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Brian Parrott's avatar

So now Trump is saying 25 million people crossed the border when Biden was president. I’ve heard 20, 30, 15. Funny how nobody has any actual data on this.

insert_something_creative's avatar

I last heard it was 100 bazillion.

In all honesty, while none of that is true, to get to the core of the matter: ICE and CPB never lost funding with the shutdown. They got a fuckton of money with the Big Blowjobs for Billionaires bill last year and they've been paid the entire time (unlike TSA, FEMA, etc.). The Democrats wanted some common-sense reforms like don't wear masks, wear identifiable information, actually use real warrants, and ya know, don't randomly murder people in the streets.

The interesting part comes from a recent interview I listened to with Senator Chris Murphy since the Senate unanimously passed the clean bill. Despite the fact that ICE got hundreds of billions last year, they are burning through it like crazy. Between Kristi Noem's many planes, the contracts to cronies who get a slice off the top, and the general corruption — it goes quickly. He said he wouldn't be surprised if they run out by the end of the calendar year. ICE actually NEEDS that additional funding so the Senate Dems passing the bill without it is a win, even if we didn't get the reforms we wanted.

Reader's avatar

Why we bother with something that's only passed in one chamber I don't know.

Maybe's avatar

Speaking of criminals (someone who should be in prison and also has mental problems), I give you trumpy, our 'President,' who has 34 felony convictions and palled around with Jeffrey Epstein.

Let's keep our immigrants and get rid of him.

Zyxomma's avatar

Ta, Marcie. Faces, meet leopards.

eddi-SABH's avatar

The House hates it.

Jen has Puce Sarcasms's avatar

The republicans in the house hates it.

Hooowweeever...considering all the specials and warnings they are getting in places they should not be getting warnings or losing....they might just decide to pretend they are the good guys after all and it is all Trump's fault.

eddi-SABH's avatar

It still won't help them get reelected. Trump will endorse them anyway.

Michael's avatar

Iran may be the GOP's Waterloo.

"Their unity around the Iran war is starting to show cracks.

The fissures are still relatively isolated, at least publicly, but include some critical GOP figures on the Hill, suggesting there’s growing unease about the length of the war, Donald Trump’s endgame, the possibility of sending ground troops, and results Republicans will own.

If ground troops go in, the party could lose 60 to 70 House seats, one House Republican who requested anonymity told my colleague Erik Wasson. That would be among the worst midterm losses in a century.

Part of what’s driving the worry is a feeling that lawmakers are getting little information even as the administration considers a $200 billion ask to pay for the war.

Does Trump have a plan he’s not telling them? Or no plan? Which would be worse?

There’s also fear Trump could escalate the conflict while Congress is scheduled to be away for the next two weeks.

“I’m worried we get out of town and the president goes in with ground troops aiming for a full takeover,” Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski told Erik.

Murkowski has started working on a proposed Congressional authorization for the use of military force, a step aimed at giving lawmakers more say over the war’s duration and direction.

She’s hardly the only one getting nervous.

The S&P 500 fell 1.7% Thursday – its biggest drop since the war began as Trump again sent mixed signals on whether he’s negotiating to end the fighting or looking to escalate it.

“We want to know more about what’s going on, what the options are, and why they’re being considered,” Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, the chair of the House Armed Services Committee, told reporters this week after an administration briefing. “We’re just not getting enough answers.”

The Senate’s Armed Services chairman, Roger Wicker, suggested he shared Rogers’ frustration — and those two are not among Trump’s usual critics.

The public GOP concerns so far are limited to a handful of voices. Speaker Mike Johnson discounted worries about troops on ground, saying the mission “will wrap up in a short time period.”

There’s no suggestion of a major imminent rebellion.

But Republicans are finding out the consequences of giving the president free rein for so long. Trump keeps acting on his own, and they have little practice at slowing him down." (BGov)

That last is putting it mildly!

insert_something_creative's avatar

I feel like they might have lost 30-40 seats even without the Iran war based on how things have been going and the results of special elections.

All of that PLUS ground troops and a prolonged Epic Fuck Up in the Middle East that spikes gas prices and generally further fucks the economy for no reason? They'd be lucky to only lose 70 seats (though gerrymandering might protect them to an extent) and they'd DESERVE IT! They've sat there with their thumbs up their asses letting him do whatever he wants this whole time.

Michael's avatar

That's my read as well. The numbers of NKD demonstrators, even in deep red states and counties broke records.

Reader's avatar

When aren't our representatives on break? Seems like the "representing" is done in tiny breaks between their breaks.

Michael's avatar

I gather that they spend more time seeking campaign contributions than they do sitting in legislative sessions.

