Ten oz

This is the only issue I have really ever heard her speak on. The answers to those questions are in the link I provided. "2 percent wealth tax on Americans with $50 million-plus in assets. For Americans with assets above $1 billion, that tax rate would increase to 3 percent." My issue isn't that the plan isn't a good plan. Rather my issue is that the nation has more pressing problem her proposal doesn't speak to directly. Over that last 35 years we (USA) has had 5 rounds of major tax cuts with out any major increases. As a result debt as a percentage of GDP has doubled during that timeframe. It is a serious problem. Taxes absolutely need to go up. Just since Bill Clinton was President and the we (USA) had a annual budget surplus there have been 3 rounds of tax cuts. It is unsustainable.

Right, saying Trump won't do it again because it would be bad is like saying a baby won't spit food up because it would make a mess.

All, after 2016 the DNC made concessions to Bernie Sanders supporters to quiet anger. Much of that anger was based in information learned from the hacks. They responded to the criticism over what was in the hacks rather than responding to the fact an aggressive foriegn nation attacked our election. But has been given a leadership position within its caucus. Link Neither do I but where is the rest of the nation on the issue? I don't feel people are taking it as seriously as they should. Of course that is just my own subject take.

Not really. He is all about attention and the moment. The longer he stays in this moment the longer he keeps all the attention. It isn't a complicated plan. Think of it is like a boxing match. Holding doesn't win a fighter any points. Actually holding loses a fighter points. However holding can prevent a fighter from getting knocked out and is an important tactic to utilize when hurt.

Maybe. More and more I don't think this has anything to do with the wall. I think this is all about keeping the House pre-occupied so they can't do anything else. Trump's pull out of Syria, Session's resignation, healthcare, and any number of other issues are being ignored to an extent while this Wall fight continues. It is a massive distraction. I am glad Democrats held strong but I don't really consider this a win for Democrats. Trump thus far has led via tweet. He has posted a demand then sat around antagonizing Congress while Republicans (who had been in power) scuttled around trying to convert his tweets into policy. That has all changed. Now that Democrats have the House Trump will need to propose real policies which is something he has not done yet and honestly probably has no idea how to do. For now fighting over his Wall is the best course of action for Trump till he thinks something else up.

I am not a fan of this. Part of being in leader in my opinion is responding to the environment as it exists rather than merely pursuing ones own priorities. The U.S. is in a state of chaos at the moment. Our Military is operating without clear direction in places like Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, and Iraq. We have broken with numerous international agreements regarding everything from Climate Change to Nuclear Proliferation . We just had the first full year of Stock Market losses in a decade. Public support for institutions are at record lows with Conservatives losing faith in Federal courts and Federal Law Enforcement institutions while Liberal have lost faith in local ones. Attitudes about race, gender, religion, education, and etc are increasingly divisive as well. A "wealth tax" doesn't address the current state of affairs directly enough in my opinion. While a wealth tax would address the deficit which has been climbing under Trump so too would addressing DOD's budget, fixes to the ACA, and a roll back of Trump's tax cuts. If Elizabeth Warren wantsto become President she will need to talk about more than how much taxes rich people pay. POTUS is a bigger job than IRS Commissioner. We are currently in the middle of an Immigration battle with some criminal justice on opioid crisis overlap. Warren need to speak to those issues, in my opinion, if she is going to bother to step forward and propose things.

Close What is stunning about all this to me is that we are exactly where we were before this started. A stopgap measure to take us into February is what the House pass on Dec.19th. So Trump just successfully filibustered Congress out of a month. I haven't seen it discussed yet but the dates in the stopgap are important. The bill the House initially passed was through Feb. 8th but the deal that was struck yesterday is through Feb.15th. That extra week ensures federal workers get paid Feb. 15th which means Trump could shutdown the govt again after that and would have 2 weeks before anyone's pay is impacted. The Feb. 8th timeline would have meant another shutdown would have immediately resulted in missed checked. So Trump does have a window to play with now.

I posted "the reason why the Russia investigation isn't causing more public out cry, ". I meant to address the reason I thought the Russian investigation hasn't led to a more powerful reaction from the Public. I didn't mean to make a general argument about the legalities of the Mueller investigation. I am sorry big that wasn't clear. Trump's approval rating, while low, doesn't move much. It is remarkably steady even as more and more of his inner circle get charged with treasonous crimes. I think it is crazy that he already isn't impeached considering all that is known. Impeachment won't be possible till his disapproval numbers are higher. The blood on the hands comment referenced the fact that Democrats too used the hacked material to their own ends. As mentioned left leaning political vioce Bill Maher still had Julian Assange on his show even after it was known he'd been helping Russia. Bernie Sanders made arguments which used the DNC hacked material to attack the primary process. Many of Bernie Sanders supporters inaccurately claimed the DNC and Clinton had illegally rigged the Primary. They treated the hacks as akin to a whistle blower rather than an attack against our election by a forgien adversary. I think the impact of that is people are indifferent to it all now. Movies have been made about Julian Assange. He is considered by many to be some sort of new era freedom of information warrior. People view hacked material as fair game. Of course there is a huge difference between conspiring with Russia to get and release hacked material and simply talking about that material at a rally. Or course Bernie Sanders did not commit a crime. Of course people like Bill Maher and Michael Moore can feel however they want about Julian Assange. However it all does color public preception. It is tough to pitch the public that the hacks were a serious offenses by a foriegn adversary years after they have been part of people culture across all political spectrums. A similarly case (in national headlines only) would be The Fappening. The public's take away wasn't that a crime had been committed and officials needed to get to the bottom of it. The public takeaway was that celebrities were stupid and either shouldn't have had a bunch of nude pics on their phones or been smart enough not to fall for a scam. Some media outlets refuse to exploit the nudes by listed or showing them but most ran with them. Similarly I feel many people think the DNC and Clinton campaign were stupid and Trump took advantage as any shrewd politician would. I personally disagree with that sentiment of course.

