Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

The Wall

By

So:

1. Mexico didn’t pay for it,
2. The Republican Congress of 2017-2018 refused to pay for it,
3. The Supreme Court whimped out in early 2019 and allowed a fake emergency order based on an ineptly drafted statute from the 1970’s to authorize it,
4. Trump now in late 2019 steals money from military families, military schools, and other military projects that have taken years of expensive planning to pay for it,
5. The Military fails to stand up to the madman, and
6. The House is on a six week recess.

Great job, America.
Just let him roll on with his madness.

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Comments

  1. So long as the Speaker of the House does not believe in impeachment, the madness will continue. Someone once told me, “No one can take advantage of you without your permission”, and that is what is happening here and now.

    The Democratic Party is permitting this.

    • “There is nothing more dangerous in the world than a man that must be proven right.” George Orwell

  2. Ms. Pelosi has other options besides impeachment.

    The House controls expenditures. I am under the impression that the Democratic majority of the House can force the executive branch to get House permission before they can buy even a paperclip.

    The House routinely receives and acts on spending authorizations. That can stop whenever Ms. Pelosi wants it to.

    I agree with johntmay that the Democratic Party is permitting this.

    Nancy Pelosi needs to find a backbone.

  3. It sounds like a couple of you missed the memo from Chairman Nadler that impeachment inquiries have already begun, and I doubt that would happen without the assent of the Speaker. What she didn’t do is force a vote on the floor of the House which would probably not prevail and would put some members in a tight spot. I actually think this was brilliant strategy on her part.

    • I think she’s still behind the curve.

      I think we should be in a full-blown state of emergency, doing everything possible to slow down, derail, and impede the actions of this administration.

      Instead, we are showboating.

      Here’s how the GOP will play “the wall” game:

      1. They’ll spend the already-inflated appropriations for the military and disaster aid on the wall.

      2. After that money has been spent, the GOP will come back and demand that “emergency” appropriations be made for the military and disaster aid. They’ll claim that national security is threatened, as well as “the lives and safety of our courageous men and women in uniform”.

      3. If Democrats point out that the appropriations were already made and were diverted to the wall, the GOP will claim that Democrats “hate America” and “hate the military”.

      4. The money will ultimately be replaced. Trump will have won his battle for wall funding.

      Every town manager and town meeting member worth his salt has seen this shell-game happen at the local level. The town meeting manager transfers funds from the police, fire and schools into whatever account he or she wants and knows town meeting will oppose. Then the town manager comes to town meeting with an “emergency transfer” request, claiming that police and fire staff will be laid off and the safety of the town will be at risk if it isn’t granted. Town meeting (or the fincom) knuckles under and the game is over.

      RIGHT NOW is the time to stop these shenanigans. In fact, they should have already been stopped. Congress should put a full stop on every appropriation for everything until these orders are reversed. Congress should call hearings, and should use its power to jail and fine those who refuse to appear and testify.

      Instead, Congress continues on business as usual — fund-raising at home and show-boating on television.

      • My comment was about impeachment, not wall funding. I agree that Dems can and should be more aggressive about withholding funds.

        • Understood.

          I’m just saying that if we had initiated formal impeachment proceedings in a timely way, those would be in progress now and Congress could focus on the current affronts (and add them to the impeachment resolutions as needed).

          Congress would therefore today (or a few weeks ago, when this latest wall gambit began) already be taking effective steps to block it.

          Ms. Pelosi is reacting too slowly. We are still chasing the tennis ball wherever Donald Trump and the Trumpist GOP throws it rather than leading.

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