White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney says "um, yeah!" Trump would shut down the government again in three weeks. pic.twitter.com/acn32Z65E2— Matt Shuham (@mattshuham) January 27, 2019
And TSA agents and air traffic controllers may find they aren't feeling all that well on February 16, and need to stay home for awhile.
What's that adage about the second kick from the mule? Maybe Trump is uneducable. As for the national emergency, Marco Rubio got that one right:
I don't think it's a good idea. I think it'll be a terrible idea. I hope he doesn't do it. I don't think it's leverage --
CHUCK TODD:
But would you fight him on it?
SEN. MARCO RUBIO:
-- either. Sure. Because I think that it's important. Look, I don't think we'll have to fight because I'm not sure they'll end up doing that. I know it's an option they've looked at. But now you're at the mercy of a district court somewhere and ultimately an appellate court. So it really may not even withstand if you look at some of the other rulings we've seen. The other is the precedent that it sets. And it's just not a good precedent to set in terms of action. It doesn't mean that I don't want border security. I do. I just think that's the wrong way to achieve it. It doesn't provide certainty. And you could very well wind up in sort of a theatric victory at the front end and then not getting it done. I think the best way to do it is to have a law passed that funds border security so we know it's going to happen.
A district court is sure to follow Youngstown, and the appellate court might agree. The Supremes will not fast-track it for a final decision, but by the time the Supremes have ruled on it (if they do), Congress will have taken its balls out of hock and decided to act as a co-equal branch of government. Even "Little Marco" is making those noises, and Roy Blount almost agrees with him.
During the shutdown Sen. Ron Johnson reportedly yelled at McConnell about the pressure Johnson was under. By the next shutdown Senators will probably figure out the keys to their jail cell are not held by Donald Trump or Mitch McConnell, but by them, and that whatever Trump does, they will be responsible for it in 2020. It will only take a few to decide there is no education in the second kick of that mule, and there isn't much support now for government shutdown as a legislative tool (the last persons to try it were Ted Cruz and Ron Paul, respectively; and how powerful are they now, hmmm?).
So those TSA workers and air traffic controllers may not have to get sick after all.
ADDING:
Meanwhile, sort of behind the scenes:
ADDING:
Meanwhile, sort of behind the scenes:
Lamar! calls for Trump and Pelosi to step away from talks over border security to avert shutdown. Also told me that negotiators should tie bill to prevent future shutdowns to a conference agreement - an idea picking up bipartisan support https://t.co/spivdIgeu0— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 28, 2019
The trend is moving away from Mulvaney's tough talk.
Because it worked so well for them this time. If it ends up destroying Mitch McConnell it might be worth it, if it ends up destroying the Republicans in 2020, bring it on.
ReplyDeleteThe reality that media scum like Coulter and Dobbs and Limbaugh have the power to do so much damage to so many people is a serious problem that will have to be addressed sooner or later. Either we make it possible for people they lie about to sue them into obscurity or we will all suffer form the kind of governance that comes with their ability to lie in the mass media. That's a truth that I expect will become even more widely known.