Re: Shutdown
Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2019 4:25 pm
National park site in Trump hotel manages to find funding to stay open.
That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons bring us some web forums whereupon we can gather
http://www.octopusoverlords.com/forum/
Don't let the assholes in the Senate off that easy. They could put a bill to reopen the government on tRump's desk anytime. Mc just has to let it go to a vote and he refuses to do that. He (again) demonstrates that he is the biggest piece of shit in our government and has been for quite some time now. Truly he is the more evil if only because he is actually competent.
As I mentioned in my screed earlier today on this there is now a FOIA request so we can hopefully get more info on why.
Moments ago on the Senate floor, Ben Cardin asked for unanimous consent from all senators to pass one of the House-approved bills to reopen the government. Mitch McConnell objected, calling the House-passed bills "an absolutely pointless show vote." Via ABC
What a dick.President Donald Trump has been briefed on a plan that would use the Army Corps of Engineers and a portion of $13.9 billion of Army Corps funding to build 315 miles of barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to three U.S. officials familiar with the briefing.
The money was set aside to fund projects all over the country including storm-damaged areas of Puerto Rico through fiscal year 2020, but the checks have not been written yet and, under an emergency declaration, the president could take the money from these civil works projects and use it to build the border wall, said officials familiar with the briefing and two congressional sources.
Under the proposal, the officials said, Trump could dip into the $2.4 billion allocated to projects in California, including flood prevention and protection projects along the Yuba River Basin and the Folsom Dam, as well as the $2.5 billion set aside for reconstruction projects in Puerto Rico, which is still recovering from Hurricane Maria.
I wasn't ignoring your screed, I just hadn't read all the way to the end yet
That is fucking insane. The Dems have had the house for what? A week and a half? For 2 years the reps have had full control of 2 branches of government? It's the dems fault that the president is going to abuse the power of the office to build a boondoggle that no one wants, not even the reps?
It is all more hilarious considering what the GOP did to Obama for 6 *years*.GreenGoo wrote: ↑Thu Jan 10, 2019 10:51 pmThat is fucking insane. The Dems have had the house for what? A week and a half? For 2 years the reps have had full control of 2 branches of government? It's the dems fault that the president is going to abuse the power of the office to build a boondoggle that no one wants, not even the reps?
Dobbs has got to go. He might as well be Alex Jones at this point. Is he on the administration's payroll?
So it's really just a free (eventually) paid vacation for all those federal layabouts.This evening on the PBS Newshour, the chair of the White House’s Council of Economic Advisors, Kevin Hassett, said this about workers who are going without pay as the government shutdown nears its fourth week:
Right now about 25% of government workers are furloughed. Which means that they are not allowed to go to work.
But then when the shutdown ends, they go back to work, and they get their back pay.
A huge share of government workers were going to take vacation days, say between Christmas and New Year’s.
And then we have a shutdown, and so they can’t go to work. So then they have the vacation, but they don’t have to use their vacation days. And then they come back, and they get their back pay.
Then in some sense they’re better off.
Hassett, you dumb fuck. You usually get your paycheck during your vacation allowing you to do the usual mundane things like pay for food or not get behind on your mortgage or other bills. I hope someone called him out over such an idiotic statement.Max Peck wrote: ↑Fri Jan 11, 2019 12:16 am Let Them Eat Vacation DaysSo it's really just a free (eventually) paid vacation for all those federal layabouts.This evening on the PBS Newshour, the chair of the White House’s Council of Economic Advisors, Kevin Hassett, said this about workers who are going without pay as the government shutdown nears its fourth week:
Right now about 25% of government workers are furloughed. Which means that they are not allowed to go to work.
But then when the shutdown ends, they go back to work, and they get their back pay.
A huge share of government workers were going to take vacation days, say between Christmas and New Year’s.
And then we have a shutdown, and so they can’t go to work. So then they have the vacation, but they don’t have to use their vacation days. And then they come back, and they get their back pay.
Then in some sense they’re better off.
I mentioned it earlier, that's what the FBI guy was telling me. He's "off" and will eventually get paid for fixing his house and hanging out with his kids and whatnot. He has colleagues who have to work and will eventually get paid for working. It causes a bit of tension and resentment.Max Peck wrote: ↑Fri Jan 11, 2019 12:16 am Let Them Eat Vacation DaysSo it's really just a free (eventually) paid vacation for all those federal layabouts.This evening on the PBS Newshour, the chair of the White House’s Council of Economic Advisors, Kevin Hassett, said this about workers who are going without pay as the government shutdown nears its fourth week:
Right now about 25% of government workers are furloughed. Which means that they are not allowed to go to work.
