slade's Link
The Puerto Rico pact, coming in the middle of a contentious presidential election year, is Ryan’s, and Ryan’s alone. The agreement to restructure the island’s $70 billion in debt fulfills a promise the Speaker made to Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Democrats during spending talks last December. And it shows that Ryan’s approach to the leadership job — empowering committee chairmen — can work, to a certain extent.
They STILL don't get it. They're so friggin' stupid they could be Democrats.
From the article it says that the Bondholders are not surbordinate to the pensioners which to me is a major win.
I'm assuming without any sort of deal the following will happen.
Puerto Rico with its corrupt democrat politicians and Judges will refuse to make any debt payments. This will go to court but will throw our own markets in disarray and could cause a crash in the muni market which is already hurting. Maybe?
A Financial Control Board is the way to go which should have the power to trim Governments size, restructure pensions etc. That is what is sorely needed for a sustainable future.
What am I missing guys?
Mint's Link
slade's Link
House Speaker Paul Ryan is openly targeting House Republicans with television advertisements—while conspicuously not hitting Democratic members—to try to browbeat them into supporting his healthcare legislation.
A list of witnesses scheduled to appear at a House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Open Hearing on “Russian Active Measures” contains a glaring problem: the only technical experts scheduled to testify are from CrowdStrike. CrowdStrike is a firm hired by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and has become the primary source of the narrative about “Russian hacking” of the 2016 election and has acted as a mouthpiece for the Democrats since last June.
Puerto Rico to File Largest Public Sector Bankruptcy in History
Anony Mouse's Link
These clowns had years to come up with an Obamacare replacement and they got zip,nada, zero, but when it comes to greasing the beltway class wheels they can pull out 1,665 pages in no time. They are disgusting.
Look out, Republicans up for re-election in 2018. Look out, House Speaker Paul Ryan.
The fiery, never-give-in ultra-conservative wing of the GOP is highly displeased with the budget agreement reached this week.
“Instead of fighting for President Trump’s conservative budget priorities, they have surrendered to the Democrats once again,” Ken Cuccinelli, a former Virginia attorney general who heads the Senate Conservatives Fund, said of congressional Republican leaders
Democrats are elated over the $1.07 trillion budget deal, which reads almost like an Obama administration blueprint.
“Early on in this debate, Democrats clearly laid out our principles,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “At the end of the day, this is an agreement that reflects those principles.”
Gone is money for President Donald Trump’s border wall or efforts to deny Obamacare subsidies. There’s billions more for non-defense spending, and no changes to President Barack Obama’s Cuba policy.
“It’s no different than if Hillary was elected; it’s a huge loss, and I’m livid. Paul Ryan’s House is a not conservative House,” said tea party Republican Art Halvorson, who nearly defeated Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., in the 2016 primary with 49.4 percent of the vote.
Conservative groups are watching their members, too. Dozens are expected to vote no, meaning GOP leaders will need Democratic votes to pass the budget. Heritage Action, a leading conservative group, will likely make opposing the budget vote a key vote in its scorecard of votes to watch.
Ryan now faces the same challenge from the right as his embattled predecessor, John Boehner, R-Ohio. Boehner left the office in 2015 after conservatives grew increasingly disgusted with his leadership. They were upset over how time after time he made similar deals with Democrats to get fiscal matters resolved.
Conservatives, already frustrated in recent weeks at the leadership’s inability to get the votes to repeal and replace Obamacare, see a similar pattern emerging.
“Instead of defending status quo, GOP should be defending Constitution, Rule of Law, federalism, free speech/markets, responsible budgeting,” Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., said on Twitter.
While no viable challenge to Ryan appears imminent, the prospect of conservative primary challengers to GOP center-right loyalists looms.
“Republican leaders promised things would be different if Republicans won the White House, but this bill proves that nothing has changed,” said Cuccinelli. “This is why it is so important for Republican voters to elect true conservatives in the upcoming midterm elections.”
The party’s center-right incumbents face a different problem. Cooperation with Democrats could be to their advantage, but the party’s internal squabbles could depress enthusiasm among the GOP base, said Kyle Kondik, a political analyst at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics.
