Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

I was confident that someone would point it out and thought why not me.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

Let’s show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

In after Baud. Damn.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Republicans got rid of McCarthy. Democrats chose not to save him.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

T R E 4 5 O N

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

I did not have this on my fuck 2024 bingo card.

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

The low info voters probably won’t even notice or remember by their next lap around the goldfish bowl.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires Republicans to act in good faith.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

You are here: Home / Keep on calling

Keep on calling

by | 193 Comments

This post is in: 

Let’s keep on working:

Right now the best targets are probably Flake (R-AZ), Heller(R-NV) and Toomey(R-PA). The vote count assuming no other surprises is 50-50 so we don’t need a no vote, we can work with an urgent need to stay in their state to listen to constiuents, a strong desire to wash their hair, unexpected HVAC issues or a sudden sphincter spasms that keep them on the Senate can.

We won’t get many wins, but let’s see if we can get a win here.

Call Congress.

Reader Interactions

193Comments

  3. 3.

    randy khan

    In case anyone’s curious, Flake’s office is taking messages, Heller’s seems to not be taking calls at all, and Toomey’s voice mail remains full and unwilling to accept new messages. The emails don’t seem to be bouncing yet, though, so that’s something.

  4. 4.

    JPL

    If you know of someone in these states, call them. Keep the pressure on.

    also.. Spicer doesn’t know who Frederick Douglas is either

    “I think he wants to highlight the contributions that he has made,” Spicer responded. “And I think through a lot of the actions and statements that he’s going to make, I think the contributions of Frederick Douglass will become more and more.”

    If Frederick Douglas could talk, he would say something eloquent. I’ll just say wtf

  5. 5.

    Mike J

    Best target is irrelevant. Call both senators from your state, whether they’re already on our side or completely inconvincible. They don’t care about calls from people who can’t vote for them.

    Have they turned the comment line at the White House back on yet? (202) 695-1100 is the number of the Trump Hotel in Washington if they haven’t.

  7. 7.

    lurker dean

    Toomey has been impossible to get through to for weeks, and his voicemail is always full, even on weekends. I ended up sending an email through his website on one issue, and a fax on another issue. This is a free fax site that has all of the senators fax numbers ready to go. https://faxzero.com/fax_senate.php

    I’ve heard calls are best, but one site i read suggested that all methods are weighted more or less equally, but faxes are better because for calls the staffer often doesn’t take great notes, while a fax has all the points you want to make. It also noted that emails are received by the bucketful and skimmed more quickly than faxes. No idea how true any of that is, but if the line is always busy, better to try something than nothing.

  12. 12.

    Percysowner

    I faxed Portman yesterday. I admit I emailed Sherrod Brown because he’s on the side of the angels and I just wanted to give him an attaboy! Portman is probably a waste of time, but I’m still giving it the old college try. I contacted them both today about Sessions, Portman by Voicemail and Brown by email.

    I have to keep psyching myself up to make calls, calls, calls because this is so depressing.

  13. 13.

    randy khan

    @Mike J:

    If you call, they often don’t ask where you’re from. Flake’s comment line did not ask for anything that would identify where I lived.

  14. 14.

    randy khan

    @JPL:

    Last week, Al Franken told Maddow that the Dems were unanimous in opposition to DeVos, presumably including Manchin. Truth be told, having Republican Senators vote against gives him cover.

  15. 15.

    randy khan

    @JPL: Local offices are good, too, and they generally assume that the people who call them really are local.

  16. 16.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    OT, but Jen Rubin’s twitter feed is identical to a DKos diary these days.

  17. 17.

    Sean Scanlon

    For those of you in California, Senator Feinstein has not stated her position on the Devos nomination. I just called her Los Angeles office and expressed my opposition.

    Her Los Angeles office number: (310) 914-7300

  18. 18.

    rikyrah

    The Question of Legitimacy With Trump’s SCOTUS Nominee
    by Nancy LeTourneau
    February 1, 2017 9:55 AM

    Last night Donald Trump nominated Federal Appeals Court Judge Neil Gorsuch to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court. There are questions that can and should be raised about his history on the bench. But the overriding question is one of legitimacy. The NYT editorial board captured that in the title of their response: “Neil Gorsuch, the Nominee for a Stolen Seat.”

