2023 Republican Government Shutdown: Same Shit, Same Story

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

Why not both?  Or more likely he is just covering for those who are compromised, because he knows he will go down with them.  Hell he has probably already gone down on some of them.  

[Horn Dog 9844]

Nancy and Chuck need to propose 5bil for Space Force to develop an invisible “force field” that will only work on illegal immigrants?  Trump will be intrigued and he can easily sell it to his moron base.

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

1 minute ago, Anastasis said:

If you want to believe that “Nancy” Graham is being blackmailed by Russia that’s fine I guess. I choose to believe that he is just a spineless piece of shit. But I am happy to change my opinion on that if the evidence warrants. 

It doesn’t add up that Graham is being blackmailed by Russia. Lindsey has always been a Kremlin hardliner and still is going by public statements and voting records concerning Russia.  His foreign policy positions are antithetical to Russia’s across the board.

If Graham was being blackmailed by Russia, he would be taking a much softer stance on Syria, Afghanistan, and Russia.

Rand Paul on the other hand is a completely different story. 

[Anastasis 23469]

You know Lindsey is in the clear when even Hugo can’t link him to Russia  

Hugo, do you have any ideas about what the blackmail material the Russians have on Rand is?

Edited January 12, 2019 by Anastasis

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

1 minute ago, Anastasis said:

Do you have any ideas about what the blackmail material the Russians have on Rand is?

It might not be blackmail material that motivates Rand.  It could be bribery in the form of re-election support efforts in the state of Kentucky. 

The same could be true of McConnell. 

[Anastasis 23469]

How long do you figure Rand has been engaged in treasonous election collusion with Russia?

Edited January 12, 2019 by Anastasis

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

5 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

How long do you figure Rand has been engaged in treasonous election collusion with Russia?

I have no idea but there’s lots of research out there concerning Rand and Ron’s shady Russian connections.  

For me, Rand’s treachery is pretty obvious if you just go by his contradictory public statements, actions, and voting records which almost always echo the Kremlin positions.  (Deep State, anti-IC, pro-Trump, flying to Moscow on behalf of Trump,  trying to lift sanctions, not voting for sanctions)

Rand did a savvy flip-flop once on Ukraine but I suspect that was only because he was running for president at that moment.

[Francisco 2.0 32389]

 

[Francisco 2.0 32389]

Narrator:  No, they can't.

 

 

God, this is pathetic, even for him:

 

 

Edited January 12, 2019 by Francisco 2.0

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

 

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

 

[Post Oak 20213]

21 minutes ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

 

Where are those murderin' Mexicans when you need em

[Asithappens 974]

1 hour ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

Narrator:  No, they can't.

 

 

God, this is pathetic, even for him:

 

 

This smacks of desperation.

F**k Trump and those who support him.

[retread 2951]

Interesting to watch the glazed-over look in the eyes of the enablers.

"I know I'm a party to treason, what are you gonna do? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  "

Edited January 12, 2019 by retread

[Born to Run 6569]

Interesting to watch the glazed-over look in the eyes of the enablers.
"I know I'm a party to treason, what are you gonna do? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  "

That’s a hip looking senator.
Next Ted will post a video of himself rollerblading in a Taco Bell parking lot.

[SquishMitten 10405]

I’m quickly losing support for Cornyn. As someone who had a Beto sign in his yard, largely because I think Cruz is a spineless coward and complete embarrassment to our state, I’ve always felt Cornyn was at least there to represent Texans the best he could. But this wall shit...this is not something Texans want or need. I can forgive a lot of partisan BS, but Wall is bad for Texans, he knows it’s a political stunt, and he’s still going along with it. If he doesn’t change his tune quickly and decisively, I don’t know if I can continue thinking he’s still representing Texas.

[JimmyJames 12271]

16 minutes ago, Born to Run said:

 

That’s a hip looking senator.
Next Ted will post a video of himself rollerblading in a Taco Bell parking lot.

 

Actually I think ted is going for the al gore look. He’s channeling his inner presidential race loser and angling for a comeback. 

