- Trump wanted $5.7 billion for his wall
- Pelosi called it immoral and offered one dollar
Pelosi was said to have signed the interim deal to open the government for three weeks with nine pens (for souvenir sake) all the while gloating regarding the significance of her victory over Trump. She held out. Trump blinked. Zero dollars for the wall. Pelosi was a national hero on the left!
Certainly she had proved her point about government shutdowns and who would take the blame. Certainly she would eventually get a clean budget bill with no funding for the wall.
But with all signs pointing to an agreement where the President would actually get a reduced amount of funding for the wall in order to pass a budget that avoids another shut down, who will win that political optics battle? Does the final number (as long as it is more than one dollar) really matter?
Right now, they are talking about a deal where the Democrats would provide additional funding for border security that would include funding for repair, fill in, and limited construction of new barriers in specific locations. Democrats are also seeking to include some actual "limits" to where a barrier could ultimately be built.
Various sources have confirmed that the gap has narrowed from $5.7 billion and one dollar to somewhere between $2 billion (sought by the GOP dealmakers) vs a few hundred million (offered by Democratic dealmakers). ABC is reporting that deal may have been reached at right around 1.5 or 1.6 billion, although none of the negotiators are confirming this.
Rumors are that the President would take what congress gives him, and then continue to pursue other means to garner additional funding for additional walling. I wonder out loud if opposition to this move will be reduced, if he gets his foot in the door with congressional funding.
Some on the left are already suggesting that Democrats can still call it a political win, if they can avoid using the term "wall" in any of the actual budget language. I suspect that is mostly wishful thinking, as Trump has long since stopped relying on the term "wall" for his narrative. They can certainly lay stake to the claim that they "reduced" the amount that the President was asking for, but that begs several questions.
- Isn't immoral immoral?
- Does it matter exactly how many billion you spend on something you deem to be immoral?
- Shouldn't your stance remain at "no" funding for something immoral?
In my mind, the loser in all of this will actually end up being Nancy Pelosi. She took the absolute stance on the wall, which basically offered no suggestion of any compromise. I strongly suspect that there will be a lot of angry liberal Democrats in Congress what will vote against this for the sole reason that there is ANY money for a border barrier (but not enough to prevent it from passing). They thought that they had already won this battle, and will not be happy to have the rug pulled out from under them.
Meanwhile Trump made a significant ask (5.7 billion) understanding that any money he received allows him the political trip down to the border to "oversee" the new construction of the border barrier... which no doubt will go back to being a "wall" once the funding is in place. At the very least, he would be avoiding the potential humiliating defeat of getting no border barrier funding, and if he is successful at finding other funding for additional barrier construction, he potentially ends up as the clear winner.
24 comments:
In spite of the invasion of beaners....a wall will do nothing to help....However.....there will be funds for monitoring, people, wire and technology...I just wish the assholes like you Lil Scotty....stop the BS of any ANYONE advocating open borders....only the idiots in trumps base think that is true.....keep trolling....
Trump has already won.
What Warren believes is stupid.
“Today, a minimum wage job in America will not keep a momma and a baby out of poverty,” she said.
But some will eat it up.
Why not $35 an hour.
KD said...
What Warren believes is stupid.
I'm sure she's worried about your opinion goat fucking asshole...
This witch fake see thru concern for the baby. What about the mother's Husband. Or is it her America the mother are All single.
Trump probably splits the baby , around $2.9 billion.
Dems need desperately to have a path out.
Trump doesn't use a pen and a phone, he actually uses the system and the US Constitution .
What about the mother's Husband.
What about him??? Goat fucking asshole......
a wall will do nothing to help.
Yet the border security agency believes it is the cornerstone to patrolling the border, state that it is their first priority, and 89% of border agents believe it helps.
Oh and just five years ago, nearly every Democrat believed that a border barrier was a great idea for border security.
Not to mention, statistically walls have worked better (worldwide) than anything else to control border crossing.
So I am wondering where you would have gotten the idea that walls don't work? Could it be that you just hate Trump and in the process lost your ability to think?
Always trust the guys with their boots on the ground and there ads on the line.
More good Socialism.
Bloomberg news:
1. “a job with family-sustaining wages, family and medical leave, vacations, and retirement security”
2. “high-quality education, including higher education and trade schools”
3. “high-quality health care”
4. “safe, affordable, adequate housing”
5. “economic security to all who are unable or unwilling to work”
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: 'The GOP is so intellectually bankrupt'
Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has blasted the GOP for being “intellectually bankrupt” after unsubstantiated rumors were spread online about her finances.
She tweeted Saturday: “This stuff is really sad. The GOP is so intellectually bankrupt that they no longer engage to debate issues in good faith, but instead seek to lie, distort, name-call, target, & destroy people/communities w any means possible. It’s a virus and a race to the bottom.”
She had previously retweeted a post from controversial figure John LeFevre who wrote: “@aoc has a 430 credit score, two evictions, and an empty résumé. Just two months ago, she couldn’t afford an apartment in DC. Now, the Democratic leadership has put her on the Financial Services Committee & the media is saying that her Green New Deal will ‘reshape’ the economy.”
Ocasio-Cortez said in response, in part: “The right has gotten increasingly desperate with spreading targeted rumors about me lately….(Also, I had to live alone in my family’s apt after my dad died, so the eviction lie is especially bad).”
She also referenced a Snopes review disputing the claim about her finances.