    It’s been almost a year since Senate Republicans took an empty Supreme Court seat hostage, discarding a constitutional duty that both parties have honored throughout American history and hobbling an entire branch of government for partisan gain…

    In normal times, Judge Gorsuch — a widely respected and, at 49, relatively young judge with a reliably conservative voting record — would be an obvious choice for a Republican president.

    These are not normal times.

    …………………….

    Let the record show that Republicans played political games with the Supreme Court and President Obama did not. They took an open seat hostage and are now pretending like that move was legitimate. Regardless of whether or not Gorsuch is qualified, a seat on the Court was stolen and that cannot go unanswered.

  19. 19.

    NCSteve

    Any North Carolinians: Burr was supposedly on the fence and looking to his constituent calls, mail and email as well. And even Thom Tillis has been showing signs of extreme nervousness. Which indicates at least forty IQ points than I ever credited him with.

    And contra DougJ, if it happens, it only happens because Senators like Warren and Franken and several others were willing to vote to confirm some of his nominees.

  20. 20.

    rikyrah

    Incompetence Could Wound Trump More Than Anything Else
    by Steven Waldman
    February 1, 2017 11:26 AM

    We may want to believe that Trump’s violation of our “values” will turn Middle America against the President. But it’s worth remembering that the public soured on George W. Bush as much because of his handling of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans as the Iraq War. He started to look incompetent.

    Competence is supposed to be Trump’s strong suit, being as he is a never-quite-totally-bankrupt businessman. Yet he seems to be struggling with the managing-government thing.

    Corporate leaders often struggle in government, but we’re now seeing that Trump’s personality issues will directly affect his competence:

  23. 23.

    Kay

    Murkowski took the Senate floor after Collins. “I have serious concerns about a nominee to be secretary of education… who has been so immersed in the discussion of vouchers,” she said.

    I watched and it was all she talked about. You know in school when you only knew one thing about something and so you keep going back to it no matter what is asked, because you have to because you only know one thing? It was like that ;)

  24. 24.

    Mike J

    Washington state senator from Whatcom county had scheduled a press conference on how his job on trump’s transition team would in no way interfere with his duties here.

    Had to cancel because he got stuck in DC.

  25. 25.

    SenyorDave

    @Miss Bianca: Jen Rubin is all about Israel. She probably believes that Trump will be bad for Israel long term. I believe he will be bad for any country except Russia long term.

  28. 28.

    David Fud

    Georgia just killed a statewide Governor-led fight to privatize schools. We have two senators that are getting ear fulls about local control of schools as we speak. I can’t get through because the phones are busy and the voicemails full, but we Georgians are doing our part to retain local control of our schools yet again.

  29. 29.

    Kay

    I think Sessions has a genuine conflict with working on Trump’s campaign and investigating Trump on the Russia thing.

    Is that even a close call? He has to recuse.

  33. 33.

    Gelfling 545

    @lurker dean: My daughter did an internship in one of our Senators’ local office. She says calls or mail – the post office delivered type- got more attention than email there.

  35. 35.

    chris

    Reposting this from dying thread this morning. Last week 22-28Jan was National School Choice Week in case you missed it and you might have because it was proclaimed on Thursday. The competence continues to inspire.

  39. 39.

    raven

    @David Fud: From a prominent Georgia public education advocate (a coupe of hours ago)

    “Let’s see yes if Collins and Murkowski vote NO with their principles and convictions rather than their fears, and if one more R can be added to the NO total and if all the Ds hold, then Yes DeVos will FAIL. I expect she will be confirmed and a) be ineffectual and b) the Rs will own that failure. And in a lot of ways that's better than a non-DeVos but just as bad reformer who actually knows more and could get stuff done.”

  40. 40.

    Corner Stone

    @Yarrow: That was why I said to sell everything you own and spend it on hookers and blow until we all die from nuclear wasteland.

  42. 42.

    Betty Cracker

    Non-Republicans who voted for Tillerson: Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), Angus King (I-Maine), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), and Mark Warner (D-Va.).

  43. 43.

    Betty Cracker

    @Corner Stone: Yeah. I will always remember Stewart’s righteous lampooning of Fox News fondly, but his “both sides” shtick wore out my last nerve ages ago.

  44. 44.