[JimmyJames 12271]

1 minute ago, SquishMitten said:

I’m quickly losing support for Cornyn. As someone who had a Beto sign in his yard, largely because I think Cruz is a spineless coward and complete embarrassment to our state, I’ve always felt Cornyn was at least there to represent Texans the best he could. But this wall shit...this is not something Texans want or need. I can forgive a lot of partisan BS, but Wall is bad for Texans, he knows it’s a political stunt, and he’s still going along with it. If he doesn’t change his tune quickly and decisively, I don’t know if I can continue thinking he’s still representing Texas.

He’s probably worried about a trumpkin primary challenge. Which of course just makes him a bigger weasel. 

[Anastasis 23469]

2 hours ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

For me, Rand’s treachery is pretty obvious if you just go by his contradictory public statements, actions, and voting records which almost always echo the Kremlin positions.

Recognition of the fact that the IC has implemented an unconstitutional and out of control surveillance apparatus use to be a commonly held belief on both the left and right in general, and this board is particular. But so were beliefs such as engagement and diplomacy is preferred to military conflict, that when military engagement is necessary, it should be authorized by congress, and that maybe we shouldn't effect unintended consequences through reckless engagements abroad and in the middle east in particular. Now a day those principles are the foundational treachery in a treasonous plot to overthrow democracy in the state of Kentucky.

I think that Rand has made a major political miscalculation by aligning himself so closely with Trump, favoring short-term political expediency over the achievement of long-term objectives. You don't have to engage in this fantasy that he is colluding with Russia to influence the next Senate election in Kentucky to point out his political flaws.

 

Edited January 12, 2019 by Anastasis

[Bozo_Casanova 26451]

I’m quickly losing support for Cornyn. As someone who had a Beto sign in his yard, largely because I think Cruz is a spineless coward and complete embarrassment to our state, I’ve always felt Cornyn was at least there to represent Texans the best he could. But this wall shit...this is not something Texans want or need. I can forgive a lot of partisan BS, but Wall is bad for Texans, he knows it’s a political stunt, and he’s still going along with it. If he doesn’t change his tune quickly and decisively, I don’t know if I can continue thinking he’s still representing Texas.

But that’s the thing. Cornyn is legit great at constituent services and I will give him all the credit in the world for it, because he’s basically working for two, since Cruz lacks the effort or influence to succeed there despite it being the most important part of the job.

 

But Cornyn’s also very driven by his ambition to be Senate Majority Leader and he’s always put party ahead of Texas at nut cuttin’ time.

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

2 hours ago, Anastasis said:

Recognition of the fact that the IC has implemented an unconstitutional and out of control surveillance apparatus use to be a commonly held belief on both the left and right in general, and this board is particular. But so were beliefs such as engagement and diplomacy is preferred to military conflict, that when military engagement is necessary, it should be authorized by congress, and that maybe we shouldn't effect unintended consequences through reckless engagements abroad and in the middle east in particular. Now a day those principles are the foundational treachery in a treasonous plot to overthrow democracy in the state of Kentucky.

I think that Rand has made a major political miscalculation by aligning himself so closely with Trump, favoring short-term political expediency over the achievement of long-term objectives. You don't have to engage in this fantasy that he is colluding with Russia to influence the next Senate election in Kentucky to point out his political flaws.

The keep proving it treadmill / skeptical despite evidence / misstating what I said.

I don’t know why Rand sold out America but he did, and it’s obvious. 

I cant cure your blindness 

Edited January 12, 2019 by Hugo Stiglitz

[triplehorn 2664]

6 hours ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

It doesn’t add up that Graham is being blackmailed by Russia. Lindsey has always been a Kremlin hardliner and still is going by public statements and voting records concerning Russia.  His foreign policy positions are antithetical to Russia’s across the board.

If Graham was being blackmailed by Russia, he would be taking a much softer stance on Syria, Afghanistan, and Russia.

Rand Paul on the other hand is a completely different story. 

The scuttlebutt on Lindsey was that he may have had some legal exposure in the conspiracy indictment of a powerful "kingmaker" of South Carolina politics, Richard Quinn.  That private face to face Trump had with Lindsey out on the golf course when Lindsey abruptly morphed into a Trump supplicant occurred around the time before those indictments dropped in SC. 

Could be that TrumpCo had a thumb on how justice was about to be served in SC, pulled Lindsey aside to show him a box, gave him some options, and things 'worked out', a la AG Pam Bondi in FL.

