Then why is a Trump having to resort to Wall funding as a “poison pill” in the budget standoff?
The wall was his signature promise, and he hasn’t event laid the groundwork to have it be part of the budget with his own party?
And from that you assume that he “doesn’t care”? I think that is a giant leap on your part. And one more of your awful predictions that just isn’t so.
And as I have reminded you there are approximately 1,360 left in his term. What if the wall began in year two, or year three?
You have to leave the emotion out of your analysis. Seriously, I’m trying to help you here.
Ok, got it, you can’t point to any. That’s fine. And the fact that he’s trying to inject spending for it at the 11th hour using the government shutdown as his hostage makes it clear he hasn’t laid the groundwork with Republicans to get his most famous campaign pledge a reality. The evidence suggests he isn’t all that motivated to get it done.
He could change his mind tomorrow, which wouldn’t be a surprise, since he has the attention span of a gnat, but up to this point, the lack of effort in getting (1) the wall built and, most importantly, (2) getting Mexico to pay for it indicates it’s just another thing he said that he isn’t motivated to deliver on (add that to swamp draining, etc.).
But you said “he doesn’t care” about building the wall. Simply because he has not accomplished it’s beginning in the first 100 days? That is what I am criticizing.
Anyone with a modicum of political expertise would not have used that phraseology.
Obviously he CARES about the wall…it was constantly stated on the campaign trail that he was going to build such a wall…so he cares…he cares…OBVIOUSLY.
So let’s say the following to be accurate:
“Trump has not yet achieved his signature promise to begin building the wall. But with 1,360 days remaining in his Presidency there is a good chance that he will act on this as he knows that should this promise be broken he will most likely not be reelected.”
Very much so. Reports are that both sides of the aisle were making pretty good headway on a budget deal prior to the “master negotiator” trying to hijack the process with an ultimatum at the 11th hour. I think you’re right that this a bellwether for future negotiations in the Houses, and I suspect McConnell and Ryan are closer to Schumer and Pelosi than they are with the White House right now.
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It’s hateful lingo like the above which keeps you from being good at this stuff. Try to work through your hate in other ways as it is coloring your analysis and not in a good way.
A reminder that Reid changed the rules after Obama’s picks were blocked 79 times (only 68 had ever been blocked for all presidents combined). McConnell went nuclear after one.
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You are correct! And I appreciate the historical analysis and party comparison to fully make your point.
People were celebrating, but down in coal country only to the extent they were content with their guns. Most of the people I have experience couldn’t really care less about the legality and longterm of the SCOTUS as long as nobody touches their guns. The #1 through 10 most important topics to people from my old neck of the world are Jobs, Guns, Immigration, and Jobs 7 more times.
You’ve said it before and it was pretty accurate. Ultimately Trump has to deliver on these Jobs promises to the more rural parts of the country. If he can’t, he’s going to have a hard time rowing against that shit creek current.
I think with how unrealistic the goals are he set for miners/etc. he’s doomed himself to fail in that regard. Ultimately it won’t matter for most of them, as the “Dems want to steel yur guns” is the easiest way to get the vote in the R column.
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Pence should be the advisor on doing the political dance that is necessary to make law happen by negotiating with his party leaders and selected cross aisle members.
If he is not advising Trump, then that is on Pence.
Conversely, if Trump is not listening because:
Narcissism,
Nepotism giving him poor advice, or
Unwillingness to differentiate between CEO answering to board vs being sole proprietor;
He is a fool and will be remembered as dragging down the US.
In direct answer to your query, I see Ryan (and McCain et al) as opposition party. Not joking, I actually believe they compare to Vichy.
Totally true. Even scaring those folks into thinking that the dems will steal their guns will not be enough for Trump to get reelected. He really needs to produce jobs for those folks in one fashion or another. Short of that he needs a scapegoat in order to say “I tried to get the coal miners jobs to return but that dam Congress…bla bla bla.” He can’t do that right now as republicans control the Senate and the House. But in two years that could all change and he may have another party to blame. Will it work? It might but I wouldn’t bet on it.
But I think we can both agree that 100 days is far too early to write him off.
Your thoughts?
You are spot on Pence is the man for the job. Hopefully Trump sees this and will allow Pence to work his magic with people that he knows and has worked with in the past.
Nope, keep reading, “political expert” - as I explained, he’s done nothing to smooth the path to getting his signature promise a reality.
And while I wouldn’t ordinarily resort to pulling internet rank on something like this, here’s a protip from someone who has been close to politically executives on how stuff actually gets done - if you want your number one priority to get passed for maximum substantive and political effect, especially controversial legislation, you work your tail off to get legislative consensus on it as quickly as possible, because the political terrain will never be as a favorable as it is right now during the honeymoon period and with full control of Congress.
Political executives who really, really care about a priority do this. Waiting is a strategic disaster. You either wait because you don’t care that much, or you are not very good at the job.
So, Trump’s number one priority is The Big, Beautiful Wall? If that were so, he’d have already been deep in the weeds with Congressional Republicans to pass a bill from day one, instead of waiting till the last minute on a funding showdown to try and use hostage leverage to make his own Republicans hold their nose and vote for it out of desperation. (And they’ve called his bluff before.)
You keep saying he has the rest of his term to build the wall - he really doesn’t. Polling says the people (generally) don’t support it. Democrats hate it, and border state Republicans don’t like it. Trump’s popularity - and personal influence - is headed down. A controversial wall has to be built now, if he actually wants to do it.
