forgotten?
Yea.. You forgot to wake up from your dream and heed the advice in #21....
All you have is BASH TRUMP....
That's all Hillary had and it didn't work too well for her..
I'm just sayin....
Those who boycott Trumps Inauguration are NOT patriots and they DON'T value country above their own petty partisanship...
Are you going to the inauguration?
All you have is BASH TRUMP....
Not really - in fact I wrote a whole article yesterday that only bashed Trump about 10% of the time.
You got to gloat over Trump's win, I get to ridicule him. Live with it. It is only four years of defending an obvious buffoon, but you picked the role.
Not really - in fact I wrote a whole article yesterday that only bashed Trump about 10% of the time.
I must say, I was particularly pleased with my "pigeon channeling Mussolini" barb.
Are you going to the inauguration?
No, but not because it's Trump...
Liar Lewis et al are not going STRICTLY because it's Trump who is becoming president..
You got to gloat over Trump's win, I get to ridicule him. Live with it. It is only four years of defending an obvious buffoon, but you picked the role.
Yes I do.. And yes you do..
But I am constrained to point out that simply ridiculing Trump won't win any seats in 2018 and won't prevent Trump from being re-elected in a landslide in 2020..
Hillary found that out... Dems better learn it or they could very well be looking at a SUPER MAJORITY GOP in 2018...
I must say, I was particularly pleased with my "pigeon channeling Mussolini" barb.
Very creative.. :D
Some Democrats see a different lesson in 2016, with a takeaway best summed up by a Samuel L. Jackson line from Pulp Fiction: Personality goes a long way. On paper, Trump had none of the characteristics of a successful GOP nominee—a Manhattan billionaire who bragged about cheating on his first wife with the mistress who later became his second divorce, a closet full of skeletons and a history of cozying up to Democrats? But he was able to connect on such a visceral level that none of those liabilities mattered. What he also showed is how irrelevant parties are—before he pulled chunks of the Democratic base away from Clinton, he swallowed the strongest field of up-and-coming Republican leaders in decades, all while throwing conservative dogma in the toilet. Internalize that, Garcetti says, because “there’s no question that the next generation of voters for the next 50 years will be people who don’t wake up thinking about themselves as a Democrat or a Republican.”
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/01/democrats-trump-administration-wilderness-comeback-revival-214650
The future belongs to people who think of themselves as AMERICANS first and DEMOCRATS/REPUBLICANS a distant second....
THAT's the lesson that Democrats need to learn...
It is only four years of defending an obvious buffoon
Maybe...
I was as enthusiastic about Obama's win as I am about Trump's... It took me about a year to realize what a horrible mistake Obama was....
If Trump goes down that road, it might be a year when I quit defending Trump and start attacking Trump..
Who knows?? You don't... Neither do I... That's what makes it so exciting.. :D
No, but not because it's Trump...
But if you don't go, you aren't a patriot ;)
But I am constrained to point out that simply ridiculing Trump won't win any seats in 2018 and won't prevent Trump from being re-elected in a landslide in 2020..
If you read my comment above ( http://www.chrisweigant.com/2017/01/18/cabinetmaking-season/#comment-92094 ) I specifically agree with you. Attacking Trump is pointless - the fanboys love a fight regardless of right or wrong, fact or lie, plus Trump is shameless.
Attacking the people around Trump and forcing him to either defend them or dump them is far more effective in my opinion.
If Trump goes down that road, it might be a year when I quit defending Trump and start attacking Trump..
What can Trump do to turn you from fanboy to bummer boy ;)
But if you don't go, you aren't a patriot ;)
It's not the what, it's the why...
Liar Lewis didn't go to Bush's inauguration either..
Attacking the people around Trump and forcing him to either defend them or dump them is far more effective in my opinion.
Attacking ANYONE is dumb...
Americans are sick and tired of politics of destruction..
Come up with a BETTER plan than the ones you want to attack and Americans will follow you...
If all you have is attacks, Americans will ignore you..
Just ask Hillary...
Come up with a BETTER plan than the ones you want to attack and Americans will follow you...
Really, Michale.
60 votes to overturn Obamacare, and not one vote ready plan after six years, and now suddenly it is a battle of ideas?
No way. We've had to put up with years of "Trainwreckcare" nonsense with no feasible alternative plan put into writing in the form of legislation - which is the actual job of politicians (and don't give me the State boundaries plus HSA nonsense, it wasn't even codified because the CBO would have trashed it).