Quote

COLUMBIA, SC 

Republican consultant Richard Quinn Sr., for years a kingmaker in S.C. politics, was indicted Wednesday by the State Grand Jury on a felony charge of criminal conspiracy, as well as a charge of illegal lobbying for failing to register as a lobbyist.

Since the late 1970s, Quinn, 73, has been one of South Carolina’s premier political consultants.

An insider’s insider, he has helped elect many S.C. politicians, nearly all Republicans. His clients have included Gov. Henry McMaster, Attorney General Alan Wilson, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, and U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, all Republicans, as well as Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin, a Democrat.

cont. at the Link

 

[JimmyJames 12271]

5 minutes ago, triplehorn said:

The scuttlebutt on Lindsey was that he may have had some legal exposure in the conspiracy indictment of a powerful "kingmaker" of South Carolina politics, Richard Quinn.  That private face to face Trump had with Lindsey out on the golf course when Lindsey abruptly morphed into a Trump supplicant occurred around the time before those indictments dropped in SC. 

Could be that TrumpCo had a thumb on how justice was about to be served in SC, pulled Lindsey aside to show him a box, gave him some options, and things 'worked out', a la AG Pam Bondi in FL.

 

This makes a lot of sense. Something changed for sure. 

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

Another weird thing about Lindsey Graham is he’s always supported the Mueller investigation.

Make you think he might be part of it which could also help explain the odd public behavior. 

FTR, I don’t know why Lindsey went full Trumpkin but I’m sure there’s a reason

[atomheartbevo 89659]

I’m impressed at how hard Trump is owning the shutdown.  

And also not surprised at how angry that he’s stuck in the WH instead of Mar-a-lago.  

[tantric superman 4667]

Cunts.

[Bama Chick 28596]

Lindsey seems like the kind of person who cries when they get angry.

I’m also fairly certain I could take him in a fight.

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

 

Seems like not paying the FBI agents was a mistake.

[JimmyJames 12271]

2 minutes ago, Bama Chick said:

Lindsey seems like the kind of person who cries when they get angry.

I’m also fairly certain I could take him in a fight.

Yes he does. He basically cried during the Kavanaugh hearing. 

And you would easily kick his ass in a fight. Vegas would have trouble setting odds.  

[triplehorn 2664]

4 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

I’m impressed at how hard Trump is owning the shutdown.  

And also not surprised at how angry that he’s stuck in the WH instead of Mar-a-lago.  

 

this morning:

Quote

 

"In fact, there’s almost nobody in the W.H. but me, and...

....I do have a plan on the Shutdown. But to understand that plan you would have to understand the fact that I won the election"

 

Not surprised he's sitting there, alone, practically a prisoner in his own palace. 

You know, right this minute, some people are realizing that talking to Trump might carry some real time...uh...personal risk.

 

[Nice Guy Eddie 13512]

3 hours ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

But that’s the thing. Cornyn is legit great at constituent services and I will give him all the credit in the world for it, because he’s basically working for two, since Cruz lacks the effort or influence to succeed there despite it being the most important part of the job.

 

But Cornyn’s also very driven by his ambition to be Senate Majority Leader and he’s always put party ahead of Texas at nut cuttin’ time.

Did Cornyn just give up the GOP Whip voluntarily or was he forced out?  Basically it’s second in command. 

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

5 minutes ago, Bama Chick said:

Lindsey seems like the kind of person who cries when they get angry.

I’m also fairly certain I could take him in a fight.

Sorry, couldn’t resist.

[tchookem 3900]

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/11/us/california-joshua-trees-cut-down-during-shutdown-trnd/index.html

Take that tree-hugging libtards.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13512]

The tree was preventing them from driving their ATVs onto the govt I mean citizens’ land.  Only logical move was to cut it down.  Geez.

[JimmyJames 12271]

Trump America ladies and gentlemen!

[Bama Chick 28596]

Nah, it’s fine. I was on a flight to Florida for my best friends funeral and literally didn’t see anything past the first quarter of the game.

And, shit, we’ve won so many any Bama fans acting like babies about this are spoiled assholes who are too young to remember the dark days and The Three Mikes of the Apocalypse.

Even the greats have a bad game.

Clemson kicked our ass. Any Bama fans not admitting that or making excuses can suck a tiger striped cock.

