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Sad to have to say this again, but I hope all our UK members are safe and sound.
Hard to believe such a thing could happen in a building in a modern city.
I sure hope Trump doesn’t go off on this one too.
Who am I kidding, of course he will.
House Republicans are angry with President Trump for blurting out an inconveniently candid view of their health-care bill, Politico reports today. Trump reportedly told a closed-door gathering of GOP senators that the House repeal-and-replace bill is “mean” and called on them to make it “more generous.” This promptly leaked, and a lot of people are noting that Trump undercut House Republicans politically and provided Democrats with ammo for a thousand attack ads.
But I’d like to argue that this moment has broader significance than that. If you place Trump’s private candor in the context of the indefensibly opaque and secretive process that Republicans are using to get this health-care bill through, it reveals in a fresh way just how scandalous their approach to remaking one-sixth of the U.S. economy really has been.
But their anger over this is particularly galling, because Republicans themselves do not want their constituents to actually know what is in the bill they are set to pass. And they are taking active, extensive and possibly unprecedented steps to make sure they don’t. Trump merely made this harder for them to get away with.
Now Senate Republicans are urgently working to soften the bill, because a number of moderates can’t be seen embracing something that cruel. But, if anything, they are going further than their House counterparts to forestall any kind of serious public awareness of what they are doing. Two GOP aides recently told Axios that there are no plans to publicly release the Senate version well in advance of the vote, because, as one of them put it, “we aren’t stupid.” There have been no public hearings. Even some Senate Republicans have expressed befuddlement about what’s in the bill that they will be voting on.
As Brian Beutler and Jonathan Chait have noted, avoiding public scrutiny and accountability is the whole legislative strategy — the process itself is a scandal, given how many millions of people, and how large a swath of the economy, it will impact. And as University of Michigan law professor Nicholas Bagley argues, that could have untold other consequences: The lack of scrutiny and debate could lead to major, destructive flaws in the bill itself and, more broadly, could further erode basic norms of legislative transparency.
What a great bunch of (mostly) guys.
Sounds like the guy who tried to shoot up the GOP baseball team was a liberal nutjob.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/14/us/politics/virginia-shooting-suspect-james-hodgkinson.html?_r=0
Sounds like the guy who tried to shoot up the GOP baseball team was a liberal nutjob.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/14/us/politics/virginia-shooting-suspect-james-hodgkinson.html?_r=0
This sucks. I hope everyone makes a full recovery.
Also, Mr Hodgkinson, thanks for giving the Republicans years of ammunition with which to pillory Democrats.
You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)
Behold…the Trump Disapproval Crocodile.
My heartfelt sympathies and prayers go out to the victims and friends and family and anyone else affected by the shooting in Alexandria and the terrible apartment fire in the UK.
http://fusion.kinja.com/disarm-all-domestic-abusers-now-1796101206
Sounds like the guy who tried to shoot up the GOP baseball team was a liberal nutjob.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/14/us/politics/virginia-shooting-suspect-james-hodgkinson.html?_r=0
This sucks. I hope everyone makes a full recovery.
Also, Mr Hodgkinson, thanks for giving the Republicans years of ammunition with which to pillory Democrats.
Very true. But of course this happens on both sides. Cherrypicking of specific incidents to support a narrative. Fox and places like Vox do this all the time to promote a narrative. Which is precisely why I feel that large number statistics are a lot more useful and effective in getting to the bottom of an issue.
Kind of got off track there but really hope everyone has a strong recovery.
So WaPo is reporting that Trump is under investigation by Mueller for possible obstruction of justice, and there’s also a report that Trump floated the idea of firing Mueller publicly in order to influence Mueller to go easy on the investigation.
Amazing.
So WaPo is reporting that Trump is under investigation by Mueller for possible obstruction of justice, and there’s also a report that Trump floated the idea of firing Mueller publicly in order to influence Mueller to go easy on the investigation.
Amazing.
I hope he does fire Mueller it will add ammunition to the case.
So WaPo is reporting that Trump is under investigation by Mueller for possible obstruction of justice, and there’s also a report that Trump floated the idea of firing Mueller publicly in order to influence Mueller to go easy on the investigation.
