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Trump makes nice with Democrats, leaving his party confused

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By KEN THOMAS and CATHERINE LUCEY

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Not true, the Dems were mad because the GOP didn't want a moderate flip flopper so called conservative on the bench. 

Nope. The GOP said they would not consider any nominee, no matter who he/she was. It was their position that only the next President had the right to choose the next justice, so they would not start proceedings regardless of who the pick was.

You can go back and read their statements if you want, but you won't. Getting it right is a liability to your fake position.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

The Biden distraction is in reference to something he said 20+ years ago a few months before the election when no justice slot was available. Something like, "If a slot opens up right before the election then we should wait." It was one man giving his opinion for a situation that wasn't happening, not official Democratic policy.

Doesnt matter, both parties don't have to hold hearings on any nominees they don't want. , perfectly constitutional.

The GOP changed the system by creating actually policy that denied a sitting President his right to choose an open slot, and it was 18 months before the election. I believe McConnell even called it the "Biden Rule", something that had never been mentioned before, in a effort to 1) trick low information voters into thinking his actions were normal/routine and 2) to give informed GOP members something to apply false equivalency to. Bass is probably the latter.

Not true, the Dems were mad because the GOP didn't want a moderate flip flopper so called conservative on the bench. I think with Roberts they learned their lesson and good on them.

Whatever the case may be, the Democratic process has been changed by the GOP's action. From now on if the majority in the Senate is Party A and the President is Party B then the Senate will deny his/her pick hoping their party can get into power.

That would have never happened if the Dems wouldn't have been obstructionists to nominating Gorsuch. And yes, it can go both ways, if the Dems are in power, they do a tit for tat payback and this will go on in circles for a a very long time.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Arrestpaul: You should tell concerned Democrats that they can start by ending their very own gerrymandering.

Deal. So we have your vote?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Shouldn't the title of this article read - Democrats makes nice with Trump, leaving the news media confused

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

That is not exactly true. Obama's role as president was to nominate. They chose no time to consent.

Sure. And if the Democrats get the Senate they'll deny any choice Trump makes - err, I mean they will choose not to consent. You're right, that does sound better.

From there the next party in power can keep doing the same thing, even if a SC Justice comes available a week into a new President's term. So we will have alternative 8 or 9 person justices on the Supreme Court with the Senate refusing to act any time their party doesn't have the White House. Heck, we could go a decade or more with 8 justices.

It's the new system, first enacted by the GOP to deny Obama, the first black President, his rightful pick. Republicans took a short term win at the expense of the entire future of the court and the American people. Hope it works out for you.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

SuperLib - When presented with information about how the GOP is rigging the system with gerrymandering,

You should tell concerned Democrats that they can start by ending their very own gerrymandering. Something they actually have control over. Correcting the spectacularly gerrymandered 4th District of Illinois would be a good place to start. The district looks like the letter "C". Unless Democrat Party gerrymandering isn't considered a problem?

The Gerrymandered Fourth District Of Illinois -

http://all-that-is-interesting.com/fourth-district-of-illinois-map

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

SuperLib: The GOP changed the system by creating actually policy that denied a sitting President his right to choose an open slot

That is not exactly true. Obama's role as president was to nominate. The Senate's role is 'advice and consent'. They chose not to consent. Biden said he would have done the exact same thing. Get over it the Republicans won that one.

It's not like Obama's DACA and DAPA policies which the Congress explicitly chose not to do. Or using the IRS to go after political opponents. Those are examples of changing the system.

Trump has gone after Dems but particularly Republicans. He doesn't care about responsibly managing the federal budget. He called himself a Republican so he could participate in national politics. He is definitely not a conservative- this deal with arch Liberals like Pelosi and Schumer is further proof of that.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

He ain't interested in political parties -- we already know that.

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Biden did the same thing when he said, the Dems didn't have to rush a vote on any Bush nominee.

The Biden distraction is in reference to something he said 20+ years ago a few months before the election when no justice slot was available. Something like, "If a slot opens up right before the election then we should wait." It was one man giving his opinion for a situation that wasn't happening, not official Democratic policy.

The GOP changed the system by creating actually policy that denied a sitting President his right to choose an open slot, and it was 18 months before the election. I believe McConnell even called it the "Biden Rule", something that had never been mentioned before, in a effort to 1) trick low information voters into thinking his actions were normal/routine and 2) to give informed GOP members something to apply false equivalency to. Bass is probably the latter.