But I still want to punch Lindsey in his wrinkly, spray tanned anus face.

[Bozo_Casanova 26451]

Did Cornyn just give up the GOP Whip voluntarily or was he forced out?  Basically it’s second in command. 

Term limited by caucus rules.

[F250 28772]

7 hours ago, Anastasis said:

How long do you figure Rand has been engaged in treasonous election collusion with Russia?

Well, a decade ago the Paul's were Jihadist sympathizers, they only became Russian sympathizers once the public enemy changed.

[Francisco 2.0 32389]

Ya gotta read this article put out by the Post this evening. Some highlights:

-McTurtle, Ryan and McCarthy all explained how this would not work

-In meetings with R senators, he talked about Korea, winning, and slandered John McCain

-When pointed out that if he declared an emergency, he was told a Democratic president could do similar.  Trump told them he was winning reelection in 2020.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-the-white-house-waiting-inside-trumps-defiance-on-the-longest-shutdown-ever/2019/01/12/c512af0c-15ee-11e9-b6ad-9cfd62dbb0a8_story.html?utm_term=.90c06ac1d147

 

Quote

When President Trump made a rare journey to the Capitol last week, he was expected to strategize about how to end the government shutdown he instigated. Instead, he spent the first 20-odd minutes delivering a monologue about “winning.”

“We’re winning” on North Korea, the president told Republican senators Wednesday at a closed-door luncheon. “We’re winning” on Syria and “we’re winning” on the trade war with China, too. And, Trump concluded, they could win on immigration if Republicans stuck together through what is now the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history, according to officials who attended the presidential pep talk. 

Quote

The problem was that Trump offered no path to victory — other than brinkmanship.

Talks between the two parties remained stalled this weekend after the president torpedoed his last negotiating session with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) by walking out of the room.

With Trump determined to deliver on his signature campaign promise of building a border wall and Democrats standing firm against what they view as an immoral and ineffective solution to illegal immigration, there is no end in sight to the dysfunction.

 

Quote

Trump was nevertheless confident on Saturday about his handling of the standoff. “I do have a plan on the Shutdown,” he tweeted. “But to understand that plan you would have to understand the fact that I won the election, and I promised safety and security for the American people.”

 

Spoiler

The president who pitched himself to voters as a world-class dealmaker has proven to be an unreliable negotiator. Grappling for the first time with a divided government, Trump has contradicted himself, sent miscues and spread falsehoods. He has zigzagged between proudly claiming ownership of the shutdown and blaming it on Democrats, and between nearly declaring a national emergency to construct the wall without congressional approval and backing off such a legally and politically perilous action.

As Washington braced for a snowstorm on Saturday morning, Trump was hunkered down in his private quarters at the White House and tweeting taunts to Democrats. “I am in the White House waiting for you!” he wrote in one message. The president claimed in another that there was no chaos in his administration — “In fact, there’s almost nobody in the W.H. but me,” he wrote — and argued that the onus was on Democrats to buckle and agree to fulfill his demand for $5.7 billion in wall funding.

The government could reopen if Trump agreed to sign legislation funding the government, versions of which already have passed both chambers of Congress, and table the polarizing debate over border security.

In the weeks leading up to December’s deadline to fund the government, Trump was warned repeatedly about the dangers of a shutdown but still opted to proceed, according to officials with knowledge of the conversations.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told the president that he had no leverage and that, without a clear strategy, he would be “boxed in a canyon.” He tried to make the case to Trump that even if Pelosi and Schumer were interested in cutting a deal with him, they would be constrained from compromising because of internal Democratic Party pressures to oppose Trump’s wall, these officials said.

Then-House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) talked with Trump by phone for 45 minutes the day before the shutdown, warning that he saw no way to win as he paced in a Capitol hallway just outside a conference room where House Republicans were meeting. Then-House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) warned about the perils of a shutdown during the Christmas season. 

Inside, some of the more hard-line members urged a showdown over border wall funding, arguing that Trump’s core supporters would revolt otherwise. But McCarthy asked, “Tell me what happens when we get into a shutdown? I want to know what our next move is.”

A senior White House official characterized Republican leaders as “supportive” throughout the shutdown.

