Kind of a cute stunt, especially for those of us who support net neutrality
…
Saturday, January 27, 2018
Shuffle #104 (January 27, 2018)
Skyfall –
Adele
You’re Still
A Young Man – Tower Of Power
Oblivious –
Aztec Camera
If I Had A
Hammer – Peter, Paul & Mary
Send A
Little Love My Way – Stephen Bishop
If You Ever
Have Forever In Mind – Vince Gill
Happiness Is
Just Around The Bend – Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express
Dirty Work –
Steely Dan
Shelter –
Lone Justice
Sunday, January 21, 2018
Dems now need to choose worse over worser
You got to know when to hold 'em,
Know when to fold 'em.
As I write
this, we are in the second day of the government shutdown, which resulted when
the Senate failed to approve yet another short-term continuing resolution that
would have funded the government through February 19 but without
containing an
agreement to provide legal status for the Dreamers, whose status is endangered
by the looming expiration of DACA. Most Democrats opposed the House-passed
funding measure, as did several Republicans.
According to
most news reports, Shutdown Day One has yielded little other than
finger-pointing on both sides, although the Washington Post is reporting that a
bipartisan group of senators has been been discussing the parameters of another
short-term funding bill, with “an implicit agreement to hold votes at some
point in the coming weeks on a bipartisan immigration deal.” Suggestions by
some Democrats for an extremely short CR of only a few days to add urgency to
the negotiation process on an immigration deal have fallen on deaf ears.
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has scheduled a vote on
another short-term bill, identical to the one rejected on Friday but for three
weeks rather than four. Congressional Republican leaders and the President have
both announced that they will not negotiate on an immigration deal while the
government is closed.
Despite the
justice of their position and the Republicans’ obvious intransigence, the
Democrats are playing with fire. They seem to be assuming that public opinion
will be strongly on their side, based on some (but not all) polls, the wide support
for allowing the Dreamers to remain, Trump’s historic unpopularity, and the
fact that Republicans are in control of the presidency and both houses of
Congress.
I don’t
share that optimism, assuming they continue their opposition to the pending
proposal to reopen the government. In the most recent prior shutdowns, it’s the
party (previously the Republicans) that has attempted to accomplish policy
objectives via shutdown that has been the loser, as opposed to those advocating
a “clean” spending bill to keep the government running. This time the Democrats
face an additional obstacle, due to the time-sensitivity of their position with
the end of DACA rapidly approaching. In terms of purely political power, pretty
much all the Democrats have in their tool chest is the ability to keep the
government closed as long as (nearly) all of them choose to do so, but there’s
nothing to keep the Republicans from refusing to negotiate or to otherwise
cooperate until the DACA clock expires. Bottom-line, DACA and the Dems lose
unless there’s a bill that can pass both houses and get signed by the
President. In terms of public opinion, I expect that sooner or later, the
appeal of an open government with the possibility of an immigration compromise
will win out over an ongoing shutdown with no progress being made.
It’s not a
question of goals or support for the Dreamers, but rather one of tactics. When
you’re at war and not doing well in a particular battle, sometimes it’s better
to beat a temporary retreat and re-engage under more favorable circumstances.
In baseball, if you’re getting clobbered one day, you take the opportunity to
give your regulars a few innings off, send in the pitcher you’re normally
afraid to use in order to save the reliable arms in your bullpen, and live to
fight another day. If you’re starting a long night of poker in a Kenny Rogers
song, you don’t bet the limit at 9:00 holding a pair of deuces; you recognize
that your chances are likely to improve later.
So it should
be today. The Democrats in the Senate were correct to vote as they did Friday
night – they demonstrated the power they have, confirmed their commitment to
getting a reasonable and humane agreement to protect the Dreamers, and
highlighted both the “my way or the highway” attitude so far of the opposition
and the White House confusion and disarray that has brought us to this point.
Since the Republicans are now apparently willing to provide a (small) fig leaf
of a shorter funding extension, take it, but do so with a public relations
strategy in mind.
What’s really
needed are opportunities to vote on any and all potential
DACA-for-immigration-concessions bills. Hey, if Republican Bob Goodlatte and
his buddies in the House think they can get their hardass immigration “reform”
proposal through both houses of Congress, let them try. Vote on the original “Gang
of Six” proposal, and/or whatever bipartisan successor may be in the works.
Most importantly, don’t let them avoid votes by using the excuse that “we don’t
know what the President will accept.” Until a bill actually lands on Trump’s
desk, no one knows from minute to minute what he will or won’t accept,
including Trump himself. Hold their feet to the fire every day they refuse to
hold votes on proposals with bipartisan support, and be ready to do whatever’s
necessary at the end of the extension if that hasn’t happened. And if the
President decides to veto a bipartisan bill enacted by both the Senate and the
House, that’s on him.
This course
may or may not actually be possible, as cooler heads do not necessarily prevail
in such a poisoned environment. At the very least, Democrats should agree that
they remain united on goals even if divided on strategy. I happen to feel that
playing it smart has a better chance of success than being headstrong, and I
fear the consequences if that path is not taken.
Facebook will ask users to rank trustworthiness of news outlets
Perhaps this shouldn’t be a surprise, coming from the world’s most
malevolent and ethically-challenged social media behemoth. As Daniel Kreiss, a
professor at the school of media and journalism at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill, put it, "Just by putting things out to a vote in
terms of what the community would find trustworthy undermines the role for any
serious institutionalized process to determine what’s quality and what’s not.”
What’s so extremely, uniquely wrong about Trump’s presidency
Great take by Ruth Marcus on “Year One”. (Yes, there’s a Springsteen
lyric quote in the final paragraph, but be sure to read the rest of the column
as well.)
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