President Trump: The NEW one and only politics thread

I don't think it is. I think the Wall is, and this is part of how he'll get it.

But let's be clear: It's time for Congress to start governing again. I do not like what might happen, but the system is broken precisely because we've come to rely on a president to make these unilateral actions that solve problems we no longer think the people we actually elect to solve them can solve.

We need a better system. A celebrity politician - on either side! - won't save us. I don't like Trump one bit, and I'm favor of Dreamers staying here. That said, this was yet another fucking Supreme Court case waiting to happen.

Enough with the politicized state AGs grandstanding with this lawsuit or that lawsuit, and enough with federal and appeals courts screwing around with American lives (and I include DACA kids in that) like a tennis match. Draft some legislation and make some fucking laws.

 

Reminder: the reason we don't have a legislative solution for Dreamers is that Obama wanted one, and Republicans in Congress had decided to deny him anything and everything even if they wanted it too.

In the face of such bad faith actors, Obama did something that improved the lives of hundreds of thousands of productive, contributing members of society at no cost to anyone. It is not somehow a failure of foresight on his part that a bad faith actor further down the road can reverse it.

 

This would be ideal, but as of now, neither party in Congress has any incentive and much disincentive to do the difficult, complex and often grubby job of drafting, debating, and securing majorities for major legislation, which requires compromises on many levels. There are Republican legislators mad that Trump sold them out for agreeing to a three-month debt ceiling postponement instead of a six-month for God's sake. Democratic Senators up in 2018 whose states went for Trump by 20 or 30 points have stayed with the party in opposition because they know their base voters will stay home in droves if they don't.

 

It was entirely possible for Trump to keep DACA protections in place and advocate for Congress to pass a permanent fix at the same time. This "destroy the village to save it" bullshit is just that. It would be like some doofus Slate contrarian rewriting Exodus to make pharaoh the hero for giving the Israelites the nudge they needed to get out of the nest.

 

#ToughLove

 

Something something both sides. Am I a genius yet?

 

I suppose you're right. How could the most brilliant president of the modern era have foreseen that ignoring the Constitution could have unforeseen consequences?

 

Well, yes, all presidents have pens. Unlike you, though, I am happy to point out that any president who governs by fiat is doing it wrong.

 

Rules are rules

 

Not when you make them up.

 

Rick's favorite game: