On Political Reality

I am seeing a lot of headlines today like "Furious Progressives Slam Democrats For Caving On Shutdown."  When Republicans were in the minority, their partisans used to accuse the R's of the same failure / weakness.  The reality is that there is only a limited amount that the minority party can do.  Democrats back in the day were unwilling to allow Ted Cruz to derail Obama's signature issue (health care reform) and Republicans seem unlikely to allow Democrats to do derail their plans on Trump's signature issue of immigration (as much as I would like to see those plans derailed).  I think reasonable people would like a system where the majority party sets most of the agenda but the minority party does not get completely shut out.  That is basically where we are, though you can argue over the balance.

I will ask the Left to remember that effectively it was they that established the precedent in people's minds that having the minority party shutting down the government over issues tangential to the budget itself was tantamount to the apocalypse.  Having established this precedent, Democrats have to live with it now that the shoe is on the other foot.  I also, by the way, seem to remember Progressives just a few years ago arguing that Congressional gridlock over issues like this was sufficient justification for the President to more forcefully exercise Executive power.  Pretty sure no one on the Left is arguing that today.

14 Comments

  1. Rondo:

    Except for the fact DACA is illegal.

  2. Matthew Slyfield:

    Not if Congress enacts it legislatively. Which is what the Democrats ate currently trying to make happen.

  3. GoneWithTheWind:

    Uncontrolled and excessive immigration is a ticking time bomb. If the Daca illegals are given amnesty/green cards/path to citizenship the flood gates will burst an millions more will rush in in endless cycles that will destroy us. As it is if this isn't stopped it is likely that we will be unable to continue with our generous welfare and SS systems. Taxes must go up and jobs will be harder to find. Why do we allow this?

  4. Peabody:

    Nonsense. If I call someone who disagrees with me racist, then my position is correct regardless of how hypocritical or inconsistent it may be.

  5. SamWah:

    The Stupid is STRONG in our government, and a whole whale of a lot of our voters.

  6. rst1317:

    It's not so much that they're correct. It's obvious they're the anointed by god. And if you point out their flaws, you're just using your male white privilege to suppress me.

    Although, funny enough, if gender is so fluid then how do they know I'm male? Don't they respect my sexualality? You can't just assume someone's a WCIS male by how they look, can you?

  7. rst1317:

    I'm frustrated by some of the stories I see of a parent in a family being deported or put in a deportation queue when they're married to an American and have American children. Our resources are always finite. We should be concentrating our resources to hunt down every shitbag member of groups like M13 that's here illegally or here legally but committing felonies. But that would tame some real investigative talent and work. Why go for the stuff that requires work when there is low hanging fruit?

  8. marque2:

    We are cracking down on MS13 - after years of ignoring the issue. Lots of arrests in New York with the new administration.

  9. marque2:

    We have people like the host of this blog - Warren, who completely fail to see the issue. I suspect being in a "rich" neighborhood blinds him to the problems. I vote to have MS13 headquarter in his home - he might voluntarily do that as well, just to prove what a nice pro-immigrant person he is.

  10. rst1317:

    That's the party line. Show us the numbers.

  11. Rick C:

    " Republicans seem unlikely to allow Democrats to do derail their plans on Trump's signature issue of immigration (as much as I would like to see those plans derailed)."

    How many Libertarians are there in Central and South America, I wonder.

  12. Rick C:

    Why ignore the low-hanging fruit? Don't break our laws, you won't run the risk of deportation.

    You might look into how Mexico treats illegal immigrants.

  13. rst1317:

    Shall we deport you for speeding? For justice to exist, the punishment must fit the crime. If it doesn't, it's unjust.

    As for Mexico, it's a shithole. I pray to god we don't do anything a shithole like that does.