Amazing.
I hope he does fire Mueller it will add ammunition to the case.
Same. It would be very amusing to see Trumps idiocy really punish him in the case. I still can’t believe some of these stories as well Frink.
So WaPo is reporting that Trump is under investigation by Mueller for possible obstruction of justice, and there’s also a report that Trump floated the idea of firing Mueller publicly in order to influence Mueller to go easy on the investigation.
Amazing.
I hope he does fire Mueller it will add ammunition to the case.
More to the case, yes… but with nobody left to prosecute it.
I think a lot of people underestimate how lucky we are to have a Special Prosecutor in the first place. If the stars hadn’t aligned just right, the only things checking the power of this menace would have been the House, the Senate, and the courts. And while the courts are doing an admirable job going it alone on the whole checks and balances business, there are some things they simply lack the legal authority to do.
There’s this school of thought that if Trump indirectly fires Mueller by cycling through justice department heads just like Nixon did (he can’t fire him directly), that this will lead to widespread outrage, and that this outrage will lead to Trump’s goose finally being cooked. But what’s missing from this theory is the legal mechanism and authority that would cause Trump’s downfall. Courts can’t do it. House and Senate won’t do it. 25th amendment? Pfft, Trump’s own hand-picked cabinet of sycophants won’t do it. Voters? Show me how any amount of voter outrage can work against this map to do anything but give Trump an even friendlier Senate than he already has, and don’t even talk about House maps. Where’s the realistic path? Are we counting on military coups now? [Different, friendly] foreign interventions? Alien abductions?
Mueller is all we have. Please don’t wish for him to be fired just so you can feel the rush of righteous indignation, because it would only be followed by the utter incredulity of watching nobody doing anything about it.
Are you saying that Trump has control of the courts and the Senate?
You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)
I’m saying that Trump’s allies control the House and the Senate, and they have already bent over backward to avoid investigating this matter, so it’s abundantly clear what they’d do if he fired Mueller (same thing as when he fired Comey–either nothing at all, talk about how Mueller was a liberal partisan hack, or the McCain Special*). The courts have no legal authority to investigate, prosecute, or remove a President, so it doesn’t matter where they stand.
* Talk about what a sad, bad, terrible thing this is. Outrageous, unwarranted, and unprecedented. And then do nothing.
So WaPo is reporting that Trump is under investigation by Mueller for possible obstruction of justice, and there’s also a report that Trump floated the idea of firing Mueller publicly in order to influence Mueller to go easy on the investigation.
Amazing.
I hope he does fire Mueller it will add ammunition to the case.
More to the case, yes… but with nobody left to prosecute it.
I think a lot of people underestimate how lucky we are to have a Special Prosecutor in the first place. If the stars hadn’t aligned just right, the only things checking the power of this menace would have been the House, the Senate, and the courts. And while the courts are doing an admirable job going it alone on the whole checks and balances business, there are some things they simply lack the legal authority to do.
There’s this school of thought that if Trump indirectly fires Mueller by cycling through justice department heads just like Nixon did (he can’t fire him directly), that this will lead to widespread outrage, and that this outrage will lead to Trump’s goose finally being cooked. But what’s missing from this theory is the legal mechanism and authority that would cause Trump’s downfall. Courts can’t do it. House and Senate won’t do it. 25th amendment? Pfft, Trump’s own hand-picked cabinet of sycophants won’t do it. Voters? Show me how any amount of voter outrage can work against this map to do anything but give Trump an even friendlier Senate than he already has, and don’t even talk about House maps. Where’s the realistic path? Are we counting on military coups now? [Different, friendly] foreign interventions? Alien abductions?
Mueller is all we have. Please don’t wish for him to be fired just so you can feel the rush of righteous indignation, because it would only be followed by the utter incredulity of watching nobody doing anything about it.
Nixon did it and there was still a mechanism that eventually led to his downfall.
I’m saying that Trump’s allies control the House and the Senate, and they have already bent over backward to avoid investigating this matter, so it’s abundantly clear what they’d do if he fired Mueller (same thing as when he fired Comey–either nothing at all, talk about how Mueller was a liberal partisan hack, or the McCain Special*). The courts have no legal authority to investigate, prosecute, or remove a President, so it doesn’t matter where they stand.
