Yesterday, Trump and Musk got into a social media kerfuffle that had all of the earmarks of two teenage girls bitching at each other.
I'm not sure what either one of them thinks they gain from this.
Musk and DOGE have done some good stuff and I understand that he might be frustrated by the fact that the current bill doesn't codify the DOGE cuts. As I understand it there are parliamentary reasons for that, but nonetheless failure to get a bill codifying those cuts looks bad. Musk is also right about the damage to the country that this bill can do by increasing the debt. Yet, the GOP doesn't have the ability to dictate everything and this might be the best that can be done right now.
As for Trump this is one more example of what seems like snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. All he had to do was thank Musk profusely, tell him that his voice would always be welcome, and commit to follow up legislation to implement the cuts. It's possible that this is Trump playing some game that'll pay off down the road, but it looks like one more example of him promising to cut spending, while actually increasing it. On top of that, this whole petulant child who isn't getting what he wants routine is getting old. Seriously, grow up, do your job and stay away from this childish bullshit. The total focus on this current bill as if it's some miraculous piece of legislation that doesn't blow up spending is bizarre. If Trump had the intellectual honesty to even acknowledge that it's not perfect, but that it contains things that will be beneficial, he'd seem like he's living in reality. I get it, he talks in hyperbole and blandishments, it's his shtick, but anyone who believes that this bill is as wonderful as Trump makes it sound just has their head up his ass.
As far as the Epstein files mentions, I can't believe that his name isn't in there. People in those circles tend to interact and it'd be a shock if they didn't cross paths. If there was evidence that Trump did anything significant, it would have been leaked months or years ago. Strangely, no one who's salivating over this seems the least bit concerned at Bill Clinton's involvement or any other of the DFL ruling/donor class.
It's this kind of crap that takes away the focus from Trump's successes and makes his job that much harder.
"In the Trump/Elon dispute Elon represents fiscal reality, Trump represents Political reality. Elon knows the Unite States is headed toward financial collapse caused by its debt, Trump knows voters will never accept the spending cuts and tax hikes needed to solve the debt crisis."
I saw this the other day and it may be one of the better explanations for the feud. If this is the case, I'm on team Elon. Trump has not been anywhere near bold enough or shown the leadership that we need on the debt crisis. Yeah it's going to suck to "fix", yeah it's going to take a degree of sacrifice that the ASPL is clearly unwilling to even consider. yeah it's not as easy as "Tax billionaires.", but unfortunately Trump has added to the problem (@ 8 billion in the first 4 years, and another 2-3 billion this year alone) while hoping that a better economy will kick the can down the road until he's out. Of all of the things Trump has said he wants to address, this is the one that is the most disappointing.
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And should it turn out that Trump did molest children, will you then DEMAND that he step down, DEMAND that the GOP impeach him, and offer some apologies for missing what was so obvious to so many?
And if some in the MAGA movement continue to support the pervert, will you condemn them in the strongest terms?
And just to beat you to the draw: OF COURSE, if Clinton or anyone else who's a democrat/liberal be found to have taken part in Epstein's depravities, of course, they should be held accountable. Any and all of them should be prosecuted if statutes of limitation are not expired.
That's the advantage of being consistently opposed to depravity and corruption. You don't have to guess what my answer would be.
Hell, as repeatedly pointed out, I never voted for Bill Clinton with just the whiff of abuse of power and abuse of women in his background.
This just raises the question to me again, what will it take for the GOP/magop to finally reject the pervert as a so tremendously fatally flawed candidate that he should never have been supported in the first place?
When he TOLD you with his own words that he sexually assaults women and uses his power to get away with it and to get away with sexually preying upon teen girls, that should have been enough.
I read an article which suggests the spat is all a scam, the purpose of which is to disconnect Musk from Trump world for Musk's benefit. He's endured tons of hostility, as well as direct attacks on his companies and their dealerships and customers simply because he's a part of the Trump team. Evidently, Trump used to help with some scripts for WWE match ups, as "good guy/bad guy" story lines are part of that "sport". Both like to troll the left, so this makes more than a little sense. What's more, I've heard a couple of lefties suggest welcoming Musk back into the lefty fold, so it may be working already!
In any case, I doubt it's as bad as it might seem, though it's certainly bad enough. I'd rather it not be happening and neither will profit by it as far as I can see. But then, they both do things which end up with big benefits, so who knows? Let's grab ourselves some popcorn and enjoy.
As to the BBB, I don't think it's as beautiful as we're expected to believe it is, but I think there will be plenty of benefits. I hate that it's another freakin' book of a bill and I wish I could figure out a way to make Congress stop doing that. As to the consequences, I read another article speaking to the CBO analysis of the bill, and at first it screamed it would increase the deficit (or was it the debt...I believe "deficit") by $3trillion, but have since revised their analysis to say it will reduce it by $2trillion. Never trust CBO predictions on budget issues. They're never right and they always fail to keep in mind life ain't static, though they estimate as if it is.