I wasn't implying impeachment. Rather I was implying duel party leadership. Thus far Trump has only known single party rule.

I actually do see this as a victory for Trump (no sarcasm). The longer he keeps this back and forth going over whether or not the govt will be shutdown the longer he keeps everyone focused on his priorities rather than their own. Bad as the shutdown is optically what is waiting for Trump when all this is over will be worse.

I don't think avoiding prolonging things is interchangeable for "political reasons". Now that things worked out as I guessed at on Monday do you not see how paying the workings separate from ending the shutdown would have prolonged things? A broken clock is right twice a day. I am not claiming to be right regarding this whole ordeal. However I do think events today support my position that separating out worker pay would have made this last longer. Now Trump changes the game. Negotiations will grow beyond money for his wall and will include a much larger (more money) demand for infrastructure, opioid crisis, and maybe even taxes.

I don't believe Bernie Sanders broke the law. I am purely referencing public perception. There isn't a lot of moral authority on this issue.

I think part of the problem here, the reason why the Russia investigation isn't causing more public out cry, is everyone is guilty to various degrees. The left has blood on its hands too. While Trump may have sought and accepted help from Russia Bernie Sanders campaign accepted Russia's help as well. The difference between seeking and receiving vs just receiving is fairly opaque. Bernie Sanders used material he knew was illegally obtained and released by Russia to launch complaints against the DNC primary process. Bernie Sander positioned himself as a victim and used the DNC hacks to de-legitimize the primary process. Then there is the media. Just look at all the clicks, views, ratings, and etc did news outlets receive releasing the hacks. Pundits read page after page of the hacks to their audiences. Bill Maher and Sean Hannity both had Julian Assange on their shows. Buzzfeed was one of the first outlets to release the hacked material. In my opinion it worse to seek Russian help than only accept it but in this case maybe only a little bit worse. The media and Bernie Sanders did know Russia was behind the hacks and still feasted. Here is a Wired article detailing that Russia was responsible for the Russia from July of 2016, Link. Bill Maher had Julian Assange on his show in August. No one can claim ignorance here. Everyone knowing propagated information illegal obtained by Russia. Nearly everyone still is. Trump is trying to position himself as someone who only accepted the help; just like everyone else. It is hard for the right to get worked up over these questions when people on the left (Bernie Sanders) are using the same Russian hack info to say the DNC rigs nominations, elections aren't fair, and there is no accountability. Trump is obviously rewarding Putin for his support. It is clearly a threat to the national security of the Nation. I don't think anything can be done about it until everyone does some serious soul searching. Drinking a single lone beer every night doesn't make one an alcoholic but someone who is drinking a beer every single night isn't in the best position to criticize an alcoholic.

4 Republican Senators broke with the President yesterday and voted to re-open the govt and continue debate on the Wall spending. Despite being in the minority in the Senate the Democrat's bill received more votes than the Republican bill. I think this is a good signal that Senate Republicans aren't willing to allow this to drag out much longer.

Impeachment is a political process. Congress can technically hold Impeachment proceeding as they see fit provided they have the votes. The problem is that it takes a certain amount of political courage and determination to impeach a President. No President in History has ever been removed from office via impeachment. Nixon came the closest but stepped down before it happened. Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson are the only 2 Presidents over impeached in the House but both were acquitted by the Senate and remained in Office. Trump has already done any number of things which could be considered grounds for impeachment.

There was no accusation against anyone in the bold you highlight. No I do not. As already stated it will prolong this whole ordeal. Piece meal'en this out will only keep it going and not vice versa. There is a lot about this that benefits Trump. A Congressional session only lasts 24 months. Trump's party just lost control of the House. Having the government shutdown is preventing the new majority in the House from getting to work on any of their priorities. Keeping this going steals away time from his opposition. If Trump can get workers paid but extend the shutdown that would be a huge win. Just 3 months is 12 and half precent of a full Congressional term. That is a huge win for Trump. The longer this goes the better it is for Trump from that prespective. *Edit - this is the 3rd time I has answer that question about paying workers. It was literally vin the bit you qouted. I understand you and others here may not agree but just asking the same question over and over really doesn't accomplish anything.