Trump’s advisers are scrambling to build an exit ramp while also bracing for the shutdown to last weeks longer. Current and former aides said there is little strategy in the White House; people are frustrated and, in the words of one, “freaking out.”

The shutdown was born out of frustration. Angry that he was stymied by party leaders and his own aides from getting more money for the wall in 2018, rattled by conservative criticism and stung by his party’s midterm defeats, Trump decided in late December to plunge into a border fight after being encouraged by Reps. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), both hard-line conservatives. It was a startling decision to McConnell and others, who thought they had White House assurances that a shutdown would be avoided.

“He has no choice here,” said Newt Gingrich, a Trump supporter who was House speaker in the Clinton administration and during the second-longest shutdown, an episode widely viewed as a disaster for Republicans. “He has to win. His entire reputation, his entire relationship with the base, it’s all a function of being committed on big things and not backing down. If he backs down on this, Pelosi will be so emboldened that the next two years will be a nightmare.”

As the shutdown dragged on, aides said, Trump has bragged that he looked “tough” and that his supporters had his back. He has viewed the past three weeks more as an hour-to-hour public relations fight than as a painstaking legislative negotiation, trying to sway opinion with a prime time Oval Office address and a high-profile trip to Texas to survey the U.S.-Mexico border.

“He is determined, as he has been from day one, not to break faith with the people who brought him to the presidency,” said William A. Galston, a senior fellow in governance at the Brookings Institution. “I’ve never seen a president who is more indifferent to expanding his appeal.”

Trump has exhibited more determination than calculation. Over the holidays, he inhabited the White House largely alone, tweeting out his demands and grievances. Several senior West Wing officials described the building as a “ghost town” or a “no man’s land.”

Only after Christmas did administration officials begin realizing the full scale of the logistical problems a prolonged shutdown would cause. Aides said Trump has been largely uninterested in the minutiae of managing government agencies and services.

During negotiation sessions, Trump’s attention has veered wildly. At one such meeting with Pelosi and Schumer in the White House Situation Room earlier this month, the president went on a long diatribe about unrelated topics. He trashed the Iran nuclear deal, telling Democrats they should give him money for the wall because, in his view, they gave President Barack Obama money for the agreement with Tehran. He boasted about his wisdom in ordering the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria. And he raised the specter of impeachment, accusing Pelosi of wanting to try to force him from office — which she denied.

Eventually, he was moved back to the budget talks.

During last week’s Senate lunch, Trump praised his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un while delineating his foreign policy accomplishments. “I don’t know why I get along with all the tough ones and not the soft ones,” he quipped, referring to dictators and allies, according to attendees.

Also at the lunch, Trump asked Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel to stand up for applause and thanked Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) for supporting him on TV. He obliquely knocked the late senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) for not voting to repeal the Affordable Care Act, attendees said.

Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) warned Trump that declaring a national emergency could set a precedent for Democrats to follow on other issues, should they win the White House. But Trump assured them he would win reelection in 2020. 

Vice President Pence, after being roasted by critics last month for sitting idly during Trump’s contentious televised meeting with Pelosi and Schumer, jumped into the negotiations in recent weeks, doing what one of his longtime allies described as a “reimagining” of his dutiful and low-key approach. 

But Pence’s efforts were challenged from the start as his initial pitch to Senate Democrats — in which he floated lowering the demand from $5.7 billion for wall funds — was dismissed by Trump days later, even though Pence delivered the offer at the president’s behest.

Still, Pence, whose aides say he has a preternatural calm, shifted and became a salesman for the president’s position and worked to lay the groundwork for possible executive action.

Democratic aides, however, were irritated by Pence’s dogged emphasis on a crisis during last weekend’s talks and the administration’s lack of preparation on the exact numbers of its requests.

“They’re sitting there going, ‘Where are the numbers? What is going on here?’ ” said a senior House Democratic aide briefed on the discussions.

Some White House officials privately groused that meetings were pointless and believed it was beneath the office of the vice president to negotiate with congressional staffers.

Exasperated, a small group of Republican lawmakers tried to determine a way out last week. Led by Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.), they met Wednesday in Graham’s office with White House legislative affairs director Shahira Knight and senior adviser and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner to discuss a broader immigration deal that could include protections for undocumented children in exchange for $5.7 billion in wall funding. 