    Roger Moore

    @Kay:
    Interesting that it made such an impression on Murkowski. I guess vouchers sell better in places where there are plenty of private school options, which I’m guessing is a poor fit for low density states like Alaska. It suggests senators from other mostly rural western states might be amenable to similar arguments.

  46. 46.

    Peale

    @Roger Moore: I guess we’ll have to look for examples of private vouchered schools taking over poor rurual school districts. I’m sure the list is long. Kind of up there with rural areas who still have door to door mail service willing to drive 50 miles to the nearest “profit center of excellence” each week to get their mail.

  47. 47.

    Gelfling 545

    @Gelfling 545: Then there was the constituent who used to compose a song about the news of the week (more or less) and call up to sing it. He got a lot of attention alright but I would not recommend it.

  49. 49.

    rikyrah

    Uh huh
    Uh huh

    Trump and Bannon Consider Expansion of the Southern Strategy Against Immigrants
    by Nancy LeTourneau
    February 1, 2017 1:43 PM

    Remember how Lee Atwater described the Republican’s Southern Strategy?

    By 1968 you can’t say “n****r” — that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states’ rights and all that stuff. You’re getting so abstract now [that] you’re talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is [that] blacks get hurt worse than whites…But I’m saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other. You follow me — because obviously sitting around saying, “We want to cut this,” is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than “N****r, n****r.

    We’ve seen how that played out with the racial insinuations of everything from Ronald Reagan’s “welfare queen” to Mick Huckabee’s comparison of welfare recipients to roaches (of course they were both referring to poor people who receive welfare and not corporate giants). The point of these efforts has always been to fuel racism and bolster their attempts to dismantle the social safety net because it was being abused by “those people.”

    The Trump/Bannon White House is now contemplating two additional executive orders that would revive the Southern Strategy as a weapon of division against non-white immigrants.

    The Trump administration is considering a plan to weed out would-be immigrants who are likely to require public assistance, as well as to deport — when possible — immigrants already living in the United States who depend on taxpayer help, according to a draft executive order obtained by The Washington Post.

    A second draft order under consideration calls for a substantial shake-up in the system through which the United States administers immigrant and nonimmigrant visas, with the aim of tightly controlling who enters the country and who can enter the workforce, and reducing the social services burden on U.S. taxpayers…

    The administration has accused immigrants who end up receiving U.S. social services of eating up federal resources, and it has said that immigrant workers contribute to unemployment among workers who are U.S. citizens.

    These are yet two more executive orders that have Bannon’s fingerprints all over them. He is the one who thinks that non-white immigrants to this country pose a national crisis.

    The draft orders are not only maliciously hateful ways to divide people in this country, they are unapologetically based on lies. Let’s remember first of all that the reduction of Mexican immigrants coming into this country over the last few years is actually hurting small businesses (therefore, the economy) and secondly, immigrants are the life-blood of reinvigorating small town America in many places around the country. So it is impossible to base these claims on any actual data about how they would improve our economy. The only explanation is their appeal to white nationalism.

  50. 50.

    randy khan

    A friend tells me on Facebook that when she called Toomey’s local office they said that he was getting so many calls that there wasn’t time to listen to the voice mails. So one key point here is to call his local offices, where they are answering the phones.

  51. 51.

    Mike J

    Blake Hounshell Verified account @blakehounshell
    WASHINGTON (AP) – President Trump has left the White House on Marine One on an unannounced trip, White House has not disclosed destination.

  54. 54.

    lurker dean

    @Mike J: yes, have tried calling all the offices. a friend finally did get through at one, but had been trying for weeks. there was an article the other day that toomey is leading all senators in faxes, i suspect because his lines are always busy.

  57. 57.

    David Fud

    @raven: Interesting. There is an interesting undercurrent going on in Georgia, I think. I believe it is ripe for a re-alignment with sane people. I guess we’ll have a few years to watch it unfold.

  61. 61.

    Yarrow

    @Corner Stone:
    There’s also this.

    Donald Trump’s closest advisor thinks that the US will be at war with China in the next few years.

    The far-right figure, who has been given unprecedented power in the White House and has suggested in the past that he supports white supremacy, suggested that the two countries are headed towards war over the South China Sea.

