Something I find intriguing right now is the fact that

[Tobin S.]

although Trump can be useful idiot for the GOP at this point and he will sign any legislation that the Republican establishment puts in front of him, they are not putting anything in front of him. Nothing at all. They have complete control right now and you would think they would be having a legislative field day, but they haven't accomplished anything. What's up with that?

[Freddie]

1. 3 of them have consciouses

And one of the 3 is dying.

[unblock]

2. Most of them aren't interested in governing

Or at least, they're more interested in posturing. The extremists would rather have a bill that their base is happy with than a compromise that passes.

[WyattKansas]

3. Because they have known from the start that he is Putin's useful idiot

Republicans will use him to get whatever they really want and treat him like a hero... I think they have already made the decision to pull the plug on him while claiming, 'Oh, we had no idea! We could never imagine someone being that horrible!' Of course, they knew from day one after the election when Trump went into immediate denial mode over Russia how complicit they have all been... Trump's immediate denial then was the first major red flag something was extremely rotten.

[Caliman73]

4. Legislation isn't everything.

I responded to your post on the other thread but will do so again. You are right, the Republicans have control of all branches of government at this time but they haven't really passed any legislation of major significance.

Where I disagree is saying that not having a legislative field day is not accomplishing anything. Trump and the Republicans have been quietly filling federal judiciary vacancies with young, ideological conservative judges. These are the people who will be making the important district court decisions for years to come. They will be the feeders into the Supreme Court when any of the justices retire. Gorsuch was horrible. He is Scalia on steroids, but younger. Think about it, there will be mainly Gorsuch's to choose from over the coming decades to fill higher court vacancies and SCOTUS.

Also, while Trump is not filling the top slots at many of the federal departments, he is putting people in charge whose vision is to privatize the Commons. His people are selling off chunks of national park land to private investors. They are destroying from within, the departments that manage many aspects of the country.

We have to remember that the goal is not to "destroy government" it is to remake government into an entity that supports their view of the world. When they say government is the problem, they only mean government that seeks to protect the less powerful. Their primary objective is to allow access to all of the wealth that is held in trust for the people by the Federal government, Medicare, Social Security, National lands, etc... They want to monetize it all and while they would like to codify that through legislation, they can also make it happen through internal policy and stocking the bureaucracy with ideologues and changing the nature of the judiciary through appointments.

[Tobin S.]

5. I see. Thank you for taking the time to respond here as well. n/t

[Fresh_Start]

6. In addition to judiciary, they are remaking the government

through removal/addition of regulations from the government agencies.

We don't even see most of those actions...but they will come back to harm us in big ways.
Along with the judiciary appointments.

[Nitram]

7. They don't know what they are talking about, they just regurgitate catch phrases that pass

for policy like "cut taxes," ""freedom," and "local control."

[Caliman73]

8. On the contrary.

They know exactly what they are talking about. They are lying. They are deliberately lying to fool people who actually do not understand economics and public policy well enough. They know that they cannot honestly defend their policies as being pro "average citizen" so they lie.

Republicans were really upset that Trump pushed the healthcare debate so hard because they know that it is a loser in a straight up debate. They know that the ACA was already the best moderate conservative plan with tweaks to make it sustainable and to make it have a positive impact on the average income and poorer American. They knew it.

The phrases that they use are studied and focus grouped. They are not the uttering of fools (though I am sure that there are many fools that utter the phrases who haven't been completely clued in). Those phrases are calculated to deceive voters and are not stated out of mere ignorance.

[Nitram]

9. Actually, I think we are both right. Some of them are clueless morons and somer are lying weasels.

[Caliman73]

10. I can live with that!