Graham saw an opening to broker an accord between Trump, whom he had come to call a friend, and Senate GOP moderates who were urging aggressive steps to reopen the government. 

Following the passage of criminal-justice reform legislation that he championed, Kushner carried himself with the confidence of a White House chief of staff, according to congressional aides.

One GOP senator, who like other officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly, said he appreciated Kushner’s “good attitude” but said that senators “really doubt whether he can do anything” to convince Trump to soften his hard-line tactics and back a bipartisan immigration deal. 

After meeting with McConnell last Thursday, Graham and three colleagues — Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) — presented their plan to Pence. He then relayed the idea to Trump, who was flying to Texas for his border tour.

But the president said no. Pence then told Graham and Alexander that Trump appreciated their proposal but was not interested in re-opening the government until the Democrats were willing to negotiate on the wall.

“I have never been more depressed about moving forward than I am right now,” Graham told reporters that afternoon. He then walked off, muttering: “I’m going to the gym.” 

The next day, Graham called for drastic measures: “It is time for President Trump to use emergency powers.”

 

 

 

[retread 2951]

Graham doesn't sound depressed. He seems excited about American tyranny.

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

50 minutes ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

Ya gotta read this article put out by the Post this evening. Some highlights:

-McTurtle, Ryan and McCarthy all explained how this would not work

-In meetings with R senators, he talked about Korea, winning, and slandered John McCain

-When pointed out that if he declared an emergency, he was told a Democratic president could do similar.  Trump told them he was winning reelection in 2020.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-the-white-house-waiting-inside-trumps-defiance-on-the-longest-shutdown-ever/2019/01/12/c512af0c-15ee-11e9-b6ad-9cfd62dbb0a8_story.html?utm_term=.90c06ac1d147

 

 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

The president who pitched himself to voters as a world-class dealmaker has proven to be an unreliable negotiator. Grappling for the first time with a divided government, Trump has contradicted himself, sent miscues and spread falsehoods. He has zigzagged between proudly claiming ownership of the shutdown and blaming it on Democrats, and between nearly declaring a national emergency to construct the wall without congressional approval and backing off such a legally and politically perilous action.

As Washington braced for a snowstorm on Saturday morning, Trump was hunkered down in his private quarters at the White House and tweeting taunts to Democrats. “I am in the White House waiting for you!” he wrote in one message. The president claimed in another that there was no chaos in his administration — “In fact, there’s almost nobody in the W.H. but me,” he wrote — and argued that the onus was on Democrats to buckle and agree to fulfill his demand for $5.7 billion in wall funding.

The government could reopen if Trump agreed to sign legislation funding the government, versions of which already have passed both chambers of Congress, and table the polarizing debate over border security.

In the weeks leading up to December’s deadline to fund the government, Trump was warned repeatedly about the dangers of a shutdown but still opted to proceed, according to officials with knowledge of the conversations.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told the president that he had no leverage and that, without a clear strategy, he would be “boxed in a canyon.” He tried to make the case to Trump that even if Pelosi and Schumer were interested in cutting a deal with him, they would be constrained from compromising because of internal Democratic Party pressures to oppose Trump’s wall, these officials said.

Then-House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) talked with Trump by phone for 45 minutes the day before the shutdown, warning that he saw no way to win as he paced in a Capitol hallway just outside a conference room where House Republicans were meeting. Then-House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) warned about the perils of a shutdown during the Christmas season. 

Inside, some of the more hard-line members urged a showdown over border wall funding, arguing that Trump’s core supporters would revolt otherwise. But McCarthy asked, “Tell me what happens when we get into a shutdown? I want to know what our next move is.”

A senior White House official characterized Republican leaders as “supportive” throughout the shutdown.

Trump’s advisers are scrambling to build an exit ramp while also bracing for the shutdown to last weeks longer. Current and former aides said there is little strategy in the White House; people are frustrated and, in the words of one, “freaking out.”

The shutdown was born out of frustration. Angry that he was stymied by party leaders and his own aides from getting more money for the wall in 2018, rattled by conservative criticism and stung by his party’s midterm defeats, Trump decided in late December to plunge into a border fight after being encouraged by Reps. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), both hard-line conservatives. It was a startling decision to McConnell and others, who thought they had White House assurances that a shutdown would be avoided.

