"[Trump's] ability to escape tough situations makes him the envy of every house cat."
Must I always state the obvious? It's not "his" ability but that of multiple layers of protection and enabling that are the real envy of every house cat. All he has to do is throw his food on the wall when he gets upset. And not even have to clean it up.
As for the "Meanwhile in Ohio" piece, as I write this, it looks like my state - meaning Ohio - has decisively beat back the attempt by the Republican super majority to change a law in place since 1912 on citizen ballot initiatives.
This would not have happened without deep bipartisan antipathy to silencing the will of the voters.
National media - including The Bulwark- paid little attention to what's happening in Ohio until late in the game. I hope that changes.
Would it be inaccurate to summarize today's GOP split as MAGA has no interest in giving voters' their way unless voters' preferences conform with MAGA politicians' preferences while RINOs hold the decidedly anti-MAGA notion that the voters should decide?
There are non-MAGA who are dead set AGAINST abortion and/or dead set FOR guns. To the extent MAGA is willing to help out on those priorities, the non-MAGA will help out on a little ad hoc authoritarianism, maybe also leaving NATO.
Many who still believe adamantly in the principles and goals of the Tea Party may not be MAGA, but they still identify as Republican.
Connor Lamb BARELY has a place in the Democratic Party. The party may not be pro-abortion, but it's not welcoming to anyone pro-life.
A shame SCOTUS issued Roe and Dobbs decisions because it's set abortion as a question of absolute rights (the right of women to be pregnant or not vs fetal right to life) rather than as something amenable to compromise (which Roe's different regimes by trimester was meant to provide). There may be over 70% support for 1st trimester abortions, but there's less than 30% support for elective 3rd trimester abortions. Yes, I understand the latter are rare, but the political health of the nation many REQUIRE banning them in order to bolster support and acceptance of unrestricted 1st trimester abortions. Is this sort of discussion welcome in the Democratic Party today? Ever perused Reddit's r/Democrats?
Re common sense gun laws, where was Democratic criticism of New York city restrictions which made it arguably illegal to transport one's guns from one's NYC residence to Nassau or Westchester county gun ranges? I'm in favor of stronger gun control, but my own impression of too many Democrats is that when they have supermajorities, they legislate for as many guns in private hands as Christian right Republican majorities do for elective abortions.
I meant what I wrote. An example is a married women with kids, pregnant, and her husband suddenly dies in her 7th month. Rare circumstances. Yes. Would cold-hearted me really ban such a person from having an abortion? Yes. OTOH, I believe there should be some government support under those circumstances.
There's a difference between trolling and playing Devil's advocate. I see you can't discern the distinction.
As the Jan. 6 indictment makes abundantly clear, Trump & enablers crossed the Rubicon of lawlessness in late 2020. One chaotic narcissist (Bannon) simply acknowledged what another (Trump) would do by deception. There no longer is a GOP, the transformation is complete. So, let's stop the charade, stop using the acronym.
Remember all the Republicans who deflected the question of who they would support in 2024 by saying, "Trump will NEVER be the nominee?"
95% of them will either vote for Trump and 5% will absolve themselves of blame (not really, but they'll say it does) by not voting for President or writing in some name.
If only hermey the elf hadn't escaped the island of misfit toys and changed his name to Charlie Kirk... He could have been a fine dentist instead of the rhetorical bomb thrower POS he became.
Yes, "they are all Bannonists now", but this is not just a "war between Mr. Trump and the Democrats". It's a battle in the MAGA war to destroy the liberal administrative state, and it ties in with the MAGA/Putin/Orban/Axis-of-Autocracy war against the liberal world order.
I think there is a misconception about the Clinton Administration’s approach to the budget and deficit reduction. In addition to raising taxes on the wealthy, we did make budget cuts and reduce the size of the federal workforce which infuriated some in our party. Some of those cuts were initiated by the Administration and some were the result of negotiations with the Republican-led Congress. Where I think we really messed up was deregulation, such as supporting the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act. There is more information about the budget below from a White House document.
Federal spending as a share of the economy is the lowest since 1966. Spending restraint under President Clinton has brought spending down federal spending from 22 percent of GDP in 1992 to a projected 18 percent of GDP in 2000 the lowest since 1966. At the same time, President Clinton has increased strategic investments in education, technology and other areas that are vital to growth.
The smallest Federal civilian workforce in 40 years. The Federal civilian workforce increased from the time when President Reagan took office to the time when President Bush left office. In contrast, since President Clinton and Vice President Gore took office, the Federal workforce has been cut by 377,000 by nearly a fifth and is now lower than at any time since 1960.
Glass-Steagall had to go if US banks were to compete against European merchant banks. Even the largest New York and California banks were small compared to major German, UK and French national banks. Also, the then-recent S&L debacle had poisoned many on the notion of effective government regulation of financial services.
A broader perspective on financial businesses would show that the US has many rather silly if not downright stupid regulations compared to Europe. Not that most countries are too lax about bank stress tests.
I might have more respect for Bannon's "Everything is shit, burn it all down!" approach if he had given all his money away to those in need - you know, like a real "Leninist."
And why all the admiration of him from the base, when he flat out calls himself a Communist?
Thanks for the heads up on Caligula. We have been enjoying the Prime series Domina. The main character is Livia, Augustus' wife.
"[Trump's] ability to escape tough situations makes him the envy of every house cat."
Must I always state the obvious? It's not "his" ability but that of multiple layers of protection and enabling that are the real envy of every house cat. All he has to do is throw his food on the wall when he gets upset. And not even have to clean it up.
The Associated Press has called it. Issue One went down! Woo-hoooooooo! Onward to the November election.
