Ideas to Reopen Government

[KeithE]

I’m sorry Jon, I inadvertently deleted your post. In replying to that post I made the mistake to edit your post when I meant to quote it. Then in attempting to fix the situation I copied my response and deleted the whole post including yours. The moderator power enables that.

To the best of my remembrance, your points were in burnt orange:

"You (that is me) use the NBC poll but ignore its outcome.

......

Nice try, Expected ..... from those who cannot find any good in Trump”

Please fill in.

I’m sorry and am embarrassed.

[KeithE]

Here is what I replied:

The polling source () has a title "Poll: Democrats, Trump to blame for government shutdown” saying quit accurately that Democrats and Trump are mostly to blame. Similarly the about the poll is entitled "Americans blame Democrats and Trump for the government shutdown, poll says”. They are responsible journalists who recognize that the difference between 39% (Democrats in Congress) and 38% (Trump) is within the ±2.2% margin of error.


(I wish I could easily resize these plots - I struggle though Photobucket every time I try, but the numbers are in my text above 38%/18%/39% in order of the bars above).

I’ll add this plot below to show that this assignment of blame is largely along party lines.


Jon’s take on who is to blame: Schumer at first, shifting to “Democrats in Congress” the “outcome" of the NBC poll.

My take on who/what is to blame is more nuanced: (1) polarization in congress/country, (2) the congressional process (effectively demanding 60 votes), (3) Trump’s lack of consistent leadership.

BTW, I can say a few good things about Trump’s reign:
- some of his deregulation has been good (especially streamlining construction red tape, though not the EPA's green lighting pollution or relaxation of OSHA rules),
- his call to repatriate taxes on profits stored offshore (of course it has not happened yet),
- his strong threat of retaliation to North Korea if they launch any ICBM towards us (though not his name calling "Rocket Man”),
- ISIS has been thwarted in and around Iraq/Syria (though his words may have embolden ISIS elsewhere),
- he dropped the TPP (but for the wrong reasons, nonetheless it has been dropped),
- he has enlivened the political discussion across the country (invigorating more candidates to run).

Not much (and qualified), but I try to find good things. You are wrong to say otherwise. I even bought/read the Jan 18 NYT which expressly gave voices to Trump supporters on its opinion page. And initially I had great hope for a $1T (over 10 years) Infrastructure Program; still do (paid for largely by a financial transaction tax).

[Jon Estes]

[KeithE]

[William Thornton]

Jon, I've hit the wrong moderator button here several times, just like Keith explained that he did with yours. It's not hard to mess up and once stuff is gone it's inaccessible.

I

[Jon Estes]

I guess I should have put a big TIC at the end.

No worries on this end.

[KeithE]

Thanks guys.

[JE Pettibone]

[Sandy]

[William Thornton]

Schumer shutdown...yesterday's news.

[KeithE]

[Jim]

Yeah...I just had a post on the solemn BF&P forum deleted. It was sorta tongue-in-cheek but I'm sure humor or even satire would be beneath that moderator's contempt. I'm sure I offended somebody(s). At least I hope I did. I didn't offend the moderator, though, who in a post of his own a while back compared me unfavorably with a mule having ill-fitting blinders. I was not offended, however, sorta remembering Balaam's ass, whom Balaam walloped three times before the ass told him to take a hike.

[William Thornton]

Jim, I zapped one of your posts. I thought it was unkind in a personal way. Get a grip, bro.

[Sandy]

[William Thornton]

Yeah. Guess those folks at his house were celebrating his triumph.

[KeithE]

I thought the word “waxed” in this context (when - to his wishful thinking glee) refers to being put away from active participation (politics in this case), as in relegated to a “wax museum”. As nobody got “waxed” in this shutdown event. Not Trump or Schumer or Congressional Democrats or Congressional Republicans have been “waxed”, although many have hopes that someone or some party or our whole set of politicians would be. So the beat (political battles) goes on, with the same participants.

I will say that the Democrats (and well-intentioned immigrants / Dreamers / DACAers) got “snookered” in this situation. How badly? We will see in the next 6 weeks before the March 5 deadline of .

[William Thornton]

"Waxed" as I used it carried over from athletics: to defeat descisively, to drub. Now you know.

[Sandy]

[Haruo]

[Jim]

[Jon Estes]

[Dave Roberts]

I had also removed one of Jim's posts because it directly attacked the motivations of another member of the forum. There are rules that it might pay us all to read sometimes.

[William Thornton]

I know unacceptable stuff when I see it. Very few comments are deleted here. Since the death of any discussion is talking about each other, let's move along.

Glad we all have a grip...let's get bacl to the gripes.