“Democrats are more likely to turn out because they are mad, and the flip side” is that maybe Republicans, if they are not getting what they want from a Republican-led Congress and Trump, become even less likely to turn out, Kondik said.
Depressed turnout at the polls could hurt the 23 Republicans in districts carried by Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016, including Rep. Carlos Curbelo of Florida and Kevin Yoder of Kansas. Republicans currently control 238 seats in the House of Representatives, with 218 needed for a majority.
Still, argued conservatives, there’s no need to work so closely with Democrats.
“In December, conservatives viewed this funding deadline as an opportunity to deliver on key administration priorities,” said Heritage Action spokesman Dan Holler. “Instead, this bill reflects little more than a desire to kick the can down the road with the promise of a real fight — a winning fight — in September.”
Julie McCarty, president of the NE Tarrant Tea Party in North Texas, said the latest budget proposal showed that the GOP stood for nothing.
“We tend to be more disgusted with so-called conservatives because they lie and deceive . . . consistently,” McCarty said. “At least we know what we're getting with the left.”
More center-right Republicans defended the deal as an important political step, a chance to show constituents that the GOP can work with Democrats.
Former GOP Chairman Michael Steele didn’t think Ryan will face the conservative revolt that Boehner did because “he’s got the blessing of the White House.”
He saw the agreement as evidence that Trump is learning the tough reality of governing.
“A lot of core things the party has promoted, and the administration promoted, just aren’t happening” in this budget, Steele said.
Bill Dal Col, who managed publisher Steve Forbes’ 1996 and 2000 Republican presidential campaigns, said congressional Republicans were willing to take a short-term hit to get beyond the budget and move to bigger targets: eliminating Obamacare and revamping the nation’s tax laws.
“I think the base, and particularly the Trump base, will forgive them,” Dal Col said. “There will be some grumbling, some rough water. But they will forgive them provided they use what they did to get to the two big issues: health care and taxes. There’s now no distraction with a deadline looming. So now focus, get taxes, get health care done.”
If Republicans fail to do that, then “we probably are standing a very strong chance of losing the House in 2018 and will not pick up nearly the Senate seats we should,” Dal Col said.
slade's Link
Why does the left bother with “Resistance” theatrics when the Republican Congress funds their entire wish list anyway?
“We tend to be more disgusted with so-called conservatives because they lie and deceive . . . consistently,” McCarty said. “At least we know what we're getting with the left.” She was so right.
HOUSE LEADERSHIP LAUNCHED A COUP AGAINST AMERICAN VOTERS THIS WEEK Paul Ryan and House Republicans included strict language in their trillion dollar budget that prevents any and all funding of President Trump’s border wall.
Paul Ryan’s new budget bill will fund:
** Planned Parenthood ** Central American illegal immigrant centers ** Domestic spending will increase ** No cuts in funding to EPA despite Trump’s promises ** Continue payment on Obamacare subsidies ** No funding cuts to sanctuary cities
But the House budget includes language that FORBIDS the President of the United States of building a border wall with Mexico.
Paul Ryan’s bill is so bad Democrats are fundraising off of the plan in celebration.
VICTORY!
Just saw a headline that Trump says the country needs a good shutdown come September. He and others are excusing this spending bill because they say it should have been taking care of under the previous administration.
Which he is kind of right since the previous administration could have tried to get back on track with normal budgets, bet never tried...if we had a real budget this spending bill would not exist and congress would be working on the next years budget instead of screwing around with these damn CRs all the time...
Would the press be wrong? With control of all 3 branches, it isn't democs tripping over their own dicks (ovaries?) on everything so far.
Midterms may get REAL interesting this time around.
slade, how long do you think you can manage to hold out before you have to assign at least an eensie-weensie bit of the blame to Trump?
After all, you and others here told us he was the master dealmaker, playing 150 dimension chess while others were playing candyland. Either Trump never intended to actually make good on the priorities that Heritage Foundation primarily crafted for him....or he's getting rolled on a regular basis by the likes of Paul Ryan and others. Either way, not good.