    “We’re going to war in the South China Sea in five to 10 years, aren’t we?” Mr Bannon said on his radio show in March 2016. “There’s no doubt about that. They’re taking their sandbars and making basically stationary aircraft carriers and putting missiles on those. They come here to the United States in front of our face — and you understand how important face is — and say it’s an ancient territorial sea.”

    Have you liquidated your assets and starting the spending on hookers and blow yet?

  63. 63.

    LAO

    @Served: I cannot wait to see how Trump makes it about himself. I mean, the man died — doesn’t that qualify him as a loser in Trump land?

  66. 66.

    PPCLI

    @Mike J: I can believe it. If journalists actually covered the funeral/asked him for comments, he would start talking and say mortifying things, utterly inappropriate for a funeral, that would appall even his supporters. So he goes, a few photos will be leaked, it will be spun as “Trump wanted this not to be political, so he didn’t want people to know.”

  69. 69.

    Corner Stone

    @Yarrow:

    Have you liquidated your assets and starting the spending on hookers and blow yet?

    I am trying to evaluate the best place to move them to, from the aggressive posture I have had the last few years. I still kick myself that I did not dump some cash into AAPL when it fell to sub-$95 not too long ago. But I needed the liquidity more than the risk. I can’t sell my house at present but since it’s paid for I could walk away, just pay taxes if society still exists, and then see what happens.
    I don’t do drugs but the other investment suggestion….

  70. 70.

    Corner Stone

    @LAO:

    Trump won’t speak, hopefully, because he is devoid of human empathy.

    Can you imagine? What if he mentioned crowd sizes or that the deceased SEAL probably voted for him and that makes him so special to Trump. Or that his death was MAGA ?

  71. 71.

    Spanky

    @LAO: When was the last time you saw Trump NOT speak? And who will say no to a POTUS?

    Trumpsubstantiation of the most solemn occasions.

  72. 72.

    NotMax

    @PPCLI

    “As we gaze upon this lone coffin, we all should remember that Hillary lost four.”

    Wouldn’t put it past him.

  74. 74.

    trollhattan

    @Corner Stone: The most Trumpian twist I can envision is him taking the cheering section along to clap at his approach to the dais and the wrapup.

    ETA Or putting moves on the widow, “Isn’t she beautiful, folks?” [Slips number into pocket]

  75. 75.

    LAO

    @Corner Stone: @NotMax: Oh, he’s going to speak. And say something remarkably tone deaf and inappropriate because he is incapable of displaying an ounce of restraint or acting “presidential,” whatever that now means.

    What I would like to see, is a family member haul off and punch Trump in the face. I expect to be disappointed.

  76. 76.

    gvg

    oh my ___. Every President has to go to a lot of funerals of KIA. Sooner or later, Trump will really blow it at one or more. Can you imagine being family and listening to word salad about how great he is? I hope he makes a lot of excuses because it isn’t his thing. Don’t care how offensive that will be, it will be better than MR. tin ear speaking.
    Why couldn’t someone with couth have won? I know it’s not as life and death as other things he will do, but picturing it makes me squirm.

  77. 77.

    Yarrow

    @Corner Stone: I don’t know what to do or where to go. I have responsibilities here with my dad who is elderly. I don’t think he’d go anywhere. I’m sure I’m not the only one in a similar situation where they don’t feel they can leave.

    As for liquidating everything, well, maybe that’s a good plan. Not so sure about the spending options.

  78. 78.

    Corner Stone

    @LAO:

    What I would like to see, is a family member haul off and punch Trump in the face. I expect to be disappointed.

    Holy shit. Epic! Go in low and slow like you just need a pat of comfort on the shoulder. Then Onomatopoeia his ass!
    BAM! WHAP! POW! OOF!
    It would take the SS at least 2 seconds to react. Then claim severe emotional distress and an out of body experience at trial. No court could ever convict in the NE.

    Unfortunately, from what I heard earlier from SpiceBoy, the widow is saying things like she don’t give a shit that dude dead. He loved what he did. Hail Trump!

  82. 82.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Served:

    Thanks. When I looked (before I asked you), everyone was citing AP saying he and Ivanka took off in Marine One, undisclosed location, pool reporters out of the loop.

