Friday Open Thread

21
  by: Colorado Pols February 9, 2018 at 6:43 AM MST

“Incompetence is a better explanation than conspiracy in most human activity.”

–Peter Bergen

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21 Community Comments, Facebook Comments

  1. RepealAndReplace says:
    February 9, 2018 at 6:52 AM MST

    Well, that was quick…..

    In the long annals of government shutdowns, this one must have been the shortest.

    Four Colorado House members voted against the funding bill (DeGette, Polis, Perlmutter, and Buck) and the other three towed the party line, enlarged the deficit and threw DREAMERs under the bus.

    In the Senate, Thurston voted again the bill while the Toadie from Yuma voted "aye." (Zappy, can you find it in your heart to say something nice about M. Bennet today? I'm guessing, no.)

  2. mamajama55 says:
    February 9, 2018 at 6:57 AM MST

    Bennet's statement on why he didn't vote for the "Bipartisan Budget Agreement" is illuminating, too:

    I applaud all of the Dreamers who occupied his office to keep the pressure on. This small victory in the war against common sense is yours to celebrate. 

    • Gilpin Guy says:
      February 9, 2018 at 7:07 AM MST

      I'm sure Zap is going to find something to criticize in this statement but I find it refreshing coming from a Democrat.

      • allyncooper says:
        February 9, 2018 at 7:44 AM MST

        Dysfunctionally speaking, we are now left with only two choices. Tax and spend Democrats, or borrow and spend Republicans.

        Pick your poison folks. The American people deserve better.

        • Duke Cox says:
          February 9, 2018 at 8:37 AM MST

          The common thread there being the spend part…right allyn?

          You did not mention the third choice..

          the don't tax, don't borrow, and don't give a shit about anything but my 401K choice. Guessing here that you call yourself a libertarian…

          Tell us where you think we spend too much…what do you think taxpayers should pay for…which taxpayers? 

        • Mike W. says:
          February 9, 2018 at 8:55 AM MST

          No, we're left with a party that will pay its bills and does what needs to be done if the economy crashes, and a party that wants a free fucking ride while simultaneously destroying the economy. Pretty simple choice. 

          • Zappatero says:
            February 9, 2018 at 10:02 AM MST

            The last time we had a balanced budget was during the Bill Clinton years. It’s quite obvious now Republicans don’t give a shit about the deficit, most economists agree it’s very low on the Econ priority list, and Democrats who parade around like peacocks on the issue, like SFL BENNET, have been corrupted by Republican rhetoric. 

            Atrios:

            Now can we stop pretending the Republicans care about the deficit? Haha the deficit scolds will be back as soon as Dems are in charge again. Only really stupid people can not see that Republicans run up the deficit, with tax cuts, wars, and occasionally some domestic spending, when they are in charge, and then the Democrats reduce it to win the love and adoration of voters Fred Hiatt, while not being able to fund any of their supposed other priorities, then we repeat. It's been that way since 1980. Not as if they have been hiding it. "Reagan proved deficits that don't matter," said Dick Cheney.

            Why do you guys insist I say something good about a guy who I think is doing a half-assed job? He gets tons of praise here, he’ll make $1,000,000-plus in this term, and he’s nearly guaranteed a seat for life with criticism from one little blog commenter. 

            • Gilpin Guy says:
              February 9, 2018 at 11:34 AM MST

              Nobody insists you say something nice about he who will not be named.  We're just looking for a little variety in your literary repertoire.  How about spreading some of that acid wit on the seat for life dickhead from Wray.

              • Voyageur says:
                February 10, 2018 at 8:06 AM MST

                If you mean Cory Gardner, he's from Yuma.

                Our own Senor Bowman is from Wray.

                • MichaelBowman says:
                  February 10, 2018 at 12:16 PM MST

                  Also known as the ‘county seat’ –  much to the chagrin of  Yumans – and thanks to the free beer and pickled pigs feet offered by the enterprising local proprietor of Grants Pigfoot Saloon nearly 100 years ago to anyone who ventured to Wray and voted to move the county seat 27 miles east!           

