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The Power of SCOTUS VIII redux: IX is being blocked by the Senate.

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Rover is a bully, but we need him and all Democrats to fight the GOP. We've got a bigger problem now.

Anyway, our bone of contention is past so any further in-fighting serves no purpose. Rover: we won't convince each other, but you need the left and I need the center.

I think the prospects for Democratic unity are very good, since we have a very specific common enemy and that enemy is potentially highly destructive. It also helps that that enemy is just really gross. It was in fact very hard to fight against Reagan's bad policies because Reagan himself was honestly such a good guy. Again, with Dubya it was hard because the poor dumb bast-rd was obviously doing the best he could with what he had.

With Trump, there are no such problems. The guy would make Mother Theresa furious in fifteen minutes.

Agreed. Two things to consider here. 1) GOP is fundamentally incapable of actually governing. Its the same reason why liberals can't drive. If you hate the thing you're operating (govt, cars) you're most likely not going to be very good at operating it. Case in point this ethics office absurdity. 2) Trump unlike Reagan is going to struggle to make the "are you better off than when I took office" argument. Whether you liked him or not, times were better in the mid 80's than the late 70's. I'm skeptical we'll be better off in 2020 regardless of Trump especially since we're due for a recession.
 
Re: The Power of SCOTUS VIII redux: IX is being blocked by the Senate.

There was quite a few Bernie supporters that bad mouthed Hillary for a long time...even after it was clear that he was no longer a factor. It certainly was not the reason she lost, but Hillary complaints from both the right and left could well have stuck with the rural voters that changed because they 'just didn't trust her'.
 
Re: The Power of SCOTUS VIII redux: IX is being blocked by the Senate.

Agreed. Two things to consider here. 1) GOP is fundamentally incapable of actually governing. Its the same reason why liberals can't drive. If you hate the thing you're operating (govt, cars) you're most likely not going to be very good at operating it. Case in point this ethics office absurdity. 2) Trump unlike Reagan is going to struggle to make the "are you better off than when I took office" argument. Whether you liked him or not, times were better in the mid 80's than the late 70's. I'm skeptical we'll be better off in 2020 regardless of Trump especially since we're due for a recession.

Don't worry, Fed's messing with rates, so you'll get your "recession", and it'll be conveniently timed during a Republican presidency.
 
Re: The Power of SCOTUS VIII redux: IX is being blocked by the Senate.

Agreed. Two things to consider here. 1) GOP is fundamentally incapable of actually governing. Its the same reason why liberals can't drive. If you hate the thing you're operating (govt, cars) you're most likely not going to be very good at operating it. Case in point this ethics office absurdity. 2) Trump unlike Reagan is going to struggle to make the "are you better off than when I took office" argument. Whether you liked him or not, times were better in the mid 80's than the late 70's. I'm skeptical we'll be better off in 2020 regardless of Trump especially since we're due for a recession.

I expect Trump will be rudderless. Say what one will about Reagan, he believed in something. That thing was a sham, but at least his administration was consistent in its approach.

Trump's horizon line is his belly -- he see nothing outside himself. I can see a lot of the following:

1. Wild generalized provocation about some policy issue.
2. Outcry from many directions.
3. Walk back.
4. Counter walk-back.
5. Complete confusion and ultimately no policy change.

Once this happens two of three times it will become the running joke of his tenure. His promises will be regarded as worthless, and everything that comes out of his mouth will be regarded as provisional. The White House and the EOP in general will be a vacuum, and other forces and voices will rush in to supplant it.

If you think the presidency is too powerful this might actually be a really enjoyable 4 years, because this presidency will literally do nothing. The flaw is this means the GOP will have open field running for all their Utopian schemes.
 
Re: The Power of SCOTUS VIII redux: IX is being blocked by the Senate.

If you think the presidency is too powerful this might actually be a really enjoyable 4 years, because this presidency will literally do nothing. The flaw is this means the GOP will have open field running for all their Utopian schemes.

Maybe, maybe not. I admit Trump will be 'whimsical' in his decision making - whether that's rudderless or not, we'll see. But due to his tactics he could well brute force things through that he wants. Say what you will about executive orders, its not often Obama brute forced anything through.
 