You can expect four years of intense grilling over the details of proposed plans for walls, healthcare, relaxation of environmental regulations, etc. - in other things everything you've been asking for.
This is the problem with power, you are responsible for the results and can't blame anybody else, plus unless you are a little snowflake, you have to be ready to answer questions about your policies, unless you want a dictatorship instead of a democracy.
Oh, and wasn't Trump going to release his new H/C plan this week?
Still waiting.
Just like we are waiting for his announcement on Russian hacking that was going to prove it was some guy in a 400lb bed.
Just like w ear still waiting for his plan for defeating ISIS on one month.
Why are you still falling for this con?
How to check is Price is a bare-faced liar:
1. Call the broker who supposedly bought the stocks Price didn't know anything about.
2. Under oath, ask him/her is there was any contact from Price about the purchases
3. If "No" ask them what other customers they bought this stock for. If none, then you know they are lying. Sic the SEC on them. If yes, sic the SEC on them. Win-win.
4. Ask them to show their justification for the timing of the purchase
Laugh all the way to the next hearing for the replacement Health Secretary.
No way. We've had to put up with years of "Trainwreckcare" nonsense with no feasible alternative plan put into writing in the form of legislation
That's because what YOU call "no feasible alternative plan" is nothing more than "we don't like anything the GOP comes up with because we are the Party Of NO now..."
Hay, that's fine..
If that's how the Democrats want to play it, if they want to "stay the course" they can enjoy Minority Party status for the rest of my life..
I really DON'T have a problem with that.. :D
This is the problem with power, you are responsible for the results and can't blame anybody else, plus unless you are a little snowflake, you have to be ready to answer questions about your policies, unless you want a dictatorship instead of a democracy.
OK, OK.. So the crappy state of the country is ALL on Obama, right??
You see yer dilemma??
You want to foist ALL the blame on the GOP and take NONE of the responsibility...
But when the GOP is in total power.... NOW it's all about "the problem with power"....
"Dood, you gotta pick a lane.."
-Metatron, SUPERNATURAL
It's not about POWER...
It's about who has the '-D' after their name and who has the '-R' after their name...
Re Neilm [36]: Republican plan: What SEC?
That's because what YOU call "no feasible alternative plan" is nothing more than "we don't like anything the GOP comes up with because we are the Party Of NO now..."
No, because they have had six years and both houses and they haven't put any legislation in front of at least the Senate. You do know how our Government is meant to work, right.
Here you go: I had to watch this to become a citizen believe it or not (I'm just a bill on Capitol Hill):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-eYBZFEzf8
OK, OK.. So the crappy state of the country is ALL on Obama, right??
Yep, if you want to define it that way. Take a snapshot for comparison later.
Did it never occur to Right Wingers to ask why there were no bills voted on to replace Obamacare?
I mean if it was so bad, it should have been really easy to come up with something better, write it down and put it to a vote in the House, then send it to the Senate and put pressure on Democratic Senators to replace "TrainWreckcare" with "RepublicanCare".
I mean if Obamacare was so bad, and "RepublicanCare" was going to be so much better all those voters in Democratic Senator's states would have been calling their Senators off the hook.
But nothing. Just more "Repeal" and more "Benghazi" and more "Obama bad" over and over and over again.
Now they are the dog that caught the car. They thought they were going to have four more years of milking the Government and doing nothing, but now they have to work.
And it looks like, as we suspected all along, there is no secret alternative plan.
As I've said dozens of times before, if people weren't going to get sick and die from this, it would be hilarious.
The Right Wingery should be screaming at them: "What do you mean you don't have a plan ready?".
But the Right Wingery are so focused on gloating over Democrats they they don't really care about the country, Americans or anything but "We won, you lost".
No, because they have had six years and both houses and they haven't put any legislation in front of at least the Senate. You do know how our Government is meant to work, right.
Makes no sense to go to all the work and hassle to get a plan thru Congress only to have Odumbo veto it because of his legacy (such as it is)...
Makes more sense to wait until we have a GOP POTUS...
Like now.. :D
Did it never occur to Right Wingers to ask why there were no bills voted on to replace Obamacare?
See above..
