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/
To be fair, Elon Musk is from one of the few African countries that Trump probably approved of -- until 1994 or thereabouts, anyway.
In other words, there will be less for the House Freedom Caucus to do, less opportunity to do it and far fewer reasons for others to listen to anything it has to say. Even if it continues to exist, today might well be the day we point to as the moment when the HFC stopped being important and anyone cared about it.
In a doom-laden speech, the Kentucky politician angrily charged his fellow Republicans with fiscal profligacy.
"I ran for office because I was very critical of President Obama's trillion-dollar deficits," he said. Now we have Republicans, hand in hand with Democrats, offering us trillion-dollar deficits.
"I can't in all good honesty, in all good faith, just look the other way just because my party is now complicit in the deficits."
This would be "the very definition of hypocrisy", he added
Especially since Obama's biggest deficits came from emergency measures to rescue an economy in freefall, whereas today's proposed deficits will further stimulate an already overheating economy and continue indefinitely. Tax cuts and spending hikes make sense in a recession. Expansions are opportunities to raise taxes, trim spending, and improve the federal balance sheet in anticipation of the inevitable next recession.Daehawk wrote: ↑Thu Feb 08, 2018 11:19 pm Whats Rand up to up there? He seems to actually be talking sense and good reasoning. I must have hit my head or something.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42992908
In a doom-laden speech, the Kentucky politician angrily charged his fellow Republicans with fiscal profligacy.
"I ran for office because I was very critical of President Obama's trillion-dollar deficits," he said. Now we have Republicans, hand in hand with Democrats, offering us trillion-dollar deficits.
"I can't in all good honesty, in all good faith, just look the other way just because my party is now complicit in the deficits."
This would be "the very definition of hypocrisy", he added
Probably something to do with Pelosi....somehow.Any guesses on what "logic" the Republicans will use to blame this on the Democrats?
Didn't Rand Paul enthusiastically vote for the tax cuts? And this week he's a deficit hawk?Kraken wrote: ↑Fri Feb 09, 2018 12:24 amEspecially since Obama's biggest deficits came from emergency measures to rescue an economy in freefall, whereas today's proposed deficits will further stimulate an already overheating economy and continue indefinitely. Tax cuts and spending hikes make sense in a recession. Expansions are opportunities to raise taxes, trim spending, and improve the federal balance sheet in anticipation of the inevitable next recession.Daehawk wrote: ↑Thu Feb 08, 2018 11:19 pm Whats Rand up to up there? He seems to actually be talking sense and good reasoning. I must have hit my head or something.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42992908
In a doom-laden speech, the Kentucky politician angrily charged his fellow Republicans with fiscal profligacy.
"I ran for office because I was very critical of President Obama's trillion-dollar deficits," he said. Now we have Republicans, hand in hand with Democrats, offering us trillion-dollar deficits.
"I can't in all good honesty, in all good faith, just look the other way just because my party is now complicit in the deficits."
This would be "the very definition of hypocrisy", he added
Rand Paul is right this time.
Lawmakers extended government funding through March 23 in addition to passing a massive deal to increase investments in domestic programs and the military by roughly $300 billion over the next two years, and they increased the debt ceiling for one year.
That won't be an issue. This time they only need agreement on the appropriations, not the budget so they'll pass it long before the deadline.Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Fri Feb 09, 2018 11:52 am Please reset your calendars for March 23rd:
Lawmakers extended government funding through March 23 in addition to passing a massive deal to increase investments in domestic programs and the military by roughly $300 billion over the next two years, and they increased the debt ceiling for one year.
Paul slammed Republicans and Democrats for agreeing to a budget that independent analysts say will result in a $1 trillion deficit.
"A country cannot go on forever spending money this way," said Paul. "What you are seeing is recklessness being passed off as bipartisanship."
The budget deal would remove limits on military spending imposed by the 2013 sequester would be removed, allowing the Pentagon to receive an additional $80 billion this year and $85 billion next year. Other lids on the discretionary budget would be similarly lifted, allowing for billions of new spending on infrastructure, public health, and disaster aid.
Paul lashed his own party's leaders, saying that Repulicans "are the conservative party" only when Democrats are in power. "When Republicans are in power, there is no conservative party," he added.
Which of you hailed him as policy wonk? Wonk I understand. I never understood the qualifier. Our mess belong to him and Bitch Bickerconnell.Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Fri Feb 09, 2018 1:03 pm And then he voted for it anyway. Those are some strong morals on Paul Ryan.
Rand Paul is a Senator and voted No.Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Fri Feb 09, 2018 1:03 pm And then he voted for it anyway. Those are some strong morals on Paul Ryan.
One retiring Republican lawmaker, Rep. Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania, went even further.
“When Rand Paul pulls a stunt like this, it easy to understand why it's difficult to be Rand Paul's next door neighbor,” said Dent, referring to the neighbor who assaulted Paul last year, breaking several of his ribs and sending him to the hospital. “The whole delay and filibuster exercise on the budget agreement is utterly pointless.”
Paul’s sideshow wasn’t entirely surprising. The arch-conservative has frequently used procedural delay tactics to gum up legislation he opposes, particularly on spending and spying powers, when his opposition was plainly in vain. But the last time he really went there was in 2015, so senators might have downplayed the possibility of it happening this time around.
Paul believed it was entirely appropriate — even necessary — to cause some pain in order to call attention to what he believes is a monstrosity of a bill. He also wanted to highlight the broken process: congressional leaders in both parties dropping a massive and expensive 652-page bill just over 24 hours before the shutdown deadline.
Well, he did vote for the $1.5T tax cut so it doesn't seem like he's THAT concerned with the deficit.
The House is poised to vote on a bipartisan, $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill as soon as Thursday, less than 24 hours after GOP leaders unveiled the massive package needed to avert a government shutdown this week.
The legislative text of the bill, totaling 2,232 pages, was released Wednesday evening after lawmakers and the White House debated throughout the day over what the final bill would look like.
Conservatives complained bitterly about the rushed schedule and lack of transparency, lamenting that GOP leadership gave rank-and-file members little time to read and study what’s in the bill.
“This process looks really bad; it looks swampy,” said Dan Holler, a spokesman for the outside conservative group Heritage Action.
Throughout the day Wednesday, lawmakers speculated that President Trump was upset with the amount of border wall funding — well below his initial request of $25 billion — and that he might veto the package as a result, forcing the third shutdown in as many months.
...
The bill, funding the government through the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, finally landed just after 8 p.m. Wednesday.
Because of the time crunch, Republicans could waive their internal rule that requires the House to vote on legislation at least three calendar days after it was introduced. However, there was also talk in the Capitol that the vote could slip until early Friday morning, before a bipartisan delegation flies to Rochester for the funeral of Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.).
The omnibus will then head to the Senate, which plans to take up the bill on Friday if all senators agree to a speedy vote. If anyone objects, like Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) did last month, Congress may need to pass a days-long stopgap measure to stave off a shutdown at midnight Saturday. The government is currently operating under its fifth continuing resolution (CR), and GOP leaders are scrambling to avoid the embarrassing optics of requiring a sixth.
...
A short while later, Ryan set off for the White House to convince Trump that the deal was a good one and to try to quash any further veto chatter. In addition to Ryan and Trump, Vice President Pence, chief of staff John Kelly and White House legislative affairs director Marc Short were on hand. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) called into the 45-minute meeting.
The spur-of-the-moment visit by Ryan apparently paid off. Within minutes of his departure, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders issued a statement saying Trump backed the omnibus. Another White House official said Trump intended to sign it into law.