Once again, congressional Republicans delivered a swift kick to the crotch of their voters, in the form of their proposed budget this week. Congressional big spenders reached a deal Sunday, with a bill over 1,600 pages in length. Almost as long as Obamacare. But at least it's a budget. Last year, Congress had no budget, instead papering over their fiscal irresponsibility via temporary spending measures.
Since this budget is proposed by the Republican Congress, with the expectation of the Republican president signing it into law, one would reasonably expect that the budget represents Republican priorities – funding programs promoted on the campaign trail and cutting or eliminating spending which they campaigned against.
What were President Trump's priorities as a candidate? Build the wall. Cut wasteful spending on Planned Parenthood, the Environmental Protection Agency, and other financial black holes.
What about congressional campaign promises? Remember their priorities over the past eight years to rein in out-of-control spending by Obama and the Democrats? Including Obamacare and trillion-dollar deficits?
In 2010, Republicans told us they needed to win the House before they could repeal Obamacare and advance a conservative agenda. Done. In 2014, they told us they needed the Senate, too. Done.
Yet nothing from Congress other than excuses. Afraid of the Obama veto pen, they told us they needed a Republican president to get anything done.
Here we are with a Republican Congress and president, and if I didn't know any better, I'd say the Democrats are still in charge.
Leading Democrats certainly like this week's budget deal. Chuck Schumer happily announced, "This agreement is a good agreement for the American people." Nancy Pelosi was similarly pleased "that Democrats won the removal of about 160 partisan riders." Good to know that leaders of the political party that lost over 1,200 elected seats over the past eight years got much of what they wanted in the budget and are pleased.
What about Republicans? What about the voters responsible for sending the Democratic Party into exile, a total repudiation of their liberal agenda? Programs that should have been cut or eliminated are funded, all contrary to myriad campaign promises.
What isn't funded? The wall – Trump's signature campaign issue first mentioned during his glide down the escalator at Trump Tower when he announced his candidacy.
Back to my original question. Why bother voting for Republicans? Controlling the legislative and executive branches of the federal government means nothing. It's as if the Democrats were still in charge – 2008 all over again.
Here we are, 100 days into the Trump administration with a Republican majority not seen in decades. Obamacare hasn't been repealed. Tax reform is nothing but talk. Planned Parenthood and sanctuary cities are funded. And the wall is a wall to nowhere.
It's obvious that congressional Republicans have no interest in following through on their campaign promises. Or on the major campaign agenda items of their president. Why weren't these bills written and submitted on inauguration day? The Obama stimulus bill was written and ready to go on day one.
Unfortunately for President Trump, he has no allies in Washington, D.C. The Democrats loathe him. Same for the bureaucratic Deep State, lobbyists, and the media. But what about his own party? What about those enjoying the electoral majority he helped secure who have no use for Trump and his agenda? How can a reasonable person conclude otherwise?
Now what? The ball is now in Trump's court. The White House should write the legislation, rather than the Chamber of Commerce and other GOP donors. Trump could also take a stand and veto this budget, as it doesn't reflect his priorities. Gutsy move, but this is a gutsy president.
Send the budget funding sanctuary cities but not a border wall back to Ryan and McConnell to fix. If the government shuts down, so what? Send Congress back to the drawing board, rather than meekly accepting a budget the Democrats and the media are thrilled about.
Otherwise, why vote Republican? As Mrs. Clinton said, "What difference, at this point, does it make?"
(note: internal links)
Failure Theater -- it's what's for breakfast, elevensies, brunch, lunch, late lunch, early dinner, late dinner, and late night coffee and pie.
Steven Hayward asks who needs #TheResistance when you have Republicans writing the budget?
The Democrats are so confident of their eternal whip hand in budget disputes that they openly threatened to shut the government down if their demands were not granted this time around, without bothering to conceal the threat at all. They know Republicans believe they will be held responsible for any such crisis. It doesn’t matter how many red-ink-stained Democrat fingers are on the shutdown. It wouldn't matter if Democrat senators and representatives were caught on video running around Washington and pulling the plugs out of government computers. Terrified Republican leaders are convinced the media will never, ever frame the crisis as "Democrats Shut Down Federal Government to Protect Illegal Alien Criminals."
