Government up and running again... maybe

[_Kevin Graham]

Democrats Agree To Reopen Government

WASHINGTON ― The Senate reached a deal Monday to fund the government and potentially provide a path forward for a larger immigration agreement.

Senators are set to approve a three-week funding measure to reopen the government, with many Democrats saying they felt encouraged by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) assurance over the weekend that the Senate would proceed to an immigration bill soon.

Democrats insisted they weren’t caving, even though they didn’t get what they wanted: an immediate vote on protections for undocumented young people often called Dreamers. But the deal gave them a way out of what could have been a politically damaging shutdown. The promise of a vote on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, although it could be reneged on, is something Democrats didn’t have before. It’s the first time Democrats received a firm deadline for a vote on an immigration bill. And if McConnell doesn’t follow through, Democrats will be able to use this promise to vote against the next spending bill and pin the blame on Republicans.

If McConnell keeps his word, he’ll put Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) in a tough spot. There is a DACA bill currently working its way through the House that would deliver on a number of conservative immigration priorities, but it has no chance in the Senate.

If senators are able to pass their own bill, while simultaneously demonstrating that the House bill doesn’t have the votes to pass in their chamber, Ryan will be left with the choice of either putting the Senate bill up for a vote and angering conservatives or holding strong. If he holds strong and doesn’t put the Senate-passed measure up for a vote, he could risk another shutdown and strengthen the Democrats’ argument that another government closure is the fault of Republican obstructionism.

“I don’t think I can guarantee a House outcome but I think the stronger the bill, in terms of the strength of the bipartisanship in the bill ― the odds go up in the House,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) told HuffPost.

For now, Democrats were happy to end a government shutdown, fund the Children’s Health Insurance Program for six years, and functionally not give up any of their leverage.

Although CHIP had bipartisan support, Congress had failed to renew it. Part of the reason is that there were disagreements over how to pay for it, with some GOP proposals undercutting Obamacare in the process.

McConnell reiterated Monday morning that he would move to vote on an immigration bill if the two sides can’t agree to one by Feb. 8, as long as the government is still fully open.

“It would be my intention to take up legislation here in the Senate that would address DACA, border security, and related issues as well as disaster relief, defense funding, health care, and other important matters,” McConnell said. “It would be my strong preference for the Senate to consider a proposal that can actually be signed into law, a bipartisan, bicameral group is already negotiating, and I look forward to completion of its work.”

Some Democrats took McConnell’s remarks as a step toward their preferred solution. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) said it represented “a path forward that is enormously smoother.”

“I believe Sen. McConnell will follow through,” independent Sen. Angus King of Maine, who caucuses with the Democrats, told reporters Monday. “I think he’s made his commitments so publicly and so unequivocally, particularly this morning ― which was a stronger statement than last night ― it’d be very difficult for him to try to find a way out of meeting that commitment.”

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), however, was not convinced by McConnell’s assurances that he would hold a vote on an immigration bill in the future.

“I don’t believe he made any commitment whatsoever and I think it would be foolhardy to believe that he made a commitment,” Harris said.

The federal government has been shut down since early Saturday because the Senate didn’t approve a deal on the four-week spending bill needed to keep it open. Forty-four Democrats and four Republicans voted against that bill, with many saying they wouldn’t support anything that didn’t help the 700,000 undocumented young people President Donald Trump put at risk of losing deportation protections when he ended DACA. Other lawmakers who voted “no” said short-term spending bills are a bad way to operate the government.

Immigrant rights groups have been urging Democrats to demand Dreamer relief as part of must-pass spending bills since Trump rescinded DACA. Their logic ― based on years of experience ― is that a standalone bill to help Dreamers will languish if it’s not attached to another measure because Republican leaders won’t give it a vote, even if it has the support to pass.

McConnell’s promise convinced some Democrats to switch their vote. But he wasn’t able to make any guarantees about the House, as Ryan previously promised the conservative Freedom Caucus he would not hold immigration votes without support from a majority of the Republican conference.

Trump could also throw the entire deal into disarray. He rejected an offer from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Friday to fund a border wall ― something Democrats have said they would not accept ― in exchange for Dreamer protections, according to Schumer. Since the shutdown, White House officials have said they would not negotiate on immigration issues.

In a speech on the Senate floor announcing that his caucus would vote to move forward, Schumer said he hadn’t spoken with Trump since their Friday meeting at the White House ― before the government shut down. “The great deal-making president sat on the sidelines,” he said.

Dreamer activists called on Democrats earlier Monday to not settle for McConnell’s promise to hold a vote. If they lose DACA ― as an estimated 122 Dreamers already are each day ― they will lose work permits and could be deported.

“Promises won’t protect anyone from deportation because delay means deportations for us,” Greisa Martinez Rosas, advocacy director for the Dreamer-led group United We Dream, said on a call with reporters ahead of the vote.

[_Bach]

GO KEVIN GO!

You are hilarious and sometimes actually worth the price of admission here for some basic entertainment value!!!