My position on Brexit is that there should be a 2nd vote. If you, or anyone else, proposed a national vote on Trump's Wall I would be 100% for it. If the public wants Trump's Wall and votes for it I would agree Congress should give Trump every penny he wants. However Trump lost the popular vote by 4 million votes 2yrs ago and Republicans in Congress just lost the popular vote during the Mid Terms by over 9 million votes 2 months ago. So I think it is obvious where majority national sentiment is on this issue. That said if Trump or Congress asked for a national vote on the issue I would support it. The Federal Budget cycle runs October through September. Republicans wrote and passed 2019's budget. Republican's were still in the majority then and Trump got everything he wanted in that budget like increases to DOD and DHS spending well as tax cuts. That was 4 months ago. We are approaching the mid way point through the budget's year. The Wall money Trump is demanding would be a separate appropriation. Congress can approve additional spending at anytime. Trump's Wall has nothing to do with 2019's budget. A President can ask for and receive money for anything any time he or she wants and Congress can consider it. Budgets guarantee minimum levels of spending for the year which can't be taken away. More money can always be added. Bush requested and received hundreds of billion dollars off budget in special appropriations to invade Iraq for example. As a campaign promise Obama put the war costs in the budget and in turn debt estimates shot up a couple trillion dollars from all the Bush era money which had been outside the budget. Link The budget itself is not being debated and Trump can get money through special appropriations. Moreover 2020's budgets needs to be signed in the next 8 months and Trump could fight for it in that budget if he wants it in a budget. Trump is using the budget to shutdown the govt as leverage. The budget is not related to his Wall demand. The two are separate things. He is conflating them to create a crisis and force Democrats into a position were he is hoping they will be forced to give him what he wants. This is a totally manufactured crisis. If Trump truly wanted money for his Wall Republicans could have given it to him at any time over the last 2yrs as they controlled the whole govt. It is not a coincidence that soon as Democrats took control of the House Trump shutdown the govt. There are 100 new members in Congress unable to staff their offices or begin working. We need the full govt open and functioning as it should. The al la carte approach only drags this out. Last year Congress passed the Pay our Military Act which ensured DOD would get paid during a shutdown. Seems like a good idea on the surface but as a result Shutdown can now last longer because large portions of those who would otherwise be impacted by a shutdown are protected. Here we are a year after the Act was passed and the Shutdown is officially the longest in the history of the Country. We do not need to figure out more ways to keep people afloat during the shutdown so that it can be extend further. We need to END the shutdown.

Anything other than a clean bill fully founding the govt only prolongs this. Getting people paid is just part of the equation. Please stop DEMANDING answers to every little thing you think up. No one here owes you anything. We disagree. I don't have to explain my views to you in a manner you prefer.

I addressed your argument. I said I don't think the House should send anything other than the bill that was previously approved and explained why. If you disagree with my position it doesn't mean I fail to address your argument. Democrats have an obligation to do their best to serve their constituents and the nation as a whole. I agree. However I do not think placating Trump is in the best interest of the nation and certainly isn't in the best interest of the voters who put Democrats in office. The popular saying is "we don't negotiate with terrorist". Nothing about Trump's demand require the govt to be shutdown. Trump did it as a means of taking hostages. That shouldn't be allowed to work. No deal until the hostages are freed is the only solution that makes sense to me.

Trump has relentlessly insisted for 3 and a half years that Mexico would pay for a border wall. No nuance, no doubts, no maybes, Trump said Mexico would pay for the wall. He held rallies a;; over the country leading people in chants where he'd say "who's going the pay for the wall" and stadiums full of supporters when yell "MEXICO". Trump has given interviews and briefings where he'd cut reporters off and insult those who challenged how he'd get Mexico to pay. Now here we are with the govt shutdown as Trump demands a newly elected House majority give him the money tax payer money for his wall......and some people are actually trying to launch arguments blaming Democrats .

Do you concede that the only reason it won't pass now it because Trump doesn't want it? There is nothing about Trump's demand which requires the government to be shutdown. This whole thing can be negotiated with an open govt. The only reason Trump is doing it this way is to blackmail Congress. I think the only bill the House should pass is the one they pass and the Senate unanimously supported. Anything else rewards bad behavior and increases the likelihood of this sort of thing in the future.

It passed with a unanimous vote in the Senate before Trump signaled he wanted to shutdown the govt down, Link Every senator already supported the bill before all this start. It is Trump who wanted the shutdown. Republicans in the Senate are prepared to vote on any bill Trump is willing to sign.

Trump literally sat in the oval office while cameras rolled and told Schumer he would be "proud to shutdown the govt" and that he wouldn't blame Democrats. I won't bother linking anything because I think we all remember that. Trump told ownership of this. People aren't being paid because of him.

From your link: Yesterday Democrats did pass a bill to fund the whole govt. It too would pay federal workers. 223 Democrats voted for it. So hundreds of Democrats did in fact vote to pay federal workers yesterday. These votes are meaningless less the Senate passes something and Trump signs it.