* Talk about what a sad, bad, terrible thing this is. Outrageous, unwarranted, and unprecedented. And then do nothing.
I agree with you, just making a Star Wars reference.
So WaPo is reporting that Trump is under investigation by Mueller for possible obstruction of justice, and there’s also a report that Trump floated the idea of firing Mueller publicly in order to influence Mueller to go easy on the investigation.
Amazing.
I hope he does fire Mueller it will add ammunition to the case.
More to the case, yes… but with nobody left to prosecute it.
I think a lot of people underestimate how lucky we are to have a Special Prosecutor in the first place. If the stars hadn’t aligned just right, the only things checking the power of this menace would have been the House, the Senate, and the courts. And while the courts are doing an admirable job going it alone on the whole checks and balances business, there are some things they simply lack the legal authority to do.
There’s this school of thought that if Trump indirectly fires Mueller by cycling through justice department heads just like Nixon did (he can’t fire him directly), that this will lead to widespread outrage, and that this outrage will lead to Trump’s goose finally being cooked. But what’s missing from this theory is the legal mechanism and authority that would cause Trump’s downfall. Courts can’t do it. House and Senate won’t do it. 25th amendment? Pfft, Trump’s own hand-picked cabinet of sycophants won’t do it. Voters? Show me how any amount of voter outrage can work against this map to do anything but give Trump an even friendlier Senate than he already has, and don’t even talk about House maps. Where’s the realistic path? Are we counting on military coups now? [Different, friendly] foreign interventions? Alien abductions?
Mueller is all we have. Please don’t wish for him to be fired just so you can feel the rush of righteous indignation, because it would only be followed by the utter incredulity of watching nobody doing anything about it.
Nixon did it and there was still a mechanism that eventually led to his downfall.
Yeah, but it took a Democratic majority.
You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)
That’s not to say we’re completely out of other avenues. There’s the theory that Rosenstein could simply ignore any attempts to fire him, claiming that if he’s being fired for not shutting down an investigation by the very people under investigation, then that firing is improper and void. But that’s uncharted legal territory. And the courts could step in, and it could be a lovely mess. But frankly it’s not very good odds. State attorneys general can bring suits, New York seems likely already. You’ve got money laundering, racketeering, RICO, all the good stuff at their disposal. But since we’re on the topic of legally uncharted territory, the president may actually have the power to pardon himself (it’s never been tried), only matters of impeachment are explicitly barred–and state AG’s can’t impeach the president.
Yeah, but it took a Democratic majority.
And I know I’ve already mentioned this a couple of times, but when it came down to impeachment time for Nixon, a majority of the Republican members of the committee voted against all charges for impeachment. After there was already a recording available of Nixon committing the crime he was being charged with. Meaning, if Republicans had a majority, and the chairship, Nixon’s impeachment would likely have never even come up for a vote, and Nixon would have served out his full second term.
Yeah, but it took a Democratic majority.
And I know I’ve already mentioned this a couple of times, but when it came down to impeachment time for Nixon, a majority of the Republican members of the committee voted against all charges for impeachment. After there was already a recording available of Nixon committing the crime he was being charged with. Meaning, if Republicans had a majority, and the chairship, Nixon’s impeachment would likely have never even come up for a vote, and Nixon would have served out his full second term.
“What did the president know and when did he know it?” was uttered by a Republican senator, partisanship was not what it is now. And it was the public/media who rose to the occassion to hold their government officials accountable, not the opposing political party. Barry Goldwater himself urged the president to resign, which essentially cemented the decision in his mind. We all know Trump wouldn’t make that call.
Are you saying that Trump has control of the courts and the Senate?
(Gives knowing glance, with a slight air of superiority) “There’s always a bigger fish.”
Yeah, but it took a Democratic majority.
And I know I’ve already mentioned this a couple of times, but when it came down to impeachment time for Nixon, a majority of the Republican members of the committee voted against all charges for impeachment. After there was already a recording available of Nixon committing the crime he was being charged with. Meaning, if Republicans had a majority, and the chairship, Nixon’s impeachment would likely have never even come up for a vote, and Nixon would have served out his full second term.