SHUTDOWN SHUMER and PATHETIC PELOSI just got “b___ch slapped, got zero out of their stunt trying to convince taxpaying American citizens that illegals have greater rights than US citizens and just folded like a cheap lawn chair. Way out of their league and cerebral capacity.

What’s also hysterical is Pelosi taking all the Dems out Friday night for a victory dinner!

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/01 ... rshutdown/

You gotta love these idiots who have never created a job but love to live their lives on govt handouts!!!!

[_Kevin Graham]

GO KEVIN GO!

You are hilarious and sometimes actually worth the price of admission here for some basic entertainment value!!!

SHUTDOWN SHUMER and PATHETIC PELOSI just got “b___ch slapped, got zero out of their stunt trying to convince taxpaying American citizens that illegals have greater rights than US citizens and just folded like a cheap lawn chair. Way out of their league and cerebral capacity.

What’s also hysterical is Pelosi taking all the Democrats out Friday night for a victory dinner!

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/01 ... rshutdown/

You gotta love these idiots who have never created a job but love to live their lives on govt handouts!!!!

This has already been demonstrated to be nothing more than the Trump shutdown, which is why more than a few Republicans have said as much. Trump is a spineless fraud who bows down to 32 year old staffers. Relaying stupid headlines from Right Wing blogs is par for the course from you. The only people calling a dinner a "victory" dinner are the idiots on the Right.

“Their demands are nebulous, their messaging makes no sense, they continuously move the ball. I think it’s a sign that the administration doesn’t want a deal ... he’s getting some really bad advice. It’s a negotiation at this point over things that are so far from the realm of consideration on the Democratic side that you’re never going to get a deal as long as the president continues to listen to this advice.”- David Bier, a policy analyst at the conservative CATO institute

“Trump created the DACA crisis. The congressional wing of the GOP refused to fund CHIP. Trump & GOP ignored the pleas of the Pentagon for a fully funded budget. All of this is on them.”- Republican strategist John Weaver

"Never in the history of the country has there been a government shutdown when a single party is in charge of Washington. Hook, line and sinker. House, Senate, one party in charge. That’s it. Republicans have it all.” - Shepherd Smith, FOX News

A couple of Republican lawmakers have criticized the President for constantly waffling on agreements he has previously made with Shumer/Pelosi, only after he lets his idiot staffers like Steve Miller make his decisions for him.

I don't know what it is you think you've won. If McConnell doesn't hold up to his end of the bargain as promised we will be right back where we are soon enough except the Right won't have any excuse for blaming Democrats. The only people who have been "celebrating" in any sense the past couple of days are the morons in Right Wing media and of course, people like you who have no attention span beyond a drudgereport headline.

And the majority of Americans never considered this the Democrats fault. They've been blaming the Right, and justifiably so. Trump is an epic moron who spreads disaster wherever he goes.

[_Kevin Graham]

SHUTDOWN SHUMER and PATHETIC PELOSI just got “b___ch slapped, got zero out of their stunt trying to convince taxpaying American citizens that illegals have greater rights than US citizens and just folded like a cheap lawn chair.

All they wanted was the same thing Trump claimed he wanted from the beginning. The difference is that the Democrats actually stand by those principles because they have more integrity (not that this is saying much). Trump and the GOP stand for nothing, which is why they can't even get on the same page as to what their position is on the subject of DACA.

Trump spoke into a camera talking about how "we have to help those kids" and then he turns his back on them when the cameras are away and the clock is ticking and they'll soon be eligible for deportation. In case you missed it, this is what the President said about the people you're insulting: “I have a love for these people, and hopefully now Congress will be able to help them and do it properly."

These kids came out of the shadows when the US government promised they would not be deported for doing so, and also promised that their private information (which they gave up freely) would not be used against them. Trump has relaxed those restrictions, effectively making the US government a traitor to those agreements. Democrats are trying to honor those agreements and they have every reason to believe the GOP has been lying and has no intention of reinstating DACA..

Remember, Trump only ended DACA because he said it should have been something Congress did instead of the the President, but he told Congress to reinstate it before March and McConnell hasn't even allowed the subject to be discussed on the floor. If nothing is done before March all of those young adults, brought here as children, will be left vulnerable and could be deported back to a country they've never known. That is what this is all about, and the GOP have been avoiding the subject and the President has been reneging on agreements he's made, back and forth, which has frustrated the Democrats. Their only leverage as a minority was to force a vote by refusing to pass a spending bill that excluded DACA. But because of the damage it was doing to the country, they decided to to alter their strategy and you're idea of getting "bitched slapped" is in reality McConnell being forced to promise that DACA will be voted on before the deadline. If he backs off that promise, it will only damage him politically and we'll be back to another government shutdown again with no room for the Republicans to blame Democrats.

So when you belittle these people by calling them "illegal aliens" know you're talking about people who were brought here as children and likely had no choice. And know you're setting up this false dichotomy of "us vs them," like the absolute moron that you are. And know that you're basically proving that you have no understanding of the issue and that you're not even in agreement with the majority in your own party. Only the fringe extremists like Trump's idiot staffers want to deport the DACA folks.