The GOP Establishment just emerged from a presidential primary in which Donald Trump bulldozed a huge field of top-shelf Republican contenders, in no small part because the public was furious with Republican inability to make progress on a conservative agenda despite holding both House and Senate. They seem to have learned nothing from the experience.
The GOP promised that if voters gave them the Senate in 2014 -- an outcome deemed extremely unlikely going into the election cycle -- they would march over former Majority Leader Harry Reid's political grave and get things done at last.
That didn't happen. We were told the power of President Obama's veto pen was unbeatable. But Obama didn’t even have to use that pen, because the revolutionary new GOP Congress immediately set about giving the Democrat minority near-total control over the budget. The first item on the Republican leadership agenda in 2015 was sidelining every young Republican representative who took all that balanced-budget limited-government stuff seriously. By the end of the year, Democrats were crowing that House Speaker Paul Ryan and his allies "gave away the store."
It's funny how having a Republican president doesn’t slow down Democrat budget priorities a bit, isn't it? In 2009, Republicans said they were helpless without congressional majorities. In 2010 they won the House, but said they were helpless without the Senate. Then they took the Senate, but said they were helpless without the White House. Democrats today are basically where Republicans were in 2009... but they're not helpless at all. They’re still writing the budget and treating the GOP leadership like Harry Potter's house elves. Paul Ryan can only hope that one day Nancy Pelosi will mistakenly give him a sock and set him free.
In 2009-2010, the Democrats demanded that their at-risk House members vote for the unpopular Obamacare even if it meant most of them being wiped out in the midterms, which most of them were. Nevertheless, they dutifully walked the plank in service of commitments they'd made to their voters.
And what do we get, when we have the same situation? We have a budget-giveaway to make sure Barbara Comstock doesn't lose her meaningless blue-ish district seat by having to vote on anything that could upset "moderates."
If I don't blog about actual politics much anymore, it's because I don't see any real politics to argue about. I see a lot of kabuki theater designed to keep Republican politicians safe, while doing nothing to advance conservative agenda items.
If Republican office-holders are done with even pretending to care anything about their phony-baloney jobs and paying off their friends in the lobbying and influence-peddling industries, why should Republican voters continue pretending we care whether they keep their jobs or not?
THE "REPUBLICANS" ARE NOT OUR FRIENDS!"
Is that why you actively support a guy who has been a Democrat most of his adult life, and certainly has supported - and still does - many Democrat/Liberal policies?
Are we talking about the Mexican Congress here? I was told Mexico would be paying for the wall.....
They've both changed. Just remember....politicians don't vote themselves into office. The people/voters do. Politicians are simply a reflection of the voters who put them in office.
Bill Clinton on You Tube proves that...
By the way, the new budget deal doesn't allot a single penny of money for new border wall construction.....Trump's budget director, Mick Mulvaney, actually admitted this when pressed on it. Trump tried to make you think that it does, but it doesn't. There is actually language in the budget that specifically prohibits using any of the border security funds in the budget, to build additional border wall. Any border wall work approved in that budget is simply repairing or replacing already existing border wall. That's good, it should be done, but it's not breaking ground on additional border fencing. Oh, and some of that new steel wall that is being erected in Texas (to also replace existing wall) was approved by....Obama. Had nothing to do with Trump.
Funny how a President with a big nut sack keeps getting rolled by Democrats, isn't it? Weird.
I think the word you're actually looking for is "mouth". "A President with a big mouth". Illegal Immigrants from Mexico will learn soon enough that Trump very seldom actually means what he says. They're very likely to learn it before you and your fellow Trump groupies do.
By the way, even top Trump sycophant and groupie Ann Coulter was calling out Trump today on getting rolled in this budget deal. Big time. She's p*ssed at him. Tickled me pink seeing that, considering what a demagogue she was for Trump against anyone who questioned his policies and principles during the campaign.
""Democrats Outnumber Republicans in Favor of Omnibus Spending Bill As It Passes House
The House has approved a more than $1 trillion spending bill to fund the government through September by a vote of 309 to 118. But a breakdown of the vote shows more Democrats than Republicans voted for the bill — 178 Democrats voted “yea” and five “nay”. On the Republican side, 132 Republicans voted for it and 102 against it.""