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Trump lacks key players for meeting with Chinese leader

"The basic problem is that Donald Trump doesn’t have any experience with the Chinese and his State Department itself doesn’t either,” said Adelman, who said that in addition to the marquee players, “They are missing a whole lot of lesser people.”

 

Because Republicans did it first. That's what was accomplished.

 

Republicans holding House for the foreseeable future is an assertion without evidence. Dave Weigel of the Washington Post just canvassed Republican Senators and found much reluctance to end legislative filibuster on the rational grounds that the party dedicated to limiting government (in some ways) needs more ways of blocking bills than the Democrats do. As I've said before the legislative filibuster protects the majority as well as the minority. It allows Senators to vote for legislation their base supports but which the general electorate does not without any danger of the bill passing and generating voter backlash. Cap and trade was a good example of this in 2009, as is Obamacare replacement today.

 

I agree with Ragu's analysis, but the fighting over judicial filibusters began long before 2013. Remember the Gang of 14 compromise? Bill Frist threatened to abolish it in 2005.

 

Yeah, I don't think the American public is going to be all that upset that we now have a system where a Supreme Court nominee has to pass 51-49 instead of 61-39.

 

But does the Chinese food at Trump Tower compare to the taco bowl? That's all he needs, amirite?

 

I'd be fine with this.

 

Orrin Hatch told Dave Weigel that if the legislative filibuster ended, if Democrats had control of White House and all of Congress. "We'd become a socialist country and never look back." So it's not going away anytime soon.

 

If Republicans really want to do something, it won't matter how nice the Democrats are around the office.