“He has no choice here,” said Newt Gingrich, a Trump supporter who was House speaker in the Clinton administration and during the second-longest shutdown, an episode widely viewed as a disaster for Republicans. “He has to win. His entire reputation, his entire relationship with the base, it’s all a function of being committed on big things and not backing down. If he backs down on this, Pelosi will be so emboldened that the next two years will be a nightmare.”

As the shutdown dragged on, aides said, Trump has bragged that he looked “tough” and that his supporters had his back. He has viewed the past three weeks more as an hour-to-hour public relations fight than as a painstaking legislative negotiation, trying to sway opinion with a prime time Oval Office address and a high-profile trip to Texas to survey the U.S.-Mexico border.

“He is determined, as he has been from day one, not to break faith with the people who brought him to the presidency,” said William A. Galston, a senior fellow in governance at the Brookings Institution. “I’ve never seen a president who is more indifferent to expanding his appeal.”

Trump has exhibited more determination than calculation. Over the holidays, he inhabited the White House largely alone, tweeting out his demands and grievances. Several senior West Wing officials described the building as a “ghost town” or a “no man’s land.”

Only after Christmas did administration officials begin realizing the full scale of the logistical problems a prolonged shutdown would cause. Aides said Trump has been largely uninterested in the minutiae of managing government agencies and services.

During negotiation sessions, Trump’s attention has veered wildly. At one such meeting with Pelosi and Schumer in the White House Situation Room earlier this month, the president went on a long diatribe about unrelated topics. He trashed the Iran nuclear deal, telling Democrats they should give him money for the wall because, in his view, they gave President Barack Obama money for the agreement with Tehran. He boasted about his wisdom in ordering the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria. And he raised the specter of impeachment, accusing Pelosi of wanting to try to force him from office — which she denied.

Eventually, he was moved back to the budget talks.

During last week’s Senate lunch, Trump praised his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un while delineating his foreign policy accomplishments. “I don’t know why I get along with all the tough ones and not the soft ones,” he quipped, referring to dictators and allies, according to attendees.

Also at the lunch, Trump asked Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel to stand up for applause and thanked Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) for supporting him on TV. He obliquely knocked the late senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) for not voting to repeal the Affordable Care Act, attendees said.

Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) warned Trump that declaring a national emergency could set a precedent for Democrats to follow on other issues, should they win the White House. But Trump assured them he would win reelection in 2020. 

Vice President Pence, after being roasted by critics last month for sitting idly during Trump’s contentious televised meeting with Pelosi and Schumer, jumped into the negotiations in recent weeks, doing what one of his longtime allies described as a “reimagining” of his dutiful and low-key approach. 

But Pence’s efforts were challenged from the start as his initial pitch to Senate Democrats — in which he floated lowering the demand from $5.7 billion for wall funds — was dismissed by Trump days later, even though Pence delivered the offer at the president’s behest.

Still, Pence, whose aides say he has a preternatural calm, shifted and became a salesman for the president’s position and worked to lay the groundwork for possible executive action.

Democratic aides, however, were irritated by Pence’s dogged emphasis on a crisis during last weekend’s talks and the administration’s lack of preparation on the exact numbers of its requests.

“They’re sitting there going, ‘Where are the numbers? What is going on here?’ ” said a senior House Democratic aide briefed on the discussions.

Some White House officials privately groused that meetings were pointless and believed it was beneath the office of the vice president to negotiate with congressional staffers.

Exasperated, a small group of Republican lawmakers tried to determine a way out last week. Led by Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.), they met Wednesday in Graham’s office with White House legislative affairs director Shahira Knight and senior adviser and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner to discuss a broader immigration deal that could include protections for undocumented children in exchange for $5.7 billion in wall funding. 

Graham saw an opening to broker an accord between Trump, whom he had come to call a friend, and Senate GOP moderates who were urging aggressive steps to reopen the government. 

Following the passage of criminal-justice reform legislation that he championed, Kushner carried himself with the confidence of a White House chief of staff, according to congressional aides.

One GOP senator, who like other officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly, said he appreciated Kushner’s “good attitude” but said that senators “really doubt whether he can do anything” to convince Trump to soften his hard-line tactics and back a bipartisan immigration deal. 

