Trump's Card

[Flynnie]

Threatening wars will do that to you.

Until the next election, his approval rating is basically 46.3% until I see otherwise. It's obvious the "I voted GOP but I don't *really* like Trump" people are basically doing it to save face at their local Whole Foods.

[Gerontophile]

Lardies and gentlermen, RRoy Mroore.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Doug Jones is basically Foinavon, except not going to win, right?

[Tubby Isaacs]

Is the game finally up on the health vote? They need two out of Paul, Collins, Murkowski and McCain.

[ursus arctos]

Graham-Cassidy is almost certainly dead in its current form, but they will keep trying.

[Tubby Isaacs]

What can they do to make 2 of those vote for it?

[Tubby Isaacs]

Do the poor white base still approving of Trump not understand what's happening?

[ursus arctos]

What can they do to make 2 of those vote for it?

Who knows? They already tried to allow Alaska to keep Obamacare in order to get her, but she doesn't appear to have fallen for that, and both McCain and Collins seem completely turned off by the outrageous process.

Do the poor white base still approving of Trump not understand what's happening?

They don't see 45 as having anything to do with this.

[Tubby Isaacs]

He tweeted that this shit plan was really good. How do they overlook that?

[Tubby Isaacs]

This is how well we're informed about America here.

Dave LeeVerified account @DaveLeeBBC
Prediction: Uber makes a few changes, back in London in no time. We saw similar in Austin, Texas.

[Levin]

[COLOR=#14171A][FONT=&quot]https://twitter.com/pwnallthethings/status/912040125563129856[/FONT][/COLOR]

I mean, of course they have, but seriously?

Edit: Kushner & Ivanka have their own email server

[San Bernardhinault]

I'm pretty sure this doesn't need to be said...

Ted Cruz really is a horrible, cynical little weasel.

This time, he's managed to come out as "opposed" to the Graham-Cassidy healthcare plan, but only after it was already sunk. So he can try to claim to be more conservative than the plan. But he never had to commit to his conservative viewpoint if it might actually have meant acting against the party.

Only announce your opposition once it doesn't matter, eh, Ted. A man of his convictions....

Among all the despicable little shits in his party, he seems the most despicable.

[Amor de Cosmos]

So the NAFTA negotiations are going as well as expected.

Mexican and Canadian officials have come to the meetings well-prepared and briefed while the U.S. negotiating team is not performing to the standards expected of them, one source said, noting the Americans have still not provided a full range of texts for the negotiations.

So far, chief U.S. negotiator John Melle has yet to table or even hint at what the Americans expect for new rules of auto origin, which presently stand at 62.5 per cent North American vehicle content to qualify for duty-free movement between Canada, the United States and Mexico.

"Really nobody knows what Donald Trump wants. Does he want a deal or does he want something that he can then turn down and say to his base: 'I told you these Canadians and Mexicans are untrustworthy. This is a bad deal for America."

[Tubby Isaacs]

Guess what? They had a go at rewriting the plan with more money for Kentucky, Arizona and Alaska.

[Tubby Isaacs]

So the NAFTA negotiations are going as well as expected.

Mexican and Canadian officials have come to the meetings well-prepared and briefed while the U.S. negotiating team is not performing to the standards expected of them, one source said, noting the Americans have still not provided a full range of texts for the negotiations.

So far, chief U.S. negotiator John Melle has yet to table or even hint at what the Americans expect for new rules of auto origin, which presently stand at 62.5 per cent North American vehicle content to qualify for duty-free movement between Canada, the United States and Mexico.

"Really nobody knows what Donald Trump wants. Does he want a deal or does he want something that he can then turn down and say to his base: 'I told you these Canadians and Mexicans are untrustworthy. This is a bad deal for America."

That all sounds very close to home.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Yeah. I had that sense too. The Trumpettes and Brexiteers are both very good at ranting about what they don't want, but when it comes providing constructive alternatives... not so much.

I have a queasy feeling however, at least in Trump's case. As he (deliberately?) continues to subvert his own attempts to get anything done, is it possible that a few months down the line he'll call for a constitutional amendment to enhance the powers of the presidency? A question for Ursus I guess.

[San Bernardhinault]

The nagging worry I have is that Trump's uselessness is actually part of the deal. He's put a bunch of inept clowns in charge of every department of government, has not tried to fill most of the posts in government, and is proving that government is useless. I have the fear that it's actually part of a well planned Bannon strategy to basically destroy the institutions of state.

[ursus arctos]

A new Constitutional Convention designed to roll back the gains of the last half century and more is actually a major goal of the hard right here and many of their outrageously rich patrons (Merced, the Kochs, etc.) and one of my worst nightmares.

They need two-thirds of State Legislatures to call one, and are getting increasingly close, in part due to progressives' general lack of interest in local campaigns.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Shit. I had no idea.

[Eggchaser]

When are the Koch brothers going to die or at least lose their marbles? The evil that men do...

[ursus arctos]

Well, the Kochs are fitness fanatics, and Mercer is paying a whackjob in Oregon to store tens of thousands of urine samples in an effort to discover the key to longevity, so time is not necessarily on our side.

[ursus arctos]

Collins is a firm no.

The last-gasp Republican drive to tear down President Barack Obama's health care law essentially died Monday as Maine Sen. Susan Collins joined a small but decisive cluster of GOP senators in opposing the push.

The Maine moderate said in a statement that the legislation would make "devastating" cuts in the Medicaid program for poor and disabled people, drive up premiums for millions and weaken protections Obama's law gives people with pre-existing medical conditions. She said the legislation is "deeply flawed," despite several changes its sponsors have made in an effort to round up support.

[ursus arctos]

And now they've decided not to bring a bill to the floor, as they know they don't have the votes to pass anything.

[San Bernardhinault]

It's an interesting dilemma for McConnell. He can't have a vote, because it means that arseholes like Ted Cruz would either have to vote for "keeping Obamacare" or would have to vote for a spectacularly terrible bill that everyone can see is disastrously bad; so not voting saves many Republicans from showing their hands.

On the other hand, Trump, in particular, is desperate for a vote so he can see who is disloyal and who he can aim his fire at; and that's something that the base wants, too.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Is that it? Done till 2018?