I mean if Obamacare was so bad
"If"??? TrainWreckCare is dying on it's own.. Simply because it was a bad law pushed thru by hook and by crook with absolutely NO Republican support at all..
Of COURSE it's going to fail..
But the Right Wingery are so focused on gloating over Democrats they they don't really care about the country, Americans or anything but "We won, you lost".
"Elections have consequences"
"I won them all"
Sound familiar??
If it's gloating you are going to slam, look no further than Odumbo...
Republican plan: What SEC?
Good point, but the NYC prosecutor isn't a Trump fan and they have a lot of power when it comes to Wall St. and I'll bet the transaction was executed in NYC.
Yep, if you want to define it that way. Take a snapshot for comparison later.
I didn't define it that way...
NEIL did..
But hay.. We're in agreement..
Odumbo is responsible for the crappy state of the nation...
Common ground.. A wonderful thing.. :D
But nothing. Just more "Repeal" and more "Benghazi" and more "Obama bad" over and over and over again.
As opposed to more "Trump bad" over and over and over and over???
Like I said, everything you complain about in the GOP, the Democrats are guilty of..
But do you hold them accountable??
No, you don't..
Why??
Because they are ideologically acceptable to you..
It's ALL about the ideology...
The Democrats can do no wrong..
The Republicans can do no right...
That's ya'all's outlook..
How to check is Price is a bare-faced liar:
How to check if Congressman Lewis is a bare faced liar..
His lips are moving..
Yet, you don't CARE about his lies... Because he has a '-D' after his name...
Makes no sense to go to all the work and hassle to get a plan thru Congress only to have Odumbo veto it because of his legacy (such as it is)...
You were awake for the umpteen "Repeal" votes that were vetoed and all the time, money and effort wasted on the Benghazi Hearings?
Can you imagine the pressure on the Democrats if the Republicans had put a better plan to the vote and forced Obama to pick the worse plan because it was his.
Try again to explain the Right Wingery's lack of a bill.
Just a bill.
On Capitol Hill.
Only one little bill.
To test Obama's will.
You were awake for the umpteen "Repeal" votes that were vetoed and all the time, money and effort wasted on the Benghazi Hearings?
Call me silly, but I don't think it's a "waste" to try and determine who fraked up when 4 good Americans were killed..
I am funny that way...
Can you imagine the pressure on the Democrats if the Republicans had put a better plan to the vote and forced Obama to pick the worse plan because it was his.
I can easily imagine that.. The GOP HAD better ideas for TrainWreckCare.. Odumbo ignored them because he wanted HIS plan, not a bi-partisan plan...
And THAT is why HIS plan failed.. Because it was crap...
money and effort wasted on the Benghazi Hearings?
How much time and money and effort did the Democrats waste on trying to pin 9/11 on Bush??
Tons...
"Oh, well... THAT's different..."
Of course it's different..
Bush has a '-R' after his name....
Call me silly, but I don't think it's a "waste" to try and determine who fraked up when 4 good Americans were killed..
It was after the first five came up with the same answer. The other 28 were nothing to do with American lives. In fact after the first one the other 32 were just insulting the memory of the dead by using them as a political toy.
You can tell that it was nothing to do with the dead because as soon as they found a new toy (emails) they dropped the Benghazi hearings and moved on.
How much time and money and effort did the Democrats waste on trying to pin 9/11 on Bush??
You mean Trump was wrong - we should have gone into Iraq?
And good attempt to change the subject, but why did we not see one bill in the House or Senate for six years to replace Obamacare with?
Not one bill
Anywhere on Capitol Hill
So good it would make Obama ill
It couldn't be that they didn't know how to make Healthcare better in this country unless they adopted the other Democratic plan - single payer?
Still no bill
And it's a nasty pill
Testing Michale's skill
At being a shill
You can tell that it was nothing to do with the dead because as soon as they found a new toy (emails) they dropped the Benghazi hearings and moved on.
No, they dropped the Benghazi hearings because, as you point out, they got all the information necessary to blame Hillary...
You mean Trump was wrong - we should have gone into Iraq?
If we were talking about Iraq, you would have a valid argument..
But we're not, so it's obviously just a ploy to cover up the fact that Democrats did EXACTLY what you are accusing the Republicans of...
It couldn't be that they didn't know how to make Healthcare better in this country unless they adopted the other Democratic plan - single payer?
If Single Payer was a better plan, you would have a point..