But then when the shutdown ends, they go back to work, and they get their back pay.
A huge share of government workers were going to take vacation days, say between Christmas and New Year’s.
And then we have a shutdown, and so they can’t go to work. So then they have the vacation, but they don’t have to use their vacation days. And then they come back, and they get their back pay.
Then in some sense they’re better off.
FTFY.YellowKing wrote: ↑Fri Jan 11, 2019 10:00 am I'm still struggling to understand how you can use "emergency" funds to build a wall that will take years to construct. settle all the eminent domain lawsuits, environmental impact studies, and contracting processes required before construction can even begin.
Didn't stop them from proceeding last time and the fall out is still happening more'n ten years later. That last phase (of fencing) was mostly done in two years, eminent domain lawsuits, access, environment, and local utilities, etc... be damned. Or at least that was the case from my reading. "Obama's Wall" should be serving as an advisory of what not to do. Like for once, you could "thanks Obama" and have it come close to being reality, rather taking it going all Tim Allen "so I fixed it" on it.Skinypupy wrote: ↑Fri Jan 11, 2019 10:02 amFTFY.YellowKing wrote: ↑Fri Jan 11, 2019 10:00 am I'm still struggling to understand how you can use "emergency" funds to build a wall that will take years to construct. settle all the eminent domain lawsuits, environmental impact studies, and contracting processes required before construction can even begin.
I'm still very surprised they're pursuing this course though. Trump's an idiot, but McConnell is smart enough to know that the pendulum is likely to swing back the other way, and setting this precedent could be dangerous for him. One theory is that they are pushing Trump to do this because it gives them a "get out of the shutdown free" card, knowing that it'll get stopped by the courts
They should respond by passing a budget that removes $5B from the Army Corps of Engineers, since they appear to have just that much in excess cash in their budget. It can better be used elsewhere....say, DACA funding.
CNN: If the president can declare a national emergency to build a border wall, couldn't a Democrat do the same to address climate change?
Brown people entering the US = national emergency!
My side would be storming the White House if Barack Obama ever thought about declaring a national emergency.
I would rather risk the removal him from before his existance started. And MM. And Newt for that matter since he seemed to start the entire "we are not going to find working solutions we are just going to demand our way" behavior. Although others would probably rise in their place and do the same terrible stuff.Octavious wrote: ↑Fri Jan 11, 2019 2:04 pm We all know that the Dems aren't going to cave at this point. Why would they? So just declare the damn emergency so that it gets ripped apart in court. This whole thing is insane. I could do it, I should do it, I'm almost 100% sure I'll do it. Seriously that's the master negotiator? I want a damn time machine to warp to whenever this ahole no longer exists.
It has nothing to do with whether or not it's the right thing to do, it's simply a matter of who does it.
The Trump administration’s prioritization of energy exploration means the oil and gas business, one of the most heavily regulated industries in the United States, says it has yet to feel any real consequence from the shutdown.
“To this point, we have not seen any major effects of the shutdown on our industry,” Mike Sommers, president and chief executive of the oil and gas business’s chief lobbying organization, the American Petroleum Institute, told reporters Tuesday.
The department’s Bureau of Land Management, for example, has accepted and published 22 new drilling permit applications in Alaska, North Dakota, New Mexico and Oklahoma between the start of the shutdown and Wednesday afternoon. Officials said they did not anticipate any delays in the processing of either permit applications or requests for inspections of drilling operations on federal land.
The Bureau of Energy Management, which gets a large portion of its budget from fees, is operating at near full strength. Nearly every job is exempt “in order to comply with the administration’s America First energy strategy” and expand leases to the oil and gas industry -- “work must continue toward” selling leases that could lead to drilling on the outer continental shelf, according to the agency’s contingency plan.
But elsewhere the department says it is not even accepting other sorts of filings — such as public-records requests from journalists, activists and other members of the public made under the Freedom of Information Act — due to the shutdown.
“It seems that the oil companies are getting services from the Department of the Interior when the public is not,” said Kelly Fuller, energy and mining campaign director at the Western Watershed Project, an advocacy group.
The department is also pressing ahead with its goal of preparing the Alaskan Arctic for more oil and gas drilling. The department decided to go ahead with four public listening sessions about BLM’s push to define what activities can be permitted at the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska because doing so would help the scoping process move forward. The sessions, which were slated to wrap up before Interior stops accepting comments on Jan. 22, had been postponed because of the Nov. 30 earthquake that hit Alaska.
My guess is he's setting himself up for a comeback as a more mavericky than all the other mavericks put together candidate. He'd still vote for the conservative/GOP agenda, of course (probably even more in lock step than McCain or Flake), but he'd issue withering commentary about both sides while doing it.