This thread has taken a strange tangent and for that I apologize


So how bout that potential government shutdown on Friday?

Government Shutdown Begins as Budget Talks Falter in Senate - The New York Times

Usually they're so good at getting things done and reaching a consensus.

That's from the January one. Although I can see why people could be fooled, because apparently you don't have to put congress's feet to the fire to get them to do something, the whole foot has to be a charred wreck and the pant legs merrily blazing away before they do anything.

Nobody has the courage to say no to Donald.

Gah! History repeats itself often I guess.

Here's a newer link

Congress Stymied on $1.3 Trillion Bill With Days to Go Before Shutdown - Bloomberg

Trump’s national security advisers warned him not to congratulate Putin. He did it anyway.

It's OK, other reports say he often doesn't read his briefing materials before meeting with world leaders. How was he to know?

Seems like there is almost more talk that somebody on the senior staff had to have leaked this to the press than the actual Trump congratulating Putin. Have to wonder who it could be at this point after all the changes Trump's made with his staff.

I bet he looks like this

well if I knew what the reference was from, I'd likely agree :)

Bro, Game of Thrones :)

Ah I've only read the books :)

Is the swamp drained yet?

FBI deputy fired by Sessions was leading criminal probe into Sessions

Saccone finally concedes in the PA election:

Saccone concedes Pennsylvania House special election to Lamb | TheHill

And now our current President and former Vice President have engaged one another in a public war of words over which one could kick the other's ass.

U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!

Let's settle this like men....

New main event for Wrestlemania?

I'd pay a lot to see Trump forced to exert himself in such a way.

My thought process:

Hmm. That doesn't sound like Obama.

OH, Vice-President.

Yeah, Biden would totally do that.

Would buy the PPV.

Please tweet Dana White

Would a Biden/Obama ticket happen?

It's awesome to see the first lady making a difference with her cyber bullying campaign.

Is this really that uncommon? In a different political environment we would probably bring the dueling guns out of retirement and let them settle this like the gentlemen they clearly are.

No it's not.

It's completely pointless and distracting from the real uses at hand. Honestly, it's not even worth commenting on.

I swear, if the democrats can't find someone under 70, who is an actual leader, with evolved thoughts and plans they are seriously fucked.

Its time for boomers to step aside.

5th largest Dow drop in history. Too cynical to suggest that his inner circle have probably made millions off of it?

I’m sure these 19th century economics are going to pay off eventually though.

Just wait for the trickle down. We’ll all be just fine.

How long before it is the Fake Stock Market? Or Rigged Stock Market?

Everything is working against this poor guy who was born on third base.

McMaster out. Bolton in.

The thing is, the average voter shouldn't give a shit about the Dow. Trump is the one that's made the average voters aware of if though by basing his economic success on it.

Why shouldn't average voters care about the Dow?

Yeah, I’m pretty sure if I’m a few weeks away from retirement I care than 5-10% just got wiped off my 401k.

Rand Paul is doing some serious grandstanding on twitter but this one here seems reasonable.

eyes getting tired but really someone should read this beast.

Page 392 sec 9007: no $ shall be spent “for the permanent stationing of US forces in Afghanistan”

Wonder what they meant by permanent? Some might argue that after 16 years we approaching the definition of permanent.

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 22, 2018

Cool, replace an actual General with an unapologetic draft-dodger who wants to declare war on everyone. Gets better all the time...:banghead:

And Trump's lead lawyer on Russia out, John Dowd as well. Figured at least one of them would be leaving when he brought the new guy in this week. And at least four other lawyers/law firms said no to joining his team.

They should just name Hannity to the open Communication Director job and the take over of the govt by Fox News will be complete.

If you own enough stock to care about the ups and downs of the market, you aren't an average voter. 90% of the public shares 20% of the value of stocks while 10% shares the remaining 80% of value.

If it will pass without him he'l vote against it, but if it won't he'll reluctantly vote for a flawed bill.

I feel sick to my stomach about the world our kids are going to be left with if shit doesn't turn around quick.

John Bolton, HR McMaster’s replacement as national security adviser, explained - Vox

yeah, well, fuck ...

Andrew Jackson and Aaron Burr approve of this! Alexander Hamilton, not so much...
Has there ever been any ruling on the constitutionality of such a maneuver since the 22nd Amendment was passed? I like Obama & Bill Clinton well enough (and certainly compared to the retread boomers who just won't go away), but in actuality that seems pretty close to what Putin did in Russia.

The way I read the amendment technically it only bars electing a President who has already served 2 terms. i.e. Biden/Obama could run & Biden could resign the day after he's sworn in and it wouldn't violate the letter of the law, unless there's been additional clarification (or my quick google search is showing me an abridged text.)

Twelfth Amendment answers your question, Bishop.

Nobody ineligible to be President is eligible to serve as Vice-President.

As Obama has already served two full terms, he is ineligible to be further elected as President as matters currently stand. As a result, he is also ineligible to serve as Vice-President.

Now, I think there IS a loophole in the Constitution that could get Obama back into the White House. As you point out, the 22nd only talks about the election of a President. Obama cannot be elected President again, which means he can't be elected Vice-President, either.

But the Presidential succession extends further than that. He could be elected to the House of Representatives and, if Democrats controlled the chamber, become Speaker of the House. If that happened, and the Presidency and Vice-Presidency were vacated at the same time for any reason, he would probably be eligible to ascend directly to the Presidency to complete the current term of office (but could not stand for re-election). Likewise if any future Democratic President appointed him to the Cabinet (albeit he'd be much further down the line of succession in such a case).

But the 22nd says he couldn't then (nor can he now) be elected President again, and the 12th says nobody who's ineligible to be elected President may be elected VP. So absent a fringe case like the immediately preceding, that's your answer.

Has there ever been an emptier threat than Trump's threat he'll veto the spending bill and close the government because the Dreamers aren't taken care of?

Oh he'd veto it - not because of the 'Dreamers' but because it shows he has the power to do so ... and it makes him feel 'big' ..

Get your popcorn ready. The tweets, misdirection and chaos this weekend will be spectacular with the 60 Minutes interview coming up and we all know how much the Dotard cares about what people say to the media (see Biden).

Trump's still willing to shutdown the government over not getting funding for something Mexico is going to pay for.

Trump is signing the bill. He says nobody read it but he's going to sign it. His reasoning is that the military needs more money.

Remarkable: Trump is essentially conceding he just got rolled by Congress. Claims he was “forced” to sign spending bill. When he campaigned for president, he said he was smarter than all the “stupid” politicians in Washington and would get his way

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) March 23, 2018

This is the last time you can punch me in the face!

I was reading through a lot of his posts and comments on Twitter about the Omnibus. A lot of his base apparently did want him to veto it, and are unhappy he didn't. Plus they didn't include money for his wall, and did include (apparently) some funding for Planned Parenthood, Sanctuary Cities, and others things Dems wanted.