So, either he really doesn’t care about it - which I don’t think he actually does - or he really does, and is just that bad at strategy.
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To write him off completely? Sure. But it’s a great time to measure him vs the 100 day plan he personally put out. In regards to his 100 day plan vs reality (especially considering his “control” of Congress) personally I’m pretty underwhelmed.
Unfortunately what we heard was “I’m not like all those other career politicians” and then he went on to make mistakes career politicians would not have, as well as the mistakes they would have. Kinda starting to look like the worst of both worlds. He set himself up for an unachievable set of goals period, let alone his first 100 days.
Whether this was overestimating himself or underestimating how the world works, the end result is the same. I’m not at tin foil hat level by any stretch, but his decision making in these first months is really really worrying to me.
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Thanks. I’ll be sure and take advice on decorum from someone who called everyone who disagreed with him during the 2016 election “butt boy.”
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That doesn’t mean that he “doesn’t care”. You also do not know what is going on behind the scenes mister political novice.
I do not denigrate your political experience at all but you are unable to “pull Internet political rank” on me. I have worked on political campaigns from Councilman to every state office, to the US Senate and had a very high ranking position in one successful campaign for Governor. I have also rubbed shoulders with those who would eat us both up and spit us out at the National level…and I’ve been doing it for decades. So tuck your bravado back into your pants.
With that said I have found through the years that there are things that we see and then there is what is going on behind the scenes in order to get something accomplished. I do agree with you the political honeymoon is great time to get things done. It’s the best time. But there are other ways especially when it comes to something as convoluted as getting a wall built between the US and Mexico. I also understand that there is some private funding going on that is not talked about a great deal.
Not true. As I said Trump understands the importance of this promise and knows it’s most likely political suicide not to get it done. He cares a great deal making your statement that “he doesn’t care about the wall” inaccurate.
He really does and that might be a part of his strategy. I cannot second guess from the top row seats but I do believe that if there is a beginning to that wall before he leaves office he is not hurt by it…depending on how it is couched. “Give me another term to finish the job that I began…the job that the opposition party has prevented me from doing…bla bla bla”. Yeah that could work.
But again it is very premature to sit here after 100 days and say that he isn’t going to be able to do it. In fact, if you were a betting man, which we all know that you are not (or you would have taken me up on my many other bets and you wouldn’t be here posting right now), I would make a bet with you that the wall is at least begun and on its way to being built before reelection time rolls around.
As I said we don’t know what is going on behind closed doors. If you think that the Wall Street Journal, NY Times and the many other news outlets have all of the information then you are not at all experienced.
Agreed, but as you note below, I have concerns Trump won’t listen to Pence. I’m not convinced Pence has made it into the inner circle. But more importantly, Pence is no dummy and it’s impossible for me to believe that someone like him (with brains and political experience) would have advised him to adopt this “poison pill” approach.[quote=“treco, post:6873, topic:223365”]
Conversely, if Trump is not listening because:Narcissism,Nepotism giving him poor advice, orUnwillingness to differentiate between CEO answering to board vs being sole proprietor;
He is a fool and will be remembered as dragging down the US.
[/quote]
I wouldn’t think nepotism - I can’t imagine Kushner and Ivanka urging him to press forward on the wall. Moreover, the Breitbart wing that would have been most supportive of making it happen are out of favor and not being listened to. That’s another reason to think Trump isn’t all that into the wall - he’s reduced Brannon and his anti-immigration influences and is now out there saying DREAMers can stay…the signs suggest Trump is less into immigration than he was.
I think what’s left is narcissism - and politics. Having flopped on Obamacare and his immigration orders, he needs a big win at 100 days, and he knows he has to try to be seen pushing for the wall for optics with his base.
I don’t disagree at all. I think they loathe working with Trump, think he’s a buffoon, and do not share legislative priorities with him.
And there really is a larger point here - who in Congress is a natural ally of Trump? Anyone?
Two problems with the above statement first of all it’s not true. I used that crude phrase to attack one person. I have since apologized and he by the way apologized to me for things that he said. Men can do that TB, we can admit when we are wrong and move forward. You will learn that someday.
So saying “everyone” is a blatant lie. That makes you dishonest. Hmm…
Secondly, my point is that your extreme hate for Trump is coloring our analysis.
“Trump has the attention span of a gnat”…You know I bet it is quite a bit better than a gnats attention span. But…you throw those out because you are venting online and you are entitled to do so…vent away. But those listening to your commentary regarding Trump need to understand that your judgment is tainted. So the next time you try to pass yourself off as an independent minded…open minded political thinker I don’t think anyone is going to buy it.
Sorry, Mick28 - given your rank dishonesty here on PWI, hard for me to take any such personal claims as truth.
But that’s neither nor there - the point is there are ways of doing things, which someone would know if they had exprience, and the things Trump is doing suggest exactly what I said: he doesn’t especially care about the wall.
You didn’t address a single thing I pointed out regarding the weakness of the current strategy, or explain why my line of thinking is inaccurate - you just said it is. Well, then, if a Trump cares so much, why the clumsy “poison pill” strategy at the 11th hour instead of building consensus within his own party?
You skip all the substantive stuff, well, let’s have an answer, “political expert” - why explains this strategy to get the wall done?
Did you really just label someone on PWI dishonest? No, really? Really?
Heh. Using what’s called a metaphor isn’t “extreme hate” - it’s using a metaphor. My God, man. Even his ardent supporters agree with this and all it takes to validate it is reading his Twitter feed.
Poor Zeb. Now, even metaphors are liberal enemies of the Republican President.