  84. 84.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Mike J: From what I read it’s not a funeral, it’s just the incoming casket at Dover AFB. You know, the place where W forbade media. This asshole is going to photo-op a casket coming in from an operation that he fucked up.

  85. 85.

    Yutsano

    @trollhattan: I sincerely hope he doesn’t speak at the memorial because it will be a mishegas for the ages. At the same time, I don’t even think Dubya pulled this shit. It’s also not even clear if he’s going to meet the body in country or flying over there. He’s gonna wreck all the shit.

  86. 86.

    Alain the site fixer

    I may be a bit odder than most but tea, coffee, and spices are important. As long as you can have your warm beverage of choice, even gruel tastes acceptable with some spices. My point being, thinking about what foreign imports you like and stocking up for the next year isn’t such a bad idea. Many things are going to be more expensive very soon. I don’t think trump realizes that lower dollar plus higher oil prices = bad economy and trade wars, even just threats, just make prices even higher.

  87. 87.

    jl

    @rikyrah: Also will be yet another road block to the promised Trump economic boom his goofball supporters think he will bring them. Or maybe their idea of a white man’s welfare state is driving taxis, roofing, busboy, short order cook, and ag work at immigrant labor wages with freshly taken away health insurance? We will see.

    And, will work like the incompetent and vicious immigrant entry exec order: people will see mostly obviously decent, innocent and hard working people screwed over for no reason.

  89. 89.

    evodevo

    @PPCLI: didn’t he say during the campaign that he didn’t like “losers” who got captured? What about ones who get killed?

  94. 94.

    jl

    @Alain the site fixer: Higher dollar, not lower dollar. In short run. After the Trump economic genius tank decides to default on some part of the US debt, no matter how cleverly they think they can disguise it, then all bets are off. Usually financial panics that cause lasting real economic damage are the result of downturn in the real economy, not the other way around. But some of the bright ideas Trump has floated could change that pattern.

  95. 95.

    trollhattan

    @Alain the site fixer:
    Green coffee beans keep for a long time, can even improve with age, and roasting them over one’s broken up chifferobe can be a fun time-passing activity for the kids. (Might be kidding about the second bit but the first part is frealz.)

  98. 98.

    LAO

    @NotMax: “As a real estate magnate, I’m used to making life and death decisions. And I tell you, it never gets easier. May god continue to bless me.”

  99. 99.

    bystander

    @Mike J:

    Blake Hounshell Verified account @blakehounshell
    WASHINGTON (AP) – President Trump has left the White House on Marine One on an unannounced trip, White House has not disclosed destination.

    Trumputin will be moving around like a Mafia don.

  100. 100.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @randy khan:

    Ivanka is there to try and make sure he acts like a human being.

    “Remember, Daddy, you promised you wouldn’t grab the widow by the pussy.”

  104. 104.

    Mothra

    @Mike J: Call the DC hotel and Mirawhatever too. The D.C. receptionist was quite ticked – but polite. Mirathing puts you on a conference call with other people calling to complain.

    Trump has no right to make money off these hotels while president. Tie up their lines please!

  105. 105.

    NotMax

    @Lao

    “As commander-in-chief, I’ve authorized a new medal to those of our fantastic military – and aren’t they fantastic, folks? I mean, really? – whose sacrifice has demonstrated an iron-clad commitment to this great country and its fresh leadership. I hereby award the first presidential Iron Cross.”

  106. 106.

    trollhattan

    Suppose we can drop any pretense of wondering whether Trump will get us into a shooting war and dwell on where. As a reminder of our past misadventures this was exactly 49 years ago, today. Our troops were there five years, one month longer.

  110. 110.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @rikyrah:Yes, this. That’s why think sooner or latter Trump will be forced to resign. Trump really seems pretty incompetent and as the article pointed out, completely unwilling to learn from his mistakes.

  112. 112.

    MomSense

    BTW I’m starting knitting more pu_ssyhats. They certainly get noticed at town hall meetings, protests, and visits to your congressional critters. You can even put them on for courage when you make calls.
    I’ll start listing them on etsy so stay tuned. I’ll only charge for shipping and materials.

  114. 114.

    Alain the site fixer

    @jl: nah, he’s a fan of a weak dollar to spur exports. His folks have been saying so at Davos and to BBC and other international media.