As for the "Meanwhile in Ohio" piece, as I write this, it looks like my state - meaning Ohio - has decisively beat back the attempt by the Republican super majority to change a law in place since 1912 on citizen ballot initiatives.
This would not have happened without deep bipartisan antipathy to silencing the will of the voters.
National media - including The Bulwark- paid little attention to what's happening in Ohio until late in the game. I hope that changes.
Thank you Ohio, now come November give women their rights.
Amen. From an almost 70 year old woman who was grateful for Roe v. Wade in 1973...
Written by a 71 year old who was in college when Roe came down
Re Ohio Issue 1, it failed.
Would it be inaccurate to summarize today's GOP split as MAGA has no interest in giving voters' their way unless voters' preferences conform with MAGA politicians' preferences while RINOs hold the decidedly anti-MAGA notion that the voters should decide?
There are non-MAGA who are dead set AGAINST abortion and/or dead set FOR guns. To the extent MAGA is willing to help out on those priorities, the non-MAGA will help out on a little ad hoc authoritarianism, maybe also leaving NATO.
Many who still believe adamantly in the principles and goals of the Tea Party may not be MAGA, but they still identify as Republican.
Connor Lamb BARELY has a place in the Democratic Party. The party may not be pro-abortion, but it's not welcoming to anyone pro-life.
A shame SCOTUS issued Roe and Dobbs decisions because it's set abortion as a question of absolute rights (the right of women to be pregnant or not vs fetal right to life) rather than as something amenable to compromise (which Roe's different regimes by trimester was meant to provide). There may be over 70% support for 1st trimester abortions, but there's less than 30% support for elective 3rd trimester abortions. Yes, I understand the latter are rare, but the political health of the nation many REQUIRE banning them in order to bolster support and acceptance of unrestricted 1st trimester abortions. Is this sort of discussion welcome in the Democratic Party today? Ever perused Reddit's r/Democrats?
Re common sense gun laws, where was Democratic criticism of New York city restrictions which made it arguably illegal to transport one's guns from one's NYC residence to Nassau or Westchester county gun ranges? I'm in favor of stronger gun control, but my own impression of too many Democrats is that when they have supermajorities, they legislate for as many guns in private hands as Christian right Republican majorities do for elective abortions.
No thanks.
I meant what I wrote. An example is a married women with kids, pregnant, and her husband suddenly dies in her 7th month. Rare circumstances. Yes. Would cold-hearted me really ban such a person from having an abortion? Yes. OTOH, I believe there should be some government support under those circumstances.
There's a difference between trolling and playing Devil's advocate. I see you can't discern the distinction.
As the Jan. 6 indictment makes abundantly clear, Trump & enablers crossed the Rubicon of lawlessness in late 2020. One chaotic narcissist (Bannon) simply acknowledged what another (Trump) would do by deception. There no longer is a GOP, the transformation is complete. So, let's stop the charade, stop using the acronym.
The early poll results are firmly in the “no” camp. But there are a lot of ballots left to be counted.
I actively resent that I have to still care about Steve Bannon. He was guilty, tried and sent to jail. That should have been it.
Remember all the Republicans who deflected the question of who they would support in 2024 by saying, "Trump will NEVER be the nominee?"
95% of them will either vote for Trump and 5% will absolve themselves of blame (not really, but they'll say it does) by not voting for President or writing in some name.
If only hermey the elf hadn't escaped the island of misfit toys and changed his name to Charlie Kirk... He could have been a fine dentist instead of the rhetorical bomb thrower POS he became.
Hey Charlie, The Bulwark podcast isn't downloading.... ;-(
Yes, "they are all Bannonists now", but this is not just a "war between Mr. Trump and the Democrats". It's a battle in the MAGA war to destroy the liberal administrative state, and it ties in with the MAGA/Putin/Orban/Axis-of-Autocracy war against the liberal world order.
#SaveAmerica #NeverMAGA #NeverAutocracy
Hi Carol,
I think there is a misconception about the Clinton Administration’s approach to the budget and deficit reduction. In addition to raising taxes on the wealthy, we did make budget cuts and reduce the size of the federal workforce which infuriated some in our party. Some of those cuts were initiated by the Administration and some were the result of negotiations with the Republican-led Congress. Where I think we really messed up was deregulation, such as supporting the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act. There is more information about the budget below from a White House document.
Federal spending as a share of the economy is the lowest since 1966. Spending restraint under President Clinton has brought spending down federal spending from 22 percent of GDP in 1992 to a projected 18 percent of GDP in 2000 the lowest since 1966. At the same time, President Clinton has increased strategic investments in education, technology and other areas that are vital to growth.
The smallest Federal civilian workforce in 40 years. The Federal civilian workforce increased from the time when President Reagan took office to the time when President Bush left office. In contrast, since President Clinton and Vice President Gore took office, the Federal workforce has been cut by 377,000 by nearly a fifth and is now lower than at any time since 1960.
Glass-Steagall had to go if US banks were to compete against European merchant banks. Even the largest New York and California banks were small compared to major German, UK and French national banks. Also, the then-recent S&L debacle had poisoned many on the notion of effective government regulation of financial services.
A broader perspective on financial businesses would show that the US has many rather silly if not downright stupid regulations compared to Europe. Not that most countries are too lax about bank stress tests.
I agree. Since then it's always been a popularity contest for them.
Please if you live in OH go vote NO. Unless you vote NO, from here forward you allow the minority to stop the majority from doing ANYTHING.
I might have more respect for Bannon's "Everything is shit, burn it all down!" approach if he had given all his money away to those in need - you know, like a real "Leninist."
And why all the admiration of him from the base, when he flat out calls himself a Communist?
These people Make. No. Sense. At. All.