The fact-checking site noted:
“In general, we found nothing indicating financial irresponsibility in Ocasio-Cortez’s background, whose April 2018 Financial Disclosure Report detailed a modest amount of assets and income, but also no liabilities other than a federal student loan.”
Average tax refunds down 8.4 percent as angry taxpayers vent on Twitter
Average tax refunds were down last week 8.4 percent for the first week of the tax season over the same time last year, according to the Internal Revenue Service. Dipping refunds are inflaming a growing army of taxpayers stunned by the consequences of the Trump administration’s tax law — and the effects of the partial government shutdown.
The average refund check paid out so far has been $1,865, down from $2,035 at the same point in 2018, according to IRS data. Low-income taxpayers often file early to pocket the money as soon as possible. Many taxpayers count on the refunds to make important payments, or spend the money on things like home repairs, a vacation or a car.
The IRS had estimated it would issue about 2.3 percent fewer refunds this year as a result of the changes in the federal tax law, according to Bloomberg. MSNBC reports that 30 million Americans will owe the IRS money this year — 3 million more than before Trump’s tax law.
“There are going to be a lot of unhappy people over the next month,” Edward Karl of the American Institute of CPAs told Politico. “Taxpayers want a large refund.” Some 71 percent of taxpayers received refunds last year worth about $3,000 on average, according to Karl.
Scads of taxpayers are complaining on Twitter that they have always received a refund — but now owe the IRS instead.
The number of refunds sent out by the IRS was also down — about 24 percent — as the agency struggled to get up to speed after the government shutdown. The agency sent out about 4.67 million tax refunds in the week ending Feb. 1, compared with about 6.17 million in the same period in 2018, according to IRS data.
This year’s filing season, which began two days after the shutdown ended on Jan. 25, is complicated because it’s the first after the 2017 tax law was enacted. Though President Donald Trump boasted that the new code would be so simplified that people could file their taxes on a postcard, that’s not the case.
In addition, the changes complicated payroll withholding, so that not enough money was withheld by employers in many cases, meaning that people now owe more taxes. The new law also capped IRS deductions for paid state and local taxes, including real estate taxes, resulting in a nasty surprise for many filers. Several other deductions are no longer allowed.
The frustrations will likely continue to fuel support for plans to boost taxes on the ultra-wealthy. A poll last month found that nearly 60 percent of registered voters support a plan by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to impose a 70 percent marginal tax rate on the portion of annual income that exceeds $10 million a year.
Twitter is filling up with complaints from people whose situation has changed radically.
Russell Matthews
@NightBurn0381
.@realDonaldTrump @GOP I am a middle class nurse. Why is my #taxrefund 59% (literally 1000s of dollars) LOWER this year than anytime in the past seven years? Nothing in my situation has changed. I thought your “wonderful” #tax plan was supposed to help the middle class? #GOPlies
LoFi Builds
@LoFiBuilds
Boy oh boy. My wife and I usually get a good return. This year we owed an EXTRA 2400$ to the Federal Government, which obviously caused us to owe a nice bit of money. #taxstory #NeverOwedBefore
That was from the Bloomberg news page. Not the motto of her policies.
I don't support “economic security to all who are unwilling to work”. Neither does anyone actually say that.
Trump has to be worried about this guy.
Will Trump claim that he's not from the United States?
Senator Cory Booker crisscrossed the state of Iowa for first time as a presidential candidate on Saturday -- promising to pull a divided nation back together and eschewing negative campaign rhetoric.
At times Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, discouraged crowds who would "boo" at the mention of Republican leaders. With his fresh campaign slogan “Together, America, We Will Rise,” Booker encouraged his followers them to practice compassion and work together with their political opponents to find common ground.
“I have to beat Republicans, but unite Americans,” he said.
The statement is reminiscent of former President Barack Obama, who memorably told crowds, “Don’t boo. Vote!,” during his 2012 presidential campaign.
Refunds averaged $1,865 compared to $2,035 for tax year 2017, according to the Internal Revenue Service.
Yeah, that's a good thing Roger. It means the government didn't take so much of your money intrest free through the year.
Twitter is filling up with complaints from people whose situation has changed radically.Twitter is filling up with complaints from people whose situation has changed radically.
All those people complaining are idiots. As are you James.
Roger your post is fantastic news, can you figure out Why?
"Refunds averaged $1,865 compared to $2,035 for tax year 2017, according to the Internal Revenue Service."
They're getting pretty damn desperate if this is all they have.
Ocasio-Cortez's document: "Economic security for all who are unable or unwilling to work." Business Insider
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's staff says a document that supported paying Americans 'unwilling to work' was accidentally released" Reddit
CS, you are right.
That the Three Liberal Stooges of CHT don't understand why it happened and how this is a positive exposes their basic understanding of the economic world around them.
I don't support “economic security to all who are unwilling to work”. Neither does anyone actually say that.
yeah alky, it's not like it's actually IN WRITING or anything.
Ocasio-Cortez have staff who have admitted that they posted the proposals on the website. Since then:
They took them down.
Claimed it was a hacked post.
Claimed that it was doctored.
Then ultimately admitted that it was a "draft" of her proposal, but wasn't a final draft and shouldn't have been posted.
So at the end of the day, these things were "in writing" and were published on her website. Only after much ridicule and criticism did they take them down.
There seems to be little reason to believe anything that they say, as the their first response was to go on National Television and lie. I strongly suspect that this was not an accident, and it was not just a "draft", and ultimately they really didn't expect the sort of blow back and ridicule that they got.
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