But it felt right, the minute I saw it.

And, yeah, to just about any objection involving congressional traditions and courtesy and reciprocity and .... well, Merrick Garland to you, too.

Yeah, that about sums up my feelings too!

Heh.

:-)

Don Harris [4] -

Sigh. OK, who would have been a better pick for speaker? Who is pure enough for you?

nypoet22 [5] -

Tasty, tasty pie. To quote the famed poet Homer (not that one, "Simpson" instead...): "Pie... mmmmmm... pie...."

TheStig [6] -

OK, I have but one thing to add -- Dems should back McConnell into a corner, and present him with the same refrain: "Deal with us, or be voted out... it's your choice..."

Balthasar [7] -

(written late at night on Friday): let's see what Trump offers up tomorrow. It might just be exactly what you proposed. Then again, it might not...

goode trickle [10] -

Oh, hell yeah. All of that! Hear hear!

:-)

-CW

Perhaps, it is time for a no budget, no pay bill on steroids.

Any time any part of the government shuts down, In addition to not getting paid and receiving back pay when congress does not do their job, congress shuts down, no bills, no show boat votes, nothing until the government is reopened.

Additionally since aides and senior staff do the heavy lifting in reality, they should also not get paid and the offices lose their funding...So no mailings,trips, gym perks, ect,ect.

The executive branch also needs to suffer, so the both POTUSES and the cabinet as well their senior staff also go without pay and the hope of getting it back. Their offices also lose funding, and all of the associated perks.

Of course it also should be made automatic that any furloughed workers (contract workers included) get back pay with an interest penalty bonus to help offset the extra financial damage from not getting paid.

Now that we have the financial penalties lined out, time to make life difficult for congress and the executive by preventing congress from being allowed to recess until the government is reopened and any planned junkets, planned speeches/rallies, as well as fundraising/campaign adventures are cancelled. With the exception of an emergency or disaster use of all government modes of transportation are off-limits unless it is to travel to a meeting to reopen the government.

I am sure that there are many constitutional hurdles to overcome, but it would certainly go along way to getting the government back to governing.

Assuming that this could get done, somehow, it would require the GOP to return to governing vs ruling.

Pelosi should book a commercial flight on the Democratic Party Credit card and keep all receipts for later reimbursement after Republican Senators realize that being a coequal branch of govt. with terrific benefits is more important that soothing a pouting 300 lb man baby.

And she sure knows how, and when, to troll Trump.

But I'd guess that this is just the opening salvo, a precursor to many more. Don't forget that the Repubs have an ace card they haven't played: the American Dreamers Act, which has hung in limbo ever since this President took office. But conservative columnists consider it poison: to trade one idea for another isn't in their DNA. They'd way prefer that that debate be scheduled for another day.

But it could open a new seam where none exists today. It could solve this whole mess. Trump and Pelosi could both declare victory and walk away. That's the carrot.

The question is: is Trump ready to make a purely political deal to save his presidency? I'd say yes, but we'll see...

Trump's Presidential skill set is limited to temper tantrums, signing official documents and capturing the news cycle. Democrats only play to his considerable news manipulation strengths when they negotiate with Trump directly.

Democrat leadership should only work directly with Republicans in the House - and only with the intention of pressuring House Republicans and the Republican controlled Senate to realize there are actually likely to be severe election consequences (early retirement) to further kissing Trump's Ass.

In short, pay little or no attention to the orange man behind the Executive Office Curtain. He is a one-trick humbug.

By carefully working around Trump, Democrats can effectively limit Trump's ability to be newsworthy thus forcing the news media to find other stories that sell readership/viewers/listeners. This approach is not a panacea, but part of winning battles is wisely choosing where you fight them - and where you don't.

however, the people also want pie. give us pie.

Later I read the beginnings of the endless parsing and reparsing of 'what might happen' and 'is this going to work' and 'what if it backfires' etc. It quickly goes over my head into the la-la land of the commentariat, who have repeatedly shown for the past few years that they have no idea what they're talking about when it comes to this president and the world he's created.

But it felt right, the minute I saw it.

And, yeah, to just about any objection involving congressional traditions and courtesy and reciprocity and .... well, Merrick Garland to you, too.

The State of Our Union is: Shut down. If His Neediness Comrade Benedict Donald Treasonous Trump requires the stroking of his ego, he can damn well reopen the government. He has one job.

The right-wing echo chamber and chattering MAGAts encourage Trump to make an example out of "Chuck and Nancy" and the Democratic Party on the national stage during the annual State of the Union Address, and Nancy responds saying: "Hold my beer." :p

I am thrilled to see Dems going on offense in several areas - thrilled. This is what I want to see.