Whatever the case may be, the Democratic process has been changed by the GOP's action. From now on if the majority in the Senate is Party A and the President is Party B then the Senate will deny his/her pick hoping their party can get into power.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Bass:  I guess that's very similar to the Dems avoiding to admit how they all

In the past the courts had a difficult time taking action against gerrymandering since there was really no mechanism to decide to what extent it influenced democracy. The courts knew it was happening, but how do you decide that one district went too far in redrawing the maps? When do you take action?

Yes and the Dems are the honest party never distracting from ANY issue and a noble party with deep love, empathy and ethics. ROFL.

There is a case now working through the system, hopefully up to the Supreme Court, where statisticians have applied mathematics to quantify to what extent the gerrymandering is hurting us. The goal is to establish for the first time a system to actually measures effects, then the courts can use that when deciding if changes should be made. We'll keep our fingers crossed.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

I would think from the infighting that's going on within the GOP and the fact that you have so many ideologues within the party and don't have a unified collective thought like the Democrats

You just said

they might not all agree

So they don't have a 'unified collective thought'.

So far you've told us that the Dems march in lock step but are disunited, and that they all have a 'unified collective thought' but 'they might not all agree'.

We've had alternative facts and now we have alternative logic.

Another day on the lunatic fringe.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Not a fan of McDonalds, but as they say, I'm lovin' it!!!!!!

No doubt, after the humiliation suffered by Paul Ryan (yet AGAIN), he'll come back polishing Trump's shoes again later. Is it any wonder Trump gets to do what he wants when none of the Republicans have a backbone. They'd stab their own mothers (in the case of 'Rafael' Cruz, his wife) in the back if it meant furthering their careers, or keeping their jobs.

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The reason is because of their inability to compromise and their agenda's being counter to public opinion and in many cases the law. 

Not a lot has gotten done since W was elected. Is it only Republicans that do not compromise? If so, why did Obama use so many executive orders? Dems didn't want to move far enough towards Republicans so they refused to do anything in a bipartisan fashion on health care, immigration, the debt, taxes, entitlements, etc. Obama's DAPA program was overturned by the courts. Obama has been overturned by the courts at a very high rate.

Pretending that Dems are not part of the obstruction in American politics doesn't pass the laugh test.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Right. So according to that, disunity is not a problem.

Not according to me, but continue....

Despite differences of opinion, the party unites. 

Democrats pretty much always do.

Why did you say disunity is a problem?

I would think from the infighting that's going on within the GOP and the fact that you have so many ideologues within the party and don't have a unified collective thought like the Democrats, it's almost impossible to agree on pretty much anything.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Not according to me. Democrats think about what's best for the party overall, any decision or any idea that will make the party stronger they go with, they might not all agree, but publicly they will follow and dance to the tune of their leaders. If Pelosi and Shumer ask them to jump, the party members say, "how high?" Do what needs to be done and worry about later, if at all about the ramifications later...or not.

Right. So according to that, disunity is not a problem. Despite differences of opinion, the party unites.

Why did you say disunity is a problem?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

This is the other half of the problem, tribalism. 

I know you're joking. If the GOP were anything close to that, they would have gotten a lot more things done.

When presented with information about how the GOP is rigging the system with gerrymandering, their base is unable to process so they start to throw darts at a board with unrelated issues and hope something will stick.

I see. I guess that's very similar to the Dems avoiding to admit how they all want open borders and need illegals to vote for them and objecting to voter ID knowing full well that graaaavy  train would stop in a heartbeat.

GOP politicians will pick up on that, and it emboldens them continue to skew the democratic process.

Yes and the Dems are the honest party never distracting from ANY issue and a noble party with deep love, empathy and ethics. ROFL.

That was set in place long before Trump took over when McConnell enacted a new rule that sitting a President shouldn't be allowed to choose the next Supreme Court justice with only 18 months left in their term.

Biden did the same thing when he said, the Dems didn't have to rush a vote on any Bush nominee. So don't give me that garbage! The Dems are allowed to choose the candidate they think best represents their political interests and the GOP did the same. Nothing unconstitutional about it. That's the world of politics. 

That new rule the GOP made is important since the 2018 midterms will really decide which party gets the next justice. If the Dems win, they will enact the McConnell rule and deny Trump the right to choose a justice should one retire between 2018 to 2020.