  116. 116.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @PPCLI:

    I can believe it. If journalists actually covered the funeral/asked him for comments, he would start talking and say mortifying things, utterly inappropriate for a funeral, that would appall even his supporters. So he goes, a few photos will be leaked, it will be spun as “Trump wanted this not to be political, so he didn’t want people to know.”

    Gods, now his staff has him in hidding after two weeks. Hilerious.

    Que in the talking heads to go on about Trump hidding from the press shows Trump is strong and in control.

  118. 118.

    toocanAnj

    Hey PA residents, I’m part of a group called Philly Up (Philadelphia United for Progress) , we are organizying Tuesdays for Toomey, if you are on the book of faces come check out our FB page. We go to Toomeys Philly office every Tuesday at 12:30 to drop off letters. First week was 7 people, last week was the 10th week and we had over 500. Three big 8.5×11 boxes full of letters we collected. The office met with us the first few weeks, but now they lock us out and a Phily Civic Affairs officer escorts us in to deliver the letters. Each week is a different topic and we have expert topics that come speak at our Tuesday gathering, We release Call to Actions for scripts for calls and letters, and we are starting to organize Letters to the Editor now.

    We’ve had great press! Which helps the growth.

    We’ve now gone statewide and there are groups in Allentown, Johnston, and Pittsburgh. Trying to get groups started in Lancaster and Scranton. Toomey has not had a Town Hall in PA since 2013, and has never had one in Philly.

    If you live close to any of those cities/towns, come out on Tuesdays!

  119. 119.

    Alain the site fixer

    @NotMax: Frank Herbert almost had it right! I’ve got spice and paper cookbooks and so I figure I’m valuable to guys with guns who will like eating. Lol. But seriously prices on a lot of imports are going up soon.

  121. 121.

    oklahomo

    @Yarrow: You’ll know it’s time to panic and war is imminent if an EO comes along permitting only Freedom Buffets and Freedom Fortune Cookies and Freedom Towns.

    Forget it Jake, it’s Freedom Town.

  125. 125.

    Alain the site fixer

    @schrodingers_cat: I have been accused of having archaic tastes but praised as civilised by Brits and folks in former colonies the world over!

    Having a nice 10 lb. bag or two of good basmati and a few bags of dal, chana, frijoles rojo and negra means I’m always a good place to be for a bad storm or such. I’m not Mormon but agree that it’s always good to have a good supply of your staples and favorites.

  126. 126.

    jl

    @Alain the site fixer: Perhaps. But Trump and his crew are also totally ignorant, incompetent, and have no clue what they are doing. So far, the results have been the opposite: quickly rising dollar. Especially with some major trading partners that Trump accuses of stealing our jobs. A certain neighbor down south is one example. Trump can talk all he wants to whoever he wants. Nothing I see in the sad sack excuses for policy coming down the road can change that over next several months at the very least.

    Edit: thing to watch is US dollar rate against emerging market economies, particularly SE and S Asia, and Central America. You can get it at FRED. If that moves, expect higher trade deficits and job losses. Trump won’t even have time to bash more than half a dozen economies that will go to town on that.

  130. 130.

    Roger Moore

    @jl:

    Usually financial panics that cause lasting real economic damage are the result of downturn in the real economy, not the other way around.

    And the really damaging ones are the result of excessive leverage. Just as leverage lets financial people make huge profits when things go well, it creates huge losses when things go badly. If financial types are too heavily leveraged, small problems in the real economy get magnified into huge problems for finance. It’s going to take a while for financial deregulation under Trump to let the leverage build back up to dangerous levels.

  131. 131.

    Alain the site fixer

    @jl: I expect by end of next week to have some kind of China tarrif. That will mess up a lot of our trade and likely other countries will side against us at WTO.

    The current saber rattling against Iran will make oil go up and we will see what trumps reaction will be. It’s not panic time but if things you like and use often are going to be 30-50% more expensive on six months, then it’s smart to stock up now. And to be clear, I always have as much rice and beans in the pantry; I cook 95% of my wife and my meals and do a lot of ethnic food. I just stocked up on tea, spices and coffee.