After meeting with McConnell last Thursday, Graham and three colleagues — Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) — presented their plan to Pence. He then relayed the idea to Trump, who was flying to Texas for his border tour.

But the president said no. Pence then told Graham and Alexander that Trump appreciated their proposal but was not interested in re-opening the government until the Democrats were willing to negotiate on the wall.

“I have never been more depressed about moving forward than I am right now,” Graham told reporters that afternoon. He then walked off, muttering: “I’m going to the gym.” 

The next day, Graham called for drastic measures: “It is time for President Trump to use emergency powers.”

 

 

 

Trump backstabbed McConnell on the first go around when they passed that CR 100-0 in the Senate.  

That must have stung cocaine Mitch

[atomheartbevo 89659]

NSWF

 

[Francisco 2.0 32389]

Ya know, with all this talk about a wall and crisis and a national emergency, why isn't anyone in the administration worried about the Canadian border?

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/11/congress-canada-mexico-border-security-terrorism-1071243

 

Quote

While President Donald Trump fixates on the threat at the U.S-Mexico border, House Democrats plan to use their agenda to investigate the terrorist threat at the northern border. 

There are nearly 200 vacancies for Border Patrol agents at the Canadian border, and the Department of Homeland Security has warned that homegrown terrorists can easily -- and legally -- cross the U.S.-Canada border without being noticed.

This terrorist threat has caught notice of Democrats now running the House Homeland Security Committee, which will investigate the porous nature of the Canadian border and whether the border agency has the right resources to catch would-be terrorists from slipping into the country unnoticed.

 

Quote

"Where is it that, you know, there's porous areas in our homeland security structure?” said Rep. Lou Correa (D-Calif.), who is expected to lead the House Homeland Security Oversight and Management Efficiency Subcommittee, told POLITICO. "And I think looking at the Canadian border is definitely a place I want to go.”

The White House is asking for $211 million to hire 750 more Border Patrol agents — an ask that appears to be limited to the southern border, where more than 17,000 agents already work.

 

 

Quote

In contrast, about 2,000 agents in all now police the northern border, according to a recent report by House Homeland Security Republicans. And the Canadian border is more than twice as long as the U.S. border with Mexico.

Democratic members plan to "ensure security of the northern border hasn't been ignored by the administration," a committee spokesperson said.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has faced challenges recruiting and keeping personnel at the northern border sectors along the 5,525-mile-long boundary. Clusters of cities and waterways hover around portions of the border, but vast swaths are sparsely populated and cover rugged terrain.

 

Quote

NBC News reported this month that CBP data provided to lawmakers last year showed that the agency stopped just six foreign nationals listed on the Terrorist Screening Database at the southwest border in the first half of fiscal 2018, compared with 41 foreigners listed in the database encountered at the Canadian border. Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders had said CBP had caught 4,000 known or suspected terrorists "that came across our southern border," a claim Vice President Mike Pence later repeated. Counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway later walked back the false claim, saying it was an “unfortunate misstatement.”

 

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

1 minute ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

why isn't anyone in the administration worried about the Canadian border?

Because no one on earth is afraid of Canadians

[Aqua Buddha 14595]

22 minutes ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

Ya know, with all this talk about a wall and crisis and a national emergency, why isn't anyone in the administration worried about the Canadian border?

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/11/congress-canada-mexico-border-security-terrorism-1071243

 

 

 

 

 

Because Canadians are white.  Duh.

[GSU&UT 1798]

1 minute ago, Aqua Buddha said:

Because Canadians are white.  Duh.

It's this and only this.

[MaybeACoordinator 8349]

2 minutes ago, Aqua Buddha said:

Because Canadians are white.  Duh.

Are you sure about that? 

[elfenix 34238]

It costs $281,000 to hire a border patrol agent? Even considering training and equipment that seems way too high

[Gatorubet 30234]

3 minutes ago, elfenix said:

It costs $281,000 to hire a border patrol agent? Even considering training and equipment that seems way too high

Seems like $134.45 for some Bud Light and corn chips and anti-chaffing powder, we could bring the Border Militia back. .

[Party_Taco 3726]

It costs $281,000 to hire a border patrol agent? Even considering training and equipment that seems way too high

Government isn’t know for cost efficiency.

Not that it’s equivalent, but what does it cost to train a standard Marine?