Pages

January 22, 2018

The shutdown will be Tweeted
#TrumpShutdown or #SchumerShutdown?

The revolution, unfortunately, won't be televised because America will never have a left-wing revolution even if it needs it.

First, it's not Schumer. Given that a few Senate Republicans also voted for the shutdown, Mitch McConnell needed to get 15 Dems  or so in favor.

Second, if we want to call it Schumer's tactically, it's still McConnell's strategically. He's made the first post-shutdown deal offer, and it's little different than what Paul Ryan rammed through the House GOP.

Update, Jan. 22 — Call it the Schumer Shutdown because Chuck and other Senate Dems are going to cave on reopening while getting little back other than a vacuous McConnell promise.)

It's also his until he forces somebody in Team Trump to be the point man for the White House.

Nobody has been so far, and now, somebody there has decided to pour gasoline on the fire by calling Democrats accessories to murder.

McConnell knows better from Obamcare and his Senate failure there.

I don't expect a solution today, and would be surprised if we get one by the end of the week.

So far, talks about a short-term extension, even if they set the stage for further talks on Dreamers, aren't saying anything about a better extension of CHIP than has recently been discussed. Beyond that, as Lindsay Graham has said, per my notes above, as long as Stephen Miller is the point man for the White House on immigration, ain't much of nothing happening. But it doesn't look like that's changing immediately. John Kelly is reportedly joining with Miller, and he's almost as hardcore, albeit without open flirtation with racism.

So, even if this short-term extension passes, prepare for another shutdown in three weeks. (Unless Schumer caves again.)

If that's the playout, Schumer and other Democrats need to get smarter than his and others' recent ideas.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Your comments are appreciated, as is at least a modicum of politeness.
Comments are moderated, so yours may not appear immediately.
Due to various forms of spamming, comments with professional websites, not your personal website or blog, may be rejected.