Reader's avatar

I think that might literally be true.

diogenez's avatar

The Dems also got zero ICE reforms, and without the shutdown, it sure looks like they also will have lost their leverage to make ICE less thuggish and anonymous.

insert_something_creative's avatar

According to Senator Chris Murphy, thanks to the insane corruption, ICE will have burned through the hundreds of billions they got in the Blowjobs for Billionaires Bill last year by the end of this calendar year. They actually need more money, and thus, will continue to have leverage.

Jen has Puce Sarcasms's avatar

They were not working on reforms.

And funding ICE in the future is the leverage

Dorothea is a Democrat's avatar

Do you have a better idea? Please share.

diogenez's avatar

Also, I didn't say that it was a bad thing. I merely questioned characterizing things as a win for Dems - or that the GOP had "caved."

diogenez's avatar

Sure. Dump Chuck Schumer. We need a fighter, not a milquetoast.

coco lurks from home's avatar

In order to get rid of Schumer, someone else has to be willing to step into the role. As of yet, no one has expressed that interest, at least not publicly.

diogenez's avatar

Potential Future Leaders/Rising Stars:

Chris Murphy (D-CT): Deputy Democratic Conference Secretary; often considered a leading voice on policy and messaging.

Tammy Baldwin (D-WI): Democratic Conference Secretary.

Mark Warner (D-VA): Vice Chair of the Conference.

Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV): Vice Chair of Outreach.

Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY): Involved in campaign leadership.

coco lurks from home's avatar

None of whom have expressed an interest in taking over the Senate leadership.

Also if you think Gillibrand or Cortez Masto would be any better than Schumer then I don’t even know what to say to you.

The fact is, there haven’t even been whispers from inside the Senate about wanting to get rid of Schumer. It’s all coming from the outside. So until that happens, this is pointless. We can’t just keep saying “get rid of Schumer” without a viable alternative. The fact that other candidates exist means nothing, they have to want the job.

diogenez's avatar

In an absence of criticism, Mr. Schumer will assume that we approve of his job performance.

Reader's avatar

You don't see that as a systematic democratic problem? You just shrug and say there it is?

coco lurks from home's avatar

Pointing out a fact is not “shrugging.”

James's avatar

TACO Boy needs some new material. That whole OPEN BORDERS schtick is way stale. Even his sheeple don’t believe it anymore.

John Conrow's avatar

"when TACOs will be served" no doubt in time for Easter.

Robert Eckert's avatar

Are taco shells unleavened? Could be kosher for Passover if you don't sprinkle cheese on the meat.

Runfastandwin's avatar

It's a little something I guess. A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. I like the headline but it seems premature.

CzechJournalists's avatar

how long does it take the House to go around the speaker? discharge petition requires five days, right?

https://apnews.com/live/tsa-government-shutdown-ice-trump-03-27-2026

Ron Spangler's avatar

I like to complain about headlines that obfuscate the story, so this is me complaining about the headlines in places that are not-Wonkette that give low-information America the impression it's all done.

Does President Poopypants order the House not to pass this? Do they do what he says (with an awfully thin majority)? Does he sign it when they do, and get ridiculed on the schoolyard for losing?

Does he sign it and find a way to convince himself he actually won?

Does he not sign it because he is a petulant toddler?

\_(ツ)_/

CzechJournalists's avatar

mike came through for him already

Ron Spangler's avatar

Rosa DeLauro of CT already has a discharge petition open for a prior bill to fund TSA, Coast Guard, and Fema. Obviously that didn't get the required GOP sign-ons. I wonder if the Senate bill that some Republicans supported might peel off two GOP house members and pass?

Ron Spangler's avatar

(I've read three articles on the Senate vote and none of them tell me what the vote actually was, including how many Republicans voted aye. That seems kind of important to me, but what do I know, I'm not a journamallist like the BBC, New York Times, or CNN.)

Ron Spangler's avatar

NEVER MIND. It was a voice vote in the Senate, not a roll call.

Ron Spangler's avatar

The pundits who deconstruct this politically are willfully missing the point. Go ask a preschool teacher what they think Trump will do, and then bet what's left of your 401(k) on that.

cmd Human Scum's avatar

I just took out part of the RMD of the 401(k). Value has been dropping but looked like it was getting worse today. Thanks, Obama, I mean, Thanks, Asshole TFG.

Amezed's avatar

"Banana hammocks," lol'd at work. Thanks for that!

Sarah Ennals's avatar

One of the higher-ups at my new workplace has a nameplate on her office door that reads "Princess Consuela Bananahammock."

James's avatar

The Goddess of Bright Intellect and Prophecy?

Bruce's avatar

"Dissertations will be written about guys like that foreman."

"Panthera pardus and the consumption of Trump voter's faces: a historical analysis of the South Texas construction industry 2016-2030"

lordpnut's avatar

Doktors of rhetoric? Take a drink, and say your prayers if you meet one of those sumbitches; it's gonna be a long day.