        • Diogenesdemar says:
          February 9, 2018 at 8:58 AM MST

          No contest.  In this economy, I’ll take spending tax dollars collected over spending added future debt every day of the week.  That’s really not a difficult choice at all, for a multitude of reasons. 

          • Conserv. Head Banger says:
            February 9, 2018 at 9:19 AM MST

            "tell us where we spend too much……"  Maybe visits to some of the tax watchdog group web sites can help. Taxpayers for Common Sense is one.

            As for where we spend too much……….exhibit A is the Pentagon. Exhibit B comes from research done a few years ago by staff of former Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) that identified over 80 different job training programs being funded. Maybe we could get by with just 20? There are many more.

            • Duke Cox says:
              February 9, 2018 at 12:43 PM MST

              Maybe we should do a better job of going over pentagon books and finding which DOD contractors are ripping off the public.

              I agree about the defense budget.

              It is our collective purpose as a nation to defend freedom through democracy…to be a nation of people…not a nation of corporations. A nation of immigrants…not of xenophobes. What happened to that "tired and huddled masses" thing? Now we only welcome an elite, chosen by education and utility to business and industry? Really?

              My concern is our loss of moral standing in the world. We are returning to a system free men have fought for centuries. Witness Kansas and Oklahoma.

              Following the massive tax cuts prescribed by the "Free Market Experiment", both states have been forced to seriously curtail services provided to the public. That is the point …of what now should probably be called "Trumponomics". Which is…"If there are to be services provided for the poor, let the middle class do it….until we drive them into poverty as well."

        • Gilpin Guy says:
          February 9, 2018 at 9:43 AM MST

          ColoradoPols deserves better than reading your daily dribble about how much you hate everything and how both sides do it.

        • ParkHill says:
          February 9, 2018 at 11:40 AM MST

          Deficits always go up during Republican control: Reagan, Bush, Bush and Trump.

          Deficits always go down during Democratic control: Carter, Clinton and Obama.

          Actually, Economics 101 tells us that you should increase deficit spending during recessions, and pay down the deficit during a boom times.

  3. Diogenesdemar says:
    February 9, 2018 at 9:13 AM MST

    “. . . running like a fine-tuned machine . . .”

    Unwelcome Attention for John Kelly, the Man Enlisted to Bring Calm

    https://nyti.ms/2Bh629E

    . . . “Welcome back Reince, how ya’ been, buddy — you’re the only one who ever really understood me”??

  4. Diogenesdemar says:
    February 9, 2018 at 9:16 AM MST

    I’ll have two scoops of emoluments. . . 

    Developers Seek $6 Million Tax Break for Trump-Managed Hotel

    https://nyti.ms/2BNNM9d

    . . . with triple scammy sprinkles!!!

  6. Pseudonymous says:
    February 9, 2018 at 1:23 PM MST

    The resistance gets rolled
    The budget debate shows that the activist left lacks the kind of pull with Democrats that tea partiers once enjoyed with Republicans.

    Left-leaning groups that spent months pressing Democrats to fight for the young undocumented immigrants known as Dreamers were stiff-armed yet again by the party’s leaders. They cut a bipartisan budget deal that left House Democrats scrambling to square their advocacy for immigrants with the party’s fear of shouldering the blame for a second government shutdown in a matter of weeks.

    Liberal groups groused that their allies in Congress had yet again squandered their leverage, bowing to Republican promises to debate immigration but not necessarily to pass legislation. But Democrats seemed unconcerned about angering the party’s left flank.

    “My boss is the 700,000 [constituents] who I represent. That’s who I report to,” Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.) said. “I don’t report to anybody out here.”

    • DaftPunk says:
      February 9, 2018 at 9:01 PM MST

      Cheri Bustos is a rare Democrat serving a rural Trump-voting district, so she's hardly a fair target for this criticism.

      Also the left lacks the well-funded Astroturf organizations threatening primaries against insufficiently liberal Dems like exists on the right side of the aisle.

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