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Forget Trump, Congress Is the Problem
We on Ricochet may be divided on Donald Trump, but there should be one thing that unites us — a white-hot hatred of our despicable and anti-conservative (or just utterly spineless) Congress.
Leaving aside the budget that gives the Democrats everything, and only gives us money to fund the military, despite controlling Congress, there have been repeated failures to enact conservative legislation. It’s not Trump standing in the way, it’s Congress breaking promises repeatedly. No repeal of Obamacare, despite running on that issue and having passed a repeal bill under Obama that died in the Senate. Numerous conservative nominees stalled in committee or waiting for approval.
Where is the conservative agenda? Do people think Trump is not going to sign bills that carry out conservative policies? We have a rare opportunity to enact an agenda, which will probably be ending soon. Even if Trump is a horrible human being, he will sign these bills — just give him the wall and some immigration enforcement, which are conservative goals last time I checked.
If this is what we get for voting Republican and donating time or money, why bother? This was a Pelosi-Schumer budget, plus the military. Why can’t we pass a budget just with Republican votes? Start lean, and add just enough pork to get it to pass. Maybe try following regular order like you promised? Then again, maybe the Republican Party is no different from the Democrats except for piously invoking Reagan and preaching about civility while robbing us blind. It’s almost like the Scoop Jackson/Harry Truman Democrats are now running the GOP.
If you think that Trump being kicked out of the Solar System would solve this, ask what that would change about this budget from hell, delivered by Congress? If we build an android that exactly duplicated Reagan as of 1980, how would he handle this Congress differently? (Would he prefer Tip O’Neill to Paul Ryan?)
So, Ricochet: can we stand united in denouncing this abomination of a budget? It’s not like we don’t already know exactly what arguments each person would use regarding Trump, without actually persuading a single person. Can we demand that Congress step up and start controlling spending? “Either work with Trump or outflank him on the right, but act instead of just virtue signal. Don’t bend over and act like a masochist being whipped by Schumer and Pelosi — you have the majority. Use it. If you don’t, the Democrats certainly will.”
If we shift from the tired debate on Trump, which by now is a vaguely horse-shaped smear on the ground, we might be able to target the sellout Republicans who were behind this Betrayal Budget. Get a Congress that is consistently conservative and the GOP will stand for more than just Trump.
Published in Domestic Policy
My congressman voted against it, as I was pretty sure he would. Unfortunately, both my senators voted for it. I think that luckily, Marsha Blackburn will replace Bob Corker, but then, I’m a misogynist.
Some day the dems will wrap the mantle of fiscal responsibility around themselves and say “Look how the deficit grew during the Trump administration!”
Oh please. The problem is Trump not standing in the way! What on earth do you think the Constitutional power of veto is? It is designed for the purpose of “standing in the way” of Congress. Period.
Trump threw in the towel–a white one at the end of his very small stick. Fitting for a man who speaks loudly. Maybe after Trump does his “Nixon Exit” when Speaker Pelosi files “Articles” then President Pence will have a couple of years to start the “legacy” clean-up.
My congressman voted against it, too. He felt his no vote was important he immediately sent out an email about it. Too bad the dems in my state are trying to get his district redrawn. Wonder why? I really don’t want to go back to being in the district with Chapel Hell.
It is disappointing that Trump didn’t veto this. I can’t say it any better than Ole Summers.
Didn’t a court just say that gerrymandering was wrong? Or was it only Republican gerrymandering?
@randywebster, I think you know the answer to that question.
I suspect I know the answer.
Well of course. Maps redrawn by Democrats are AOK. Maps redrawn by Republicans are Evil Incarnate.
Couldn’t find 10 billion for the wall in a 1300 billion budget. Money for Planned Parenthood. Money for NPR. Money for Obamacare.
Why should I vote for those lying thieves again?
That’s my first thought. But then I think “The alternative is worse.”
That is the way legislatures behave everywhere and throughout our own history. They log roll, extort, spend, it’s their nature and they will always behave this way unless their jobs are threatened by specific public outcry. We can’t expect them to behave otherwise so it is about President Trump. He must give them a reduced budget produced by his cabinet. They must begin at zero and cut deeply, firing agency heads and DAS that don’t comply. The cuts and budget must be based on principles, the constitution, and of course eliminating fraud and abuse so that it can be built around a narrative that is unassailable. Then the President and the cabinet must sell it with an all court press. They must have stories of fraud and stupid spending, waste and abuse and about what the Federal government can and cannot do. The Republicans do not need a filibuster proof Senate if they get the story out and right. President Trump knows about narratives but his one requires a blueprint. He’s supposed to know about blue prints as well.
The problem with your idea is the ‘all court press’. Money will have to talk, loudly, before the pr arm of the Demo party will allow anything like what you propose to air to the general public. Then, the spinmeisters will turn and twist and slice and dice until the blueprint becomes blue confetti. Remember the ‘tax cuts will raise your taxes’, ‘crumbs, pittances, etc.’?
I fear that the system is irretrievably broken. When Trump came on the scene I surfaced from my black pool of hopelessness and despair allowed myself a shimer of a glimmer of hope that the country could be saved. After this massive kick in the balls, I’m done—I’m more convinced now than ever that the American experiment is over. The corruption at all levels of society (including the personal) is just too great. Do I blame Trump? Well, partly, but I’ll never, ever join the #NeverTrump crowd. Save yourselves.