Re: The Power of SCOTUS VIII redux: IX is being blocked by the Senate.

Maybe, maybe not. I admit Trump will be 'whimsical' in his decision making - whether that's rudderless or not, we'll see. But due to his tactics he could well brute force things through that he wants. Say what you will about executive orders, its not often Obama brute forced anything through.

Too much work. Trump's character traits are, in order:

1. Vanity
2. Laziness
3. Deceitfulness

The 2nd is going to undercut pretty much anything Bannon or Putin tries to get him to do.
 
So you're willing to "burn down" the country so long as you can point the finger at an R? You truly are a partisan hack.

I'm willing to burn down the GOP. If a recession causes Republicans to lose power, that's for the good of the country. Think of me as a true patriot!
 
If you think the presidency is too powerful this might actually be a really enjoyable 4 years, because this presidency will literally do nothing. The flaw is this means the GOP will have open field running for all their Utopian schemes.

Not sure about this. Trump may be nuts and unpredictable, but oddly enough I don't expect him to sell out the voters who put him in power. This puts him at odds with the freaks in Congress who have the hots for Ayn Rand. :eek: He also has no qualms about selling out the Goopers in Congress like he did on the ethics thing as he's not looking for a job with the Koch Brothers or Fox News cable after he's out of office.

So, privatizing Medicare or kicking 20M people off health insurance isn't going to fly. He can easily position himself as a defender of the rural working class who rely on these programs while leaving Ryan and co holding the bag.

I do expect him to enact big tax cuts for the 1%, most likely boost infrastructure spending, and above all else build the wall with Mexico because that's a tangible and frankly doable goal that he can point to 4 years hence. That'll end up the symbol of his Presidency.
 
Re: The Power of SCOTUS VIII redux: IX is being blocked by the Senate.

We'll see. If he actually is going to try to deliver on his promises then the two places I'd look are the wall and trade deals. everything else is either smoke and mirrors ("bringing jobs back!"... yeah, right) or unconstitutional (Muslim Hanging Thursdays at the local sportsbar).
 
Re: The Power of SCOTUS VIII redux: IX is being blocked by the Senate.

We'll see. If he actually is going to try to deliver on his promises then the two places I'd look are the wall and trade deals. everything else is either smoke and mirrors ("bringing jobs back!"... yeah, right) or unconstitutional (Muslim Hanging Thursdays at the local sportsbar).

When has he ever said anything about deporting legal immigrants who come in the correct way, regardless of religion?
 
We'll see. If he actually is going to try to deliver on his promises then the two places I'd look are the wall and trade deals. everything else is either smoke and mirrors ("bringing jobs back!"... yeah, right) or unconstitutional (Muslim Hanging Thursdays at the local sportsbar).

I'd agree with that. The wall is a big one for him. Maybe he's got some fetish as a developer to build something but I'd expect that to go up quickly with no expense spared.

Trade deals I think will be smoke and mirrors. TPP is dead and he'll probably declare that promise fulfilled because of it. Really not sure if he goes through with NAFTA changes. I doubt he knows what the WTO is.
 
Re: The Power of SCOTUS VIII redux: IX is being blocked by the Senate.

We need to fumigate the party top to bottom and start winning back all those lost state leg and House seats by acting like liberals, not mealy-mouthed Wall Streeters.

You need to stop promising to give people stuff and start explaining how your policies will make their lives better.

There is still a large segment of the population that wants to have a sense of pride in accomplishment. They don't want you to give them stuff, they want you to help them be in a position from which they can buy their own stuff for themselves.




I was proud to be a Democrat for much of my adult life, until about 1998 when it became embarrassing, and then in 2006 when they said flat out they didn't want people like me any more. The 1994-1998 Bill Clinton, JFK, RFK, Joe Lieberman, Richard M. Daley, Tip O'Neill, Dan Rostenkowski, they all knew how to govern. Promising to give people "free stuff" is not governing, it is pandering.

