Key red-state Democrat sides with Trump on wall funding

[DonViejo]

Source: Politico



'I’m fine with providing him some more,' Indiana's Joe Donnelly said of the president's funding request.

By BURGESS EVERETT 08/08/2018 05:02 AM EDT

INDIANAPOLIS — One of the most vulnerable Democratic senators said he supports giving President Donald Trump billions of dollars for his border wall — a sharp break from the rest of the party planning to spurn Trump's wall in spending negotiations this fall.

Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), who is facing a new round of ads criticizing his position on immigration this week, said that Trump should get much more than the $1.6 billion the Senate Appropriations Committee has been preparing to send him. Trump has repeatedly threatened to shut the government down either before or after the election without a significant infusion of money to fulfill his signature campaign promise, often telling lawmakers he wants $5 billion in the September spending bill.

The moderate Democrat says he does “not want under any circumstances” a shutdown. So he said Congress should “absolutely” provide the president with a larger amount of border wall funding this fall to avoid one.

“I’m fine with providing him some more. I actually voted for border wall funding three different times,” Donnelly said in an interview here. “I’m fine with that. I’m fine with $3 [billion], $3.5, $4 or $5” billion this fall.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/08/indiana-donnelly-trump-border-wall-senate-766343

[turbinetree]

1. Really...................

[joshdawg]

5. Yeah, no shit. WTF?

Donnely doesn't want a shutdown, so he's will to bow to trump's threat for a shutdown. WTF? I say call traitor trump's bluff. If he wants the shutdown, so be it. No funding for the stupid wall. Period!

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

2. Can't be serious.

[MosheFeingold]

64. Oh, come on and understand politics

This is all planned.

Trump will not get his wall due to the handful of somewhat reasonable Republican Senators.

This gives red state Democrats freedom to pretend to support the wall to satisfy the morons that make up the swing voters in their states.

It's annoying and I wish they could be truthful, but they have to say what it takes to get elected in the Chump-supporting cesspools where they are.

They may even vote for the wall, assuming there are not enough votes for it to pass.

Summary: relax, it's just a ploy to confuse the easily manipulated.

[Squinch]

3. We need the committees. If we get the committees, this guy won't have to make that vote

because the committees won't let it come up for a vote.

It's a vulnerable seat. He has to say what he has to say to get elected. We need him elected.

We need the committees.

[salin]

10. This.

I will be voting for Joe. He is far better than his opponent. He is far better than any R. Hell he is better than our last D senator (corporate Evan Bayh.) We need the senate.

[Stuart G]

17. salin: Every fair minded person needs to see your two sentences... including last 4 words.....

"We need the senate." You are correct, "We need the senate." Joe is better than any R. Joe says what needs to be said in this red state...Joe needs to win.

"We need the senate."..."We need the senate."..."We need the senate."..."We need the senate."
"We need the senate."..."We need the senate."..."We need the senate."..."We need the senate."
"We need the senate."..."We need the senate."..."We need the senate."..."We need the senate."
"We need the senate."..."We need the senate."..."We need the senate."..."We need the senate."


Joe has won in the past, I hope he wins in November...Why?..."We need the senate."

This is simple, and this is easy to understand....:"We need the senate."

[pangaia]

33. Not arguing for or against "Joe."

I don't know anything about him. And yes we need the Senate.
And all the other obvious points....

However --
Given all that, IF Joe does NOT BELIEVE it is right to support giving $$ to build that wall, what is the significance of his in effect lying to say he DOES support it?

Please THINK before you reply....

Thanks-

[MrsCoffee]

13. Exactly. The bigger picture.

You see it.

[Squinch]

14. And you!

[bettyellen]

59. THANK YOU!! so many people condemn in ignorance. It takes more than principles to keep a seat.

[Dave Starsky]

4. Jesus Hernandez Christ

I simply cannot believe that we are still seriously discussing this stupid fucking wall. Are we literally going back to the goddamn Stone Age?

[HopeAgain]

6. Just because someone sticks a "D" behind their name...

When is a Democrat no longer a Democrat? I suggest we don't spend money in places like rural Indiana and elect these DINOs. Let's focus on places where we can elect real democrats.

[MrsCoffee]

12. We need the D behind his name for majority.

[HopeAgain]

22. Not if he is going to vote with the Republicans

Here's where we get the perception problem...in cases like this there is little difference between Republicans and
Democrats.

[MrsCoffee]

25. Being in the majority makes a big difference as to what is being voting on.

Donnelly has voted with Schumer 85 percent of the time since 2013. He votes with party about 80 percent of the time. That's a huge difference between Republican and Democrat. Of course I wish those numbers were higher.

But the fact is, having control over what is brought to the floor for debate and vote is more important than getting that elusive 100%er into office.

[qazplm135]

26. control and committees!!

I don't care how he votes on anything other than that, and for that he's voting D.

[pangaia]

34. Joe Lieberman had a D after his name also.

[left-of-center2012]

7. "said that Trump should get much more than the $1.6 billion"

sad

[jcgoldie]

8. FFS

I'm all for red state dems sometimes voting more conservative to hold onto their seats, but if he's going to vote for ridiculous racist bullshit like the stupid fucking wall then what's the difference, let them have it.