What's most important to remember is that the passage of this bill in any form it might finally take will not mean spending cuts can't happen afterwards.
This notion that I must accede to your hysterical demands based on your worst case assumptions is absurd. Unlike you, I'll wait to see what the actual evidence is before jumping to conclusions.
Your "consistent" standards are always conveniently applied after the fact. That you make unproven claims about who you voted for decades after the fact is hardly proof.
It's strange that this confuses you so, given that you've acknowledged that you operate using the same criteria.
When faced with a choice between only two flawed candidates for president, one usually votes with the candidate who aligns with the voter on the majority of policy issues. Given the reality that virtually every single presidential candidate comes with flaws and personal failings, the only option is to vote based on the policies they say that they will support.
Well, if you read one whole article, then...
Of course, that's exactly my point. What kind of idiot engages in a "scam" like this? What possible good can be achieved with this childish idiocy? Trump is pushing a bill that (once more) involves a significant increase in spending and the deficit/debt on top of that, and his biggest problem is to help Musk's image? Here's a crazy thought, how about investing this time and energy into a freaking bill to codify the DOGE cuts?
This excuse making for Trump's childish lack of impulse control is ridiculous. That every stupid thing Trump does must be spun into some 5D chess move i getting old.
Yeah, the BBB is a piece of shit with a few good things in it. Yet Trump is pretending like it's some massive triumph that's not going to add another big chuck of debt for our great, great, great, grandchildren. Of course,the CBO is regularly wrong, it'll likely be 3-4 billion when it's all said and done.
Remember when I pointed out Trump's record of massively increasing spending/deficit/debt in his first term, and you were confident that he wouldn't do the same thing in his second term? Well, that prediction isn't looking great at this point.
The problem with DC is that they always promise the good stuff (immigration reform under Regan, and spending cuts) AFTER they pass some huge pile of shit like this.
Honestly, I'd have less problems with this bill if Trump and Johnson were at least up front about it. If they could just acknowledge that this bill is a flawed compromise, it'd be a start. Hell, if they weren't so obsessed with taking credit for how wonderful this bill is, they could actually have blamed the DFL for the bad parts. Unfortunately, they've eliminated that as a possibility.
If you're going to acknowledge that you think the bill is "bad enough" and the rest of the negatives, then don't try to defend it as anything other than what it is.
Yeah...that's what I said...I read one fucking whole article so now I know perfectly all that's behind it.
You're not responding to Dan, here. I would expect better. You don't know any better than I the motivations of every move Trump makes. I related someone's speculation and did not promote it as anything more.
Then you go one better and suggest I made assurances I never made.
I cut Trump and Johnson slack only to the extent they're dealing with the narrowest of a majority and it doesn't take much to turn those who should or would be allies against what they're able to get. You know...those like you. I did NOT try to defend the bill as anything other than it is. WHAT. THE. FUCK!
Hey, you're the one who announced that you read one whole article and that therefore your default position (that Trump is playing 4D chess and that this is all a plan) was confirmed. I apologize if I found your initial response to be predictable, my bad.
The difference is that I acknowledge that I don't understand or know what in the hell Trump is thinking or doing in many cases. That's one of the problems I have with Trump. Freaking LA is erupting in violence, his BBB is full of crap, he's not pushing the DOGE cuts legislatively, and he's wasting time in a childish Twitter fight with Elon. They both look stupid, although Elon has backed off and deleted some crap, but Trump is POTUS and might be expected to act like an adult.
Yeah, you cut Trump all sorts of slack, I get it. You've got a repertoire of stock explanations/excuses for pretty much anything Trump does, and tend to get like this when it's suggested that Trump is doing something that appears stupid.
The problem with cutting Trump and Johnson slack on this is that they are acting like this BBB is some sort of legislative triumph and that it's absolutely wonderful and that to oppose it (for any reason) is tantamount to treason. If they were honest enough to drop the bullshit, and admit that the bill is flawed and that they had to compromise to get it passed, I'd have no problem with that. It's the BBB bullshit, that is the problem. For years (P-BO care) we complained that the DFL would ram 1000+ page bills through at the last minute so no one had time to read them, now Trump and Johnson are doing exactly the same thing.
I don't know about you, but I didn't vote for more of the same old political bullshit. I hoped we'd see an occasional clean, single issue, bill instead of these huge conglomerations.
So yeah, despite some good things happening, I'm somewhat disappointed with Trump 2 so far. I expected more of a legislative agenda, and not just hundreds of EOs (remember when the GOP was against DFL presidents governing VIA EOs? I believe that the term "Governing by executive fiat" was thrown around. Now, it's portrayed as courageous.) I know that I didn't vote for Twitter fights between to grown men acting like children.
I even understand that they couldn't put the DOGE cuts in this type of bill, yet I don't understand why we don't have the bill with the DOGE cuts ready to roll.
I guess I'm confused. I was under the impression that disagreement is acceptable.
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