“What did the president know and when did he know it?” was uttered by a Republican senator, partisanship was not what it is now. And it was the public/media who rose to the occassion to hold their government officials accountable, not the opposing political party. Barry Goldwater himself urged the president to resign, which essentially cemented the decision in his mind. We all know Trump wouldn’t make that call.
I agree things are more polarized now, but the votes from the time reveal most Republicans lined up behind Nixon even after the facts were out and incontrovertible. So that really just means that Republicans would not have considered impeachment if they ran the show back then, and they’re even less likely to vote to impeach today. I disagree about the cause for resignation though. Nixon resigned after many things happened–enough Republicans broke with their party to give the Democrats a comfortable margin on impeachment (my point was not that none broke with Nixon, but that most didn’t), the Supreme Court ordered the release of damning evidence, but Goldwater? He was a Nixon competitor–a leader of the nascent conservative movement getting a chance to get a dig at America’s last arguably liberal President. Of course he called on Nixon to resign.
But I also agree Trump wouldn’t make that call under any imaginable circumstances either.
Yeah, but it took a Democratic majority.
And I know I’ve already mentioned this a couple of times, but when it came down to impeachment time for Nixon, a majority of the Republican members of the committee voted against all charges for impeachment. After there was already a recording available of Nixon committing the crime he was being charged with. Meaning, if Republicans had a majority, and the chairship, Nixon’s impeachment would likely have never even come up for a vote, and Nixon would have served out his full second term.
“What did the president know and when did he know it?” was uttered by a Republican senator, partisanship was not what it is now. And it was the public/media who rose to the occassion to hold their government officials accountable, not the opposing political party. Barry Goldwater himself urged the president to resign, which essentially cemented the decision in his mind. We all know Trump wouldn’t make that call.
I agree things are more polarized now, but the votes from the time reveal most Republicans lined up behind Nixon even after the facts were out and incontrovertible. So that really just means that Republicans would not have considered impeachment if they ran the show back then, and they’re even less likely to vote to impeach today.
From August 7, 1972, the day before he resigned:
“In the senate, John Powers, chairman of the Republican Policy Committee there, and in the past a strong Nixon supporter, said today that it was “his guess that the majority sentiment among Republican senators is that Nixon should resign.””
"Every member of the Judiciary Committee who voted for President Nixon last week has now reversed his position. As a group they feel particularly badly let down and have taken the lead in calling for the President’s resignation.
Nobody any longer argues that there is insufficient evidence to convict the President, and only a tiny hardcore appear to agree with him that the crime was not big enough to warrant impeachment. Out of 435 members of the House, Mr Nixon would be lucky if he could find even 35 to vote against impeachment"
but Goldwater? He was a Nixon competitor–a leader of the nascent conservative movement getting a chance to get a dig at America’s last arguably liberal President. Of course he called on Nixon to resign.
Goldwater’s chances at the presidency were killed in 1964, he was a party leader and highly respected nonetheless. What would he be competing for? From that same article:
“Mr Rhodes’s view usually reflects very closely that of Senator Barry Goldwater, the Republican kingmaker, who is again being pressed to lead a Republican delegation from Congress to call on the President to resign.”
“President Nixon is still trying to resist the growing crescendo of powerful voices calling for his resignation. He is displaying a masochistic determination to stay in office until the bitter end.”
Nixon was resisting on Aug 7, what happened between that resistance and his resignation the next day?
But I also agree Trump wouldn’t make that call under any imaginable circumstances either.
Well, at least that isn’t in dispute.
Remember when Trump and the Republicans were going on and on about how we couldn’t afford to elect Hillary because we can’t elect someone under an active FBI investigation? How it would mean a constitutional crisis and how they couldn’t govern effectively?
Ha.
Speaking of which, Trump is now whining about Hillary on Twitter again. Gotta play those greatest hits and hope no one notices the stage burning down…
"Every member of the Judiciary Committee who voted for President Nixon last week has now reversed his position. As a group they feel particularly badly let down and have taken the lead in calling for the President’s resignation.
I did not know that, point conceded. I knew they eventually reversed their positions, but I didn’t know they’d done it before he resigned.