[Stuart G]

18. No...I do not agree..I do not want to..."...let them have it." Joe votes with us. Please remember,

Pence is from Indiana. Isn't he the VP?

[jcgoldie]

21. He supports Trump 55% of the time

What does Pence being from Indiana have to do with this?

[Squinch]

56. How often would an Indiana Republican vote with Trump?

[cvoogt]

9. "moderate Democrat"

not really. With friends like these..

[watoos]

11. The fucking wall

is the dumbest idea ever proposed by a president.
I see that people are sneaking across our northern border, how about a fucking wall all around us?

It has already been specked out to cost way more than originally proposed, and will take way longer to build, and won't do a damned thing.

Not only is our military spending boat loads of money for 20th century arms and eqipment, Homeland security is spending money on 40 BC, or was it AD, technology. When was the Great Wall built? It was built back when a wall made sense.

[honest.abe]

15. He's making a big mistake.

[maxrandb]

16. He just doesn't fucking get it!

It doesn't fucking matter. Anything short of him dropping to his knees and blowing the presidents tiny shriveled penis, and Retrumplicans are still going to call him a fucking socialist libtard.

Might be better if he just went the full Lieberman route and became a fucking Retrumplican.

Guys like this make me understand how someone stays with an abuser, believing; "well, if I'm just nicer to them, maybe they won't fucking abuse me"

What a crock of shit!

[Bengus81]

19. This clown is a Democrat? So anytime Trump threatens to shut down Guberment we roll over?

Gawd.....

[DeminPennswoods]

20. Months ago Lawrence O'Donnell said the same

thing - that Congress should give Trump whatever amount he asks for since the money actually has to be appropriated, a very unlikely scenario.

[Aristus]

23. Chickenshit...

[AllaN01Bear]

24. then he needs to be drummed out of the democratic party.

[Freethinker65]

27. It is Indiana. Have you ever been through Indiana? Mike Pence was elected governor!

Donnelly is a sitting Senator that knows his state and how to best represent his voting constituents.

The state has enough moderates and sane Republicans to push back against insane legislation that will hurt them economically, like Pence's right to discriminate against non-Christians and LGTBQ. The state does not yet have enough voters that can see through the soft on crime leaky border rhetoric.

[still_one]

31. The wall is just bad policy and a waste of money whether one is conservative or not

[Freethinker65]

32. Agreed. However it is also a waste of limited campaign time and money for Donnelly to defend

The GOP would love for Donnelly to waste limited campaign time and money defending an anti-wall stance as not being soft on crime and not being pro-leaky borders.

By getting the Wall topic out of the way, Donnelly can concentrate on other things that matter to Indiana voters. Donnelly will have time and money to expose his opponent as being too extreme for Indiana.

[still_one]

39. I understand, I just can't believe that the populous, no matter how right wing they are believe

that this wall makes sense

[still_one]

29. While I can understand but not agree with his conservative ideology, the border wall is not only

fiscally irresponsible, it is bad policy, and that is regardless if someone is left middle or right

It is bullshit

[Squinch]

55. It is bullshit. But if we get a majority, that vote never needs to come up

and he is one more person to get us to that majority.

[still_one]

58. I appreciate what numbers mean, and what having the majority does

[The Liberal Lion]

30. To all those who say "any democrat is better than a 'pub"

I say BULLOCKS! Any democrat who sides with trump, who decides to negotiate with trump is nothing more than an immoral weasel and even more importantly a traitor. Democrats need people who will advance the progressive and liberal cause, not wolves in sheep's clothing.

[LanternWaste]

37. Which GOP candidate, relevant to this state, would vote against the wall?

If none, you yet then believe losing his seat would advance the liberal cause?

(my suggestion: never visit a sausage factory... I fear your naivete would wind up on someone's breakfast plate)

[The Liberal Lion]

38. Please explain to me how a bootlicking Democrat catering to the GOP

is advancing the liberal/progressive cause

[Squinch]

41. Do you understand how the committees work? Any Democrat is better than a republican.

[The Liberal Lion]

42. Well I suppose you find Joe Manchin to be a real treasure to the agenda of the left.

[Squinch]

44. Do you understand how committees work?

[The Liberal Lion]

45. Yes I do

But your above mentioned theory doesn't work if the only dems in office are these bootlickers you keep defending.

[Squinch]

46. Which of those "bootlickers" have I defended? Please do link to my defense of them.

We need the committees. If you ever want to have power again, we need the committees.

[The Liberal Lion]

47. You are defending a bootlicker right on this thread

I certainly respect your view, but if we decide that we have to allow bootlickers to become representatives within the progressive party and they have no progressive bonafides pretty soon the party isn't progressive anymore, it will be controlled by those willing to negotiate our progressive values away. Those cherished committees you mentioned will be chaired and/or controlled by these bootlickers. You are welcome to continue to believe any democrat is better than one willing to defend progressive/liberal values, just don't come complaining when your party, our party, the Democratic party is overrun with spineless bootlickers instead of liberal and progressive warriors.