I can agree with that. The way I look at it, The Swamp won Round One. The Republicans had better win Round Two (repal Obamacare and replace with market forces, make the tax cuts permanent, and go for another round of cuts), or The Swamp is guaranteed to win Rounds Three and Four with a possible Democrat Senate. I’d sure hate for Trump not to get another Supreme Court nominee approved . . .
The dogs bark, but the caravan rolls on…
It is being supported by the real conservatives. Phoney conservatives, however, keep duping their electorates into sending them back to Congress over and over and over (McCain & McConnell, I’m looking at you among others)
So many squishy, Go-Along-To-Get-Along Republicans slap ‘conservative’ all over their campaign blurb, because they know voters want conservatives in office, but aren’t conservative at all.
In the short term, yes. But if that’s what it takes to rid ourselves of the Go-Along-To-Get-Along’ers it’s a price worth paying. Get rid of the old GATGA bulls/matriarchs and in a few years let some young conservative fire-pissers come forward to beat the Dems who got elected in the interregnum.
The above paragraph, yes, I totally agree.
The last paragraph above is nothing more than Never Trump vindictive…sad that you had to go there.
This is what is so shocking, so disappointing, and what will, in the end, be the start of Trump’s decline. This is disgusting. I do not know how he recovers. There is no 3 dimensional chess going on here. This is just losing.
We’re talking game theory here. The lobbyists are professional lobbyists so what is most important to them is not to lose when their competitors win. That’s true of Congressmen and Senators as well. Therefore it is only possible to win the game by imposing losses on everyone. Only the President can do this and he can must impose the losses in a systematic meaningful way that carries it’s own set of rules and its own narrative. Then there must be no compromise or it all falls apart. Therefore the compromises must be worked out before hand the way we do with trade negotiations. Of course it can’t be an up or down vote as in trade but the equivalent where some tiny fudges are allowed around the edges. It can be done. It’s just there are few around Washington who know how to play this game to win.
Are you from Tennessee? Corker voted against it.
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/115-2018/s63
I’m sorry, but count me not united. Mostly, I’m pretty happy with Congress. Yeah, there are a few Senators who are mucking things up – McCain, Flake, Murkowski, Collins, sometimes Paul. And for that, I blame those individuals and their constituents. I don’t blame the whole Congress, much less feeling white-hot hatred yadda, yadda, yadda. In my humble opinion, anyone who can’t see the difference between this Congress and a potential Democratic Congress really needs to visit an ophthalmologist.
As far as this budget goes, it’s pretty much what anyone should have expected. No, it’s not what I would have written if I was Supreme Dictator, but I’m not Supreme Dictator and neither are Ryan, Trump, or McConnell. Especially McConnell. We have a one vote majority in the Senate, and that does not enable us to do whatever the hell we want on purely partisan lines. I wasn’t there for the sausage-making, but I believe our guys got the best that they could get. Pulling a stunt like a government shutdown would only increase the chances of losing Congress in November, and that would be the end of any Trump agenda. The end. No immigration reform. No more good judges. No more nothing.
So no, I am not united. And be careful what you wish for.
Trump involved himself heavily in the Obamacare process and the result was that repeal was taken off the table. To pretend that his mushy thinking on the subject (“We can’t have people dying in the streets!” Dude, we never did, this is America) is to ignore reality.
In contrast, the tax bill succeeded largely because Trump didn’t play much of a role in getting it passed. He’ll clearly sign anything Congress gives him to sign, but he’s not a clear thinker so when he tells Congress what to write we’re more likely to get a mess than a clear conservative policy.
Although I agree with this statement @larry3435, I still cannot express the depth of my disappointment that there is essentially no money for the wall while all of the leftist agenda is funded 110%…and it is all done with deficit spending. Unless Trump calls the wall a national security necessity (as it is) and funds it from increased defense budget money, this budget is terrible and the optics make Trump look impotent. It does seem that the Republican congressmen considered that aspect a bonus.
Signing the omnibus was effectively the end of the Trump Presidency.
Even if someone died/resigned tomorrow, there’s no chance of getting another conservative Supreme Court justice through the Senate.
The Republicans will lose at least the House in November. Trump will avoid impeachment by making deals with the Democrats.
Poignant comment by John Hinderaker over at Powerline today: “you can vote for conservatism, but you can’t get it.”
This is true. And it’s why democracies have a very short life-span, and republics just a little longer one.
You can have 49 white hot conservatives….but all you need is a couple squish Republicans to thwart anything decent from passing. Such is lawmaking. Add in that the GOP is deeply divided on key issues, and its a bear to pass anything truly conservative. .
Thanks. I missed that. I’m only half-sad now.
If you or anyone had the inclination, a walk down my memory lane of my Ricochet or Twitter posts would clearly show that I never was NeverTrump, am not NeverTrump now, and will not be NeverTrump in the future. BUT…
I fancy myself a realist. And though I wish it were not so, Trump just did himself in. I wish him well in his future endeavors. He certainly brought some hope to We the People in 2016 when there was none. But that hope left the building with his epic capitulation to The Swamp Creatures that delivered that Omnibus to his desk. Without his willingness to inflict a little short-term pain by use of his Veto pen, he doomed his Presidency. There is just no other magical thinking way out of that fact.