Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

MrPurple

MrPurple's Journal
MrPurple's Journal
January 4, 2018

Trump on video screens behind Sarah Huckleberry during press conference

Did anyone just see this? The press conference opened with a word from President Trump and while Huckabee stood at the podium, the Dotard spoke on two large screens on either side of the podium about how great his tax cut was and that he's making America Great again more quickly than anyone could have expected.

This seemed pretty 1984'ish. The press conference is in the White House - Trump is in the White House today But, they have him spewing his we're winning talking points on tv screens instead of just walking into the next room to the podium. I'm sure they'd rather not have him in front of the press, likely giving answers about Steve Bannon and the quotes from the new book that will pour more gasoline on the fire. But, this is ridiculous.

January 2, 2018

Should the Democrats cooperate with Trump on infrastructure projects?

I was disappointed that the Democrats didn't seem to stage more dramatic filibusters of the tax bill, or if they did, they didn't generate much coverage. They really needed to use enough apocalyptic language to generate more coverage, laying down the gauntlet that shorting the treasury (which is already in deficit) by trillions of dollars is going to squeeze out Medicare and Social Security later down the road.

I suspect that Trump's infrastructure bills will just be tax breaks for his crony developers to do glitzier projects while core infrastructure goes mostly unattended (replacing old lead pipes isn't the kind of sexy thing that Trump can put his name on). IMO, every infrastructure hearing needs to be a place where the Democrats drive home how the treasury has just been sacked and that the Republicans have wasted the money that could have been used for infrastructure. Every infrastructure debate should be treated as a negotiation to undo tax law changes that most benefit the wealthy in order to pay for them.

That likely won't succeed, but the messaging needs to repeatedly drive home the specifics of tax law changes that that send money back to billionaires and what that is depriving us of. If you look at the Gallup Daily Tracking poll, Trump's popularity has improved after the tax bill. The Democrats need to drive home what it actually does and lay the groundwork that will make it difficult for Ryan and the Rethugs to claim that "entitlement reform" is needed. The public need to be hit over the head with the message that it's the Republican tax cut for the wealthy that's the reason the Medicare and Social Security will be coming up short and that the remedy isn't program cuts, it's undoing the irresponsible tax code changes.

Profile Information

Member since: Sat Dec 3, 2016, 06:51 PM
Number of posts: 985
Latest Discussions»MrPurple's Journal