[Squinch]

50. So I guess you still don't understand how the committees work.

Or if you actually do and you still think we need perfect purity rather than Democrats wherever we can get them, good luck living in a country where Nunez and others like him run the government.

Because apparently, in your mind, there is no difference between that and a government run by Democrats with a couple of conservative Democrats in Indiana and West Virginia.

Clearly that's batshit crazy, but I guess some folks really must have their purity.

[The Liberal Lion]

52. It worked for the republicans didn't it.

Imagine a world where progressives actually defended with tooth and nail the words they speak instead of constantly bending the knee to the values they say they oppose. Just call me one of those people who believe in fighting to win instead of constant capitulation.

[Squinch]

54. Sorry to break it to you, but that's not fighting to win. That's

fighting to feel pure. Force candidates who embody your perfect progressive purity on Indiana, and you'll get a Republican government in Indiana.

[NickB79]

48. I'm sorry, did all the staunch progressives just quit the Senate?

You're throwing up a straw man; the committees would be composed of the 95% of Democrats who aren't bootlickers, because that's the current composition of the Democratic Party today.

A few outliers like this guy can't make a significant difference as long as all the strong progressive Dems are there to silence them.

Even if the few conservative Dems like this guy caucus with the GOP some of the time, we still have the committees and the power.

[The Liberal Lion]

49. True, there are some staunch progressives in the Senate

but I don't agree with your conclusions. If we were dealing with traditional conservatives in what I would call "normal" times I personally would not be so extreme. But these are not normal times, and those going under the GOP banner these days are not traditional conservatives. And especially in this arena, when it comes to that wall. It's a racist position, period, end of story. America tears down walls, we don't build them. I most certainly do get it about the committees, and I respect that point of view. However, I think we are dealing with the unusual these days, and to allow this kind of belief to be part of the democratic party is to allow voluntarily a cancer into the body. We either resist with all our might, or we bend the knee and submit to evil. It's really that simple.
If he agreed with trump of tariffs you wouldn't hear a peep from me. If he agreed with trump on Syria, NATO, NAFTA or the other wide range of purely political/policy matters you wouldn't hear a thing, but that damn wall. No way! It's racism pure and simple, and I won't look away. Let me put it this way, what if Sen. Donnelly agreed that gays, lesbians and transgendered persons should be banned from the military, would you still think he deserved a seat at the progressive table? That wall is a matter of discrimination, in addition to a colossal waste of resources. Discrimination should never be a matter we "negotiate" about.

[Squinch]

51. Oh, but "they're all the same" doncha know?

You just can't make this shit up.

[treestar]

63. He's not but his is from WV

where it is a miracle to elect any Democrat at all.

[RhodeIslandOne]

35. Good fucking lord

This is the easiest thing to break from Trump with. ITS A WASTE OF FUCKING MONEY YOU IDIOT!!!!!!!

[Doreen]

36. He is NOT a Democrat.

[MosheFeingold]

66. This is what is called a "sacrifice fly" in baseball

He's pretending to be a moron so we can steal home.

See my previous posts.

[dembotoz]

40. so where are the never primary a sitting democrat folks.....guess we are just supposed to sit down

and shut up??????????????

[The Liberal Lion]

43. Nope, we don't sit down and shut up.

We stand by our morals and values and become uncompromising in that stance. Myself, I tire of the left always coming to the rescue to save the country from right wing lunacy only to save it and then see elected another right wing idiot more loony than the last. The time for the milquetoast progressive/liberal has to end. It's time the word "conservative" becomes a thing of shame as the word "liberal" or "progressive" should never be. We need people with a spine, not people always looking to say to a RWNJ "you've got a point". NO! They have no point.

[dembotoz]

61. Yep

[comradebillyboy]

53. He's in Indiana, I'll cut him some slack and hope he

gets reelected.

[LonePirate]

57. Is Donnelly unaware of the smuggling tunnels that currently exist? Or cherry pickers?

The wall is an absolute waste of money because anyone with a functioning brain can devise a way to circumvent it.

[AlexSFCA]

60. he can and should say absolutely anything to win

most important for D is to win. It doesnt matter what they say, only what they do. Say anything if it helps to win. Of course he is not serious. But he needs quite a few dummies to vote for him in IN to win. Message must be tailored to each district, if dems need to pretend they are pro-life, they must say so if it helps to win in red states. Winning is the ONLY thing that matters in the most important election of our lifetimes, not silly words. We are going agaist foreign election interference with domestic complicity, we need good margins to overcome voter registry expulsions that are strategically happening in many places inclusing Texas. Russia got a hold of voter registration databases that unlike voting machines are connected to network and can and have been hacked. So for the sake of our future, can we all at least here on DU, pledge that we are undivisible and will support ANY DEMOCRAT no matter what they say prior to midterms.

[MosheFeingold]

65. Exactly correct +1 n/t

[zanana1]

67. "red state" was all I had to know. nt