Bypassing Congress with executive orders is not governing, it is laziness. Newt Gingrich was a far more formidable adversary than John Boehner, yet Clinton and Gingrich found a way to work together. Tip O'Neill probably was even tougher than Gingrich, yet he and Reagan found a way to work together. Both of those Presidents left a lasting legislative legacy. Talk about "Republican obstructionism" is just infantile whining. The so-called "obstructionism" was merely the opening bid in a series of negotiations that was supposed to follow; saying "we won" and then refusing to negotiate at all was the problem, because there was no constructive response to the first negotiating offer.
 
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Re: The Power of SCOTUS VIII redux: IX is being blocked by the Senate.

Maybe, maybe not. I admit Trump will be 'whimsical' in his decision making - whether that's rudderless or not, we'll see. But due to his tactics he could well brute force things through that he wants. Say what you will about executive orders, its not often Obama brute forced anything through.

It is my secret hope that Trump will deliberately weaken the Executive branch and elevate the Legislative branch. We'll see how it plays out. Inauguration Day is still over two weeks away.
 
Re: The Power of SCOTUS VIII redux: IX is being blocked by the Senate.

You need to stop promising to give people stuff and start explaining how your policies will make their lives better.

There is still a large segment of the population that wants to have a sense of pride in accomplishment. They don't want you to give them stuff, they want you to help them be in a position from which they can buy their own stuff for themselves.




I was proud to be a Democrat for much of my adult life, until about 1998 when it became embarrassing, and then in 2006 when they said flat out they didn't want people like me any more. The 1994-1998 Bill Clinton, JFK, RFK, Joe Lieberman, Richard M. Daley, Tip O'Neill, Dan Rostenkowski, they all knew how to govern. Promising to give people "free stuff" is not governing, it is pandering.

Bypassing Congress with executive orders is not governing, it is laziness. Newt Gingrich was a far more formidable adversary than John Boehner, yet Clinton and Gingrich found a way to work together. Tip O'Neill probably was even tougher than Gingrich, yet he and Reagan found a way to work together. Both of those Presidents left a lasting legislative legacy. Talk about "Republican obstructionism" is just infantile whining. The so-called "obstructionism" was merely the opening bid in a series of negotiations that was supposed to follow; saying "we won" and then refusing to negotiate at all was the problem, because there was no constructive response to the first negotiating offer.

Interesting. One of my criticisms of Obama in his first term was that he tried too hard to build consensus before acting. This did not seem to be a very wise tactic in an atmosphere where the right made if very clear from the get-go that they would do everything they could to make him fail.

Guess I was just seeing things.
 
Re: The Power of SCOTUS VIII redux: IX is being blocked by the Senate.

"give them stuff"

This is such an overused conservative mantra. And why pick an arbitrary year of 1998 to draw your faux ire after Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act in 1996?

That's rhetorical FF I'm fully aware you're a bot.
 
He and people like him. Too many Dems thought they were cute playing with the "Bernie...Okay Hillary I guess" bumper stickers. Why you guys can't figure out that spending the whole campaign blasting your nominee as much as your opponent isn't a good electoral strategy is beyond me. But hey! The Keps and Jims of the world sure came up with some clever nicknames for her! That offsets having Trump for Prez, right? :rolleyes:

Dems, you did this to yourselves.

Insisting that one of the worst candidates in history was the perfect person to run against Trump did not turn out as a good electoral strategy either now was it?

Democrats did this to themselves for sure.... By nominating one of the most unlikable candidates in history. They should have kept the independents and moderates in mind when making their selection in the primaries.
 
Re: The Power of SCOTUS VIII redux: IX is being blocked by the Senate.

They should have kept the independents and moderates in mind when making their selection in the primaries.

??? Hillary was the moderate. What the Dems did was take a streaming crap on the liberals.

But 2016 did three things that will be good for liberals moving forward. First it ended the notion that the Clinton "third way" is an unstoppable juggernaut. Second, Bernie's run showed there is a strong thirst for genuinely liberal policy and not the watered-down corporatist crap the Donna Braziles of the world peddle. Third, Trump showed that the argument "but x can't win" is forever void. Trump won, therefore literally any person and many inanimate objects can win.

All three of those suppositions were weapons wielded by centrists and blue dogs to keep the left away from their goodies. All three are now exposed as poop. That doesn't guarantee a liberal nominee next time, but it means we'll be building a farm system and moving up the ranks. The Democratic wing of the Democratic party will make a comeback.
 
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