Yes, that may be "IF" that happens, but the Dems need to win some elections first and they have lost the first crucial 5 this year, so time is running out for the Dems and fast and if the Dems keep acting the way they have been, their dreams may not come to fruition for a very, very long time.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Bass: Got a strong conservative to the Supreme Court, that's huge and very, very important down the line, if anything, that was a very big thing for most conservatives.

That was set in place long before Trump took over when McConnell enacted a new rule that sitting a President shouldn't be allowed to choose the next Supreme Court justice with only 18 months left in their term.

That new rule the GOP made is important since the 2018 midterms will really decide which party gets the next justice. If the Dems win, they will enact the McConnell rule and deny Trump the right to choose a justice should one retire between 2018 to 2020.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Bass: I see. But the left wanting open borders, but not wanting voter IDs to cut down on illegal voting by illegal aliens doesn't bother the left?

This is the other half of the problem, tribalism.

When presented with information about how the GOP is rigging the system with gerrymandering, their base is unable to process so they start to throw darts at a board with unrelated issues and hope something will stick. In this case, bass decided to bring up voter ID laws but in reality he could have distracted with any number of topics.

GOP politicians will pick up on that, and it emboldens them continue to skew the democratic process.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

I see. I suppose that's different from the dems, who while just following orders and marching in lock step, still manage to remain disunited according to you. 

Could you explain this?

Not according to me. Democrats think about what's best for the party overall, any decision or any idea that will make the party stronger they go with, they might not all agree, but publicly they will follow and dance to the tune of their leaders. If Pelosi and Shumer ask them to jump, the party members say, "how high?" Do what needs to be done and worry about later, if at all about the ramifications later...or not.

After 9 months in total power, and yet have not got anything done.

Got a strong conservative to the Supreme Court, that's huge and very, very important down the line, if anything, that was a very big thing for most conservatives.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Seems like if anything, the Dems need to somehow stay politically relevant, since they haven't been for the last 9 months

You misspelled "Republicans".

After 9 months in total power, and yet have not got anything done.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Thats not the real reason. The real reaso was as I stated before, the GOP are a bunch of individual ideologues with very different ideas, you will never have a lockstep and unified Republican Party that will vote unanimously on pretty much anything. The Rhinos from the libertarian Republicans are all over the map.

I see. I suppose that's different from the dems, who while just following orders and marching in lock step, still manage to remain disunited according to you.

Could you explain this?

0 ( +2 / -2 )

The lack of compromise in the GOP is a problem for the country which has been partly cause by gerrymandering.

What? Seriously?

Instead of being more moderate to capture support from the middle they create overwhelmingly red districts where they keep pushing things further to the right.

I see. But the left wanting open borders, but not wanting voter IDs to cut down on illegal voting by illegal aliens doesn't bother the left?

Then they point the finger at the other guy for being "not conservative enough" and compromise is considered selling out.

Thats not the real reason. The real reaso was as I stated before, the GOP are a bunch of individual ideologues with very different ideas, you will never have a lockstep and unified Republican Party that will vote unanimously on pretty much anything. The Rhinos from the libertarian Republicans are all over the map.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

In that photo, Trump had just been asked what a POTUS is supposed to do.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

What's wrong with Getting done what had to be done ? The alternative appeared to be that both sides would have simply ended up bickering forever, and the funds needed for the Disaster relief effort would simply not have become available... and in that case, who would that end up hurting... certainly not the Politicians sitting comfortably back in Washington.

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Credit to Trump where it's due, he is making a good decision by abandoning the pathetic rube. They are too incompetent to ever be trusted again unless every last one of them is drained

0 ( +1 / -1 )

The lack of compromise in the GOP is a problem for the country which has been partly cause by gerrymandering. Instead of being more moderate to capture support from the middle they create overwhelmingly red districts where they keep pushing things further to the right. Then they point the finger at the other guy for being "not conservative enough" and compromise is considered selling out.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

First

The Dems can't even save their own party, come on! The only thing about the Democrats whether your perspective on it is either good or bad, Democrats just take marching orders and are always in lockstep when it comes to the wishes of Pelosi or Schumer.

Then

Well, some of that is true, but the Dems are not the party of unity by any stretch of the imagination. They also have a huge problem with party unity

A party of automatons who just follow orders but have a problem with party unity.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

The GoP has been both obstructionists and unable to have any consensus on an agenda.

Hmmmm....I thought we had 2 parties, silly me. LOL

The reason is because of their inability to compromise and their agenda's being counter to public opinion and in many cases the law. One example is Roe v Wade, the law of the land allowing women the right to choose an abortion.