But it's not, so you don't...
And good attempt to change the subject, but why did we not see one bill in the House or Senate for six years to replace Obamacare with?
Asked and answered...
But like with my litmus test for Trump, you don't like the answer because it proves you wrong..
So you just ignore it..
:D
Asked and answered...
No
Still no answer - why not one little bill?
I mean, the Right Wingery have been claiming they have great plans, so it isn't because they don't know what to put in the bill, right?
Or is it?
Still no answer - why not one little bill?
Because, with Odumbo, it had ZERO chance of being signed into law...
Why waste the time...
That's my take. Could be wrong, but it has the attractiveness of being logical and rational..
Because, with Odumbo, it had ZERO chance of being signed into law...
They have had two months since the election. What is the excuse now?
They have had two months since the election. What is the excuse now?
Taking their time, getting it right...
Something that if the Demcorats had done, we would probably be talking about President Elect Hillary Clinton.. :D
Odumbo
Remember when I listened to your good advice to stop calling Trump "Drumpf" and I did?
;)
Taking their time, getting it right...
"Dreamer, you know you are a dreamer"
-- Supertramp, Crime of the Century, 1974
;)
Balthasar [5]. Very funny! You should send that one in to some of the late night shows.
Michale said
Makes no sense to go to all the work and hassle to get a plan thru Congress only to have Odumbo veto it because of his legacy (such as it is)...
Why wouldn't they work to improve the ACA? The ACA wasn't Obama's idea, it was the Heritage Foundation that first came up with the plan. Romney was the person who tested it in MA, where it worked incredibly well. The GOP actually considered having Bush roll out the plan in 2006, but by then his popularity had dwindled so low that it seemed wiser to let the next Republican in the White House take the credit for it.
This is why claiming that the Republicans actually thought the ACA was horrible is such a joke! In 2012, when they thought that they had cost Obama his re-election bid, Republicans openly boasted of how the better a piece of legislation was for the nation, the harder they had to fight to stop it. What legislation did the GOP fight hardest against during Obama's first term?
You can delude yourself into believing the ACA wasn't the best health care plan that the Republicans could come up with if you really want to, but you just look foolish for doing so.
Remember when I listened to your good advice to stop calling Trump "Drumpf" and I did?
;)
Yea, but many others did not listen to my good advice..
Having said that, point taken. :D
You can delude yourself into believing the ACA wasn't the best health care plan that the Republicans could come up with if you really want to, but you just look foolish for doing so.
Yea, that's the spin.. But it doesn't pass the smell test..
The Democrats came up with that once it was clear that TrainWreckCare was going to be a train wreck..
It's called *OBAMA*care for a reason..
It was done without ANY input from the GOP..
And THAT is why it's failing..
And THAT is why Trump is going to kill it..
"It's dead, Jim.."
:D
Remember when I listened to your good advice to stop calling Trump "Drumpf" and I did?
For the record, for tomorrow..
I plan on being as anti-Obama as ya'all are anti-Trump.. :D
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way. I mean, there can be yelling and screaming and bloodshed and gunshots and explosions..."
"What's the easy way??"
"That WAS the easy way??"
-THE A-TEAM
:D
Just remember..
Tomorrow is not about Trump..
It's about America and the peaceful transference of power...
Any protests or disruptions are an attack on and a disrespect of America, not of Trump...
Any protests or disruptions are an attack on and a disrespect of America, not of Trump...
Not really - America is about protesting - the first amendment was for free speech (old joke, that is why they said - if we're going to allow anybody to say anything they want, we better have a second amendment that allows them to defend themselves - have you heard the crazy shit these people say?).
Be American - broadcast what you believe in, and if you are so passionate about it you take to the streets peacefully then the rest of America should take notice.
To try to suppress protests is easily the most un-American thing anybody can do tomorrow (apart from Trump taking the oath ;)
To try to suppress protests is easily the most un-American thing anybody can do tomorrow (apart from Trump taking the oath ;)
I am not trying to suppress protests..
I am simply putting them in the proper context...
Put another way....
Protesting the inauguration is like protesting the 4th of July...
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/lauretta-brown/video-anti-trump-protestors-vandalize-businesses-cars-kiosks-dc
Yea....
America is about "protesting"...
Maybe the Left Wingery's idea of America..
But not this soldier's idea of America...