Why Democrats Said No to Trump’s Border Compromise By John Fund January 20, 2019 They view him as a devil they must defeat at all costs. Lots of people are wondering just why Democrats rejected President Trump’s plan to reopen government agencies even before he announced the plan. House speaker Nancy Pelosi called it a “non-starter,” and Senate Democratic whip Dick Durbin rejected it even though, as the Daily Caller noted, Trump’s proposal to protect immigrant “Dreamers” from being deported “included everything” that Durbin had asked for “just over two years ago.” The Washington Post editorial page, normally one of Trump’s harshest critics, was puzzled by the Democratic intransigence: To refuse even to talk until the government reopens does no favors to sidelined federal workers and contractors. . . . A measure of statesmanship for a member of Congress now is the ability to accept some disappointments, and shrug off the inevitable attacks from purists, if it means rescuing the lives of thousands of deserving people living among us. So why are Democrats so dug in? GOP congressman Peter King, who is frequently critical of Trump, says it’s because the issue of a border wall is secondary to their hatred of Trump. “The fear is, among the Democratic leadership, if they make any agreement with President Trump, it’s like compromising with the devil,” he told New York radio station AM970. In other words, when Democrats now hear talk of “border security,” they think only of Trump and want to make sure that their base won’t see them as surrendering to him in any way. Forget the fact that Democrats have voted for a border barrier in the past and that the $5.7 billion Trump wants is meant only for stretches that U.S. Border Patrol officials have identified as needing barriers to interdict illegal entrants and drugs. The Democrats seem have to been captured by the thinking of radical community organizer Saul Alinsky. The author of Rules for Radicals, Alinsky inspired both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. He used to tell his protégés that “the issue is never the issue.” As historian David Horowitz notes The cause of a political action — whether civil rights or women’s rights — is never the real cause; women, blacks, and other “victims” are only instruments in the larger cause, which is power. Indeed, the New Republic reported in a 2008 article that Alinsky would ask his new students why they wanted to organize. After they gave rambling answers about wanting to better social conditions, Alinsky would get angry and tell them that was all wrong. “You want to organize for power!” he screamed. As columnist Roger Kimball emphasizes, almost everything the Democrats are now doing is about their hatred of Trump and the 2020 election: The Democrats are attempting to destroy Trump, gambling that prolonging the government shutdown redounds to their benefit while also calculating that more illegal immigrants means more welfare recipients, which means more Democratic voters. Polls show that President Trump has been hurt more politically than the Democrats by the government shutdown, but I suspect the longer it drags on, with Democrats unwilling to even negotiate seriously about Trump’s proposal, the worse the Left will look to voters. The 2020 election will be decided by independent voters. Currently, about 55 percent say they oppose the wall. But even more believe that the debate over the wall shouldn’t be the obstacle to reopening the federal government. If Democrats continue to view Trump as a devil they can’t negotiate with, the onus for the government shutdown may start to shift to them. Democrats have to recognize that the Trump Derangement Syndrome that drives much of their base often clouds their political judgment. If they persist in viewing him as a devil they can’t compromise with, they may soon find they’ve compromised their own standing with the American people. https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/01/democrats-reject-trump-border-compromise/
The dems also know that Trump- if left to himself- would cave to permanent amnesty on daca rather than temporary if they hold out longer. That- along with wall money having already reduced to a pittance and still falling- would be an outright victory for the dems and remove any bargaining power Trump would have for a future comprehensive bill. On the days that he listens to Lindsey Graham he is at serious risk of doing that. On days that Ann Coulter tells him what his place in history will be and how his base will react, he firms up a bit. The operative words in what I said though are "if left to himself." Except he is not. Republicans in the Senate- or at least the number needed- will not support that, his base will abandon him- I am not even part of his base, I am a never-hillary voter but I will abandon support for him immediately after he does that- and he will get primaried. The proposal to put up the bill with the temporary daca thing is a little trickier to evaluate when it comes to figuring out what the republicans in the senate will do. Even some of the ones who oppose it, think that the dems in the house will kill it so they would like to see it pass in the senate and then watch the dems be responsible for killing it. The daca thing is tied up in courts anyway so agreeing to a temporary hold is not that big a giveaway even if it did pass and extra time means..well...Ruthie...Noni Juice...etc. Permanent is a whole nuther ball game if it is not tied to total amnesty reform. Count me out immediately if that happens. I will turn on Trump so fast it will make your head spin.
Question: What PR genius thought releasing a proposal on a Saturday during a long holiday weekend with NFL playoff games being most people's main interest was going to accomplish anything?
Not saying that it had that effect, but I think it was part of Trump's ongoing attempt to show that his camp is there working on the weekend while others were trying to get out town or go on junkets or otherwise not be available.
The way I see it, because Trump has offered to compromise and the Democrats rejected it out of hand, Trump now has the moral authority to go to war with them. Trump should systematically defund, assuming he has the legal authority to do so, all non critical Government programs. Although this will mean layoffs of Government workers and Government contractors, it is something that should have been a long time ago. Perhaps Trump can reduce the Federal Budget during his term as President. Besides, snicker, the Democrats have displayed outrage at increasing budget deficits. After the budget deficit has been reduced, maybe the Democrats will show their appreciation and come to the negotiating table(Snicker). The problem is the hit our country’s economy would likely take as a result of a prolonged shutdown and reduced Government spending. What I don’t want, is to see Trump build the wall using Government funds without Congressional approval.
Trump is hiding from conservatives and the public at large with this proposal. It was weak, he looks like a beggar and he was scared of the backlash. Hence a Saturday rollout. Garbage in, garbage out. As mentioned before, Trump built a trap for himself with no good way out.
Well, the proposal was a non-starter with both his base and the dems, so maybe you have a point. He seems to be in denial when it comes to ending DACA. Any compromise on it will be unacceptable to his base. It will end up being an amnesty, whatever he tries to call it.
Exactly. The media is focused on Trump’s fight with Pelosi but his real problem is he can’t do amnesty. He has nothing but threats of using the presidency to cause pain on the country to get what he wants. That is a losing strategy when he has to negotiate with a coequal branch. He should have never rejected the original plan that gave him $25 billion. Now democrats control the House. They do t have to give him anything and they know it. Trump put himself in a bad position with no good way out other than a total loss — unless he totally changes what the trade off is. Rather than amnesty Medicare for all or large student loan reform, etc.