So what about the Democrats refusing to go with lowering taxes and stop punishing success, stop funding late term abortion, building up the middle class, securing our borders, limiting the size of government and entitlements.

This right typically flies in the face of most conservatives, and they take positions to undermine the right. Another example is fiscal responsibility, which I am all for. However, the GOP's idea of fiscal responsibility is serving the wealthy and the military industry with pork in their districts. 

So you're saying, they are in the pocket of the rich liberal elite of Silicon Valley and Hollywood? Hmmmm...interesting.

When end the GOP cannot get their way, which is not happening because of their conflicted agendas, they become obstructionists to their own party, certainly to the population, and to the Democrats.

Well, some of that is true, but the Dems are not the party of unity by any stretch of the imagination. They also have a huge problem with party unity or even coming up with a real message.

And by "allies" he means "white supremacists".

I see, then that means, the left have the ANTIFA fascists as allies? In California when these thugs go on the rampage the police and the politicians seem ok with them pummeling conservatives. So they seem to be doing the muscle work for the left.

Of course the Democrats should take a win from Trump, even if that win comes more from his desperate need for attention than from any kind of principled desire to govern for the public good. But I hope everyone sees this overture for what it is. Any Democrat who thinks Trump is on their side is a fool. The only side he supports is his own.

Really?? Seems like if anything, the Dems need to somehow stay politically relevant, since they haven't been for the last 9 months, now it's their moment to shine and as long as they don't whine and moan about Russia, they should make some admirable baby steps. By the way, Trump is not on the side of any party, he's on the side of the people (if he were on the side of the Republicans and he's not a true conservative to begin with) he would never have reached across the aisle. Good for him putting the country first.

-4 ( +3 / -7 )

[Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa] said he will continue to work with Trump, but acknowledged that the past week had been a "little unsettling" and noted that "conservative allies have been leaving the West Wing at a fairly regular pace."

And by "allies" he means "white supremacists".

Of course the Democrats should take a win from Trump, even if that win comes more from his desperate need for attention than from any kind of principled desire to govern for the public good. But I hope everyone sees this overture for what it is. Any Democrat who thinks Trump is on their side is a fool. The only side he supports is his own.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

The GoP has been both obstructionists and unable to have any consensus on an agenda. The reason is because of their inability to compromise and their agenda's being counter to public opinion and in many cases the law. One example is Roe v Wade, the law of the land allowing women the right to choose an abortion. This right typically flies in the face of most conservatives, and they take positions to undermine the right. Another example is fiscal responsibility, which I am all for. However, the GOP's idea of fiscal responsibility is serving the wealthy and the military industry with pork in their districts.

When end the GOP cannot get their way, which is not happening because of their conflicted agendas, they become obstructionists to their own party, certainly to the population, and to the Democrats.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

Actually, Dems, your base is saying, "Save the damn Republic."

The Dems can't even save their own party, come on! The only thing about the Democrats whether your perspective on it is either good or bad, Democrats just take marching orders and are always in lockstep when it comes to the wishes of Pelosi or Schumer. Republicans on the other hand are all over the place, different approaches and different ideas on how to implement conservative ideas, some are traditional, some moderates, some are Bible belt conservatives, some libertarians, getting along and getting anything done is not any easy thing, too many ideas and not a single one-body thought consensus.

In this situation, it is very good that Trump was able to get something from the Dems, but at the same time if they want to get any of their agendas done, they need to work with this president. Good on Trump not towing the party line, he's not much of a true conservative anyway and that's to his advantage and that's why he's a man that can reach across the aisle. If the idiot GOP won't give in to their principles and put their party first, then maybe he can get the Dems to abandon theirs or tap into what's important to them to get things going.

If that means getting a bill passed because the interests of the country temporarily align with Trump's, so be it. We do not want you to be the party of obstruction for obstruction's sake. You should obstruct only when what's on the table is awful.

The GOP aren't being obstructionists, they are just a splintered party party that incorporates a lot of different ideologues that can't agree on anything, but loom under the umbrella of the giant elephant.

-5 ( +4 / -9 )

Actually, Dems, your base is saying, "Save the damn Republic." If that means getting a bill passed because the interests of the country temporarily align with Trump's, so be it. We do not want you to be the party of obstruction for obstruction's sake. You should obstruct only when what's on the table is awful.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

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