  132. 132.

    rikyrah

    Media Alert:

    BET will have two offerings tonight.
    1. Madiba (Nelson Mandela)-starring Laurence Fishburne
    2. New series about life at an HBCU-The Quad, starring Anika Noni Rose and Reuben Santiago-Hudson. Jasmine Guy is also in it :)

  133. 133.

    jl

    Remember, Trump has to do almost half a dozen Carrier deals a day for his job promises to come true. Net infrastructure spending increase will mostly be a few people diddling around on the total joke his Great Mexican Wall/rinky dink spotty fence will soon become.

  134. 134.

    john b

    Called Tillis’s Charlotte office a few minutes and voiced my request that he vote no on Devos. A real person answered! That’s a first for calling one of my Senators this year.

  138. 138.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    @jl: why would a higher dollar cause job lose? is it because it makes imports more expensive and therefore reducing consumer consumption as well as making export based products more expensive reducing sales. or is there more (I’m asking for a friend)?

  140. 140.

    Alain the site fixer

    @oklahomo: he’s taken the White House. As someone who listened to him every morning I have a very good idea of his smarts and don’t underestimate him.

  141. 141.

    Alain the site fixer

    What frightens me is that Bannon gets up at 2 and trump is up very early. So the first few hours each day while everyone else more normal is sleeping and waking, they are together plotting and reinforcing each other’s sense of glory and being great men of history.

  142. 142.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @trollhattan:

    I’m going to take the under, and say that it will be four, by March 15:

    – In the South China Sea after Vietnam, the Philippines and China have reached a prelimnary tete a tete regarding navigation and resources (major naval engagement, major loss of USN personnel and equipment due to forces originating from China – the Navy Chief of Staff will have told him it would be stupidly aggressive);

    – In Iran, as punishment for a missile test – this will be a botched invasion including ground forces, that all the military planners counsel will fail prior to the go order;

    – In Rakka, to meet his target date of Easter on eliminating ISIS, he’ll order a 100 KT missile strike. Mattis will refuse and try to leave the room to warn others, and will be restrained and beaten by the Spetznatz guards forming his personal security detail (the Secret Service guys having been disarmed). Spicer will announce that he had a stroke and fell on a desk, hitting the back of his head 18 times before perishing;

    – In Korea, to show Kim who’s boss, he bunker busts the North Korea test site. In response, the North Koreans launch weapons at Japan and subject Seoul to a 3 hour artillery barrage, laying waste to the city.

    Twitler sends out furious tweets denouncing his enemies in the media and accuses all the haters and losers of being jealous of his success as the stock market craters, the currency markets go to hell in a handbasket and gasoline rises to $5.50 a gallon by April 10….

  144. 144.

    jl

    @David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: I’m thinking it will mostly be export losses. Higher dollar makes imports cheaper. The pundits and snoots love a high dollar strong like bull, since they are essentially ‘importing’ consumption in foreign countries when ther swank around Davos and other power destinations on their power vacays and junkets. Cheaper imports is nice, but the the job losses are quick, and on net hurt average people. You lose your job and can barely make rent ultra cheap food and utilities, who cares how cheap the junk in Walmart is that you can’t buy.

    Trump and Bannon are truly ignorant fools. They keep yammering about China and Mexico. They don’t seem to understand the trade deficit involves high dollar compared to almost a dozen other currencies in middle and low income countries. Now looks like he has confused German ‘currency’ (whatever that is) being ‘overvalued’ compared to other Euro countries with German ‘currency’ being overvalued wrt to US dollar. This guy is a truly historically arrogant fool. They are fighting incompetent battles in the wrong war, and getting ready for battles in wars that don’t exist. They are ignorant nutcases in economics.

  146. 146.

    Elizabelle

    @MomSense: Great! I’m in for a few hats!

    We need them, to march on behalf of Merrick Garland or no one. That’s the deal. Payback, bitches.

  148. 148.

    themann1086

    @toocanAnj: Thanks for all your hard work. My friend made it to yesterday’s rally but I was at a doctor appointment. I hope to make the next one!

  149. 149.

    schrodingers_cat

    What if all immigrants/ foreign born workers legal, undocumented, on work visas etc, stop working completely be they gardeners or CEOs or scientists. Go on a general strike for one day.

  150. 150.

    The Moar You Know

    Can’t wait to crawl over broken glass to vote for Sen Manchin again.

    @Corner Stone: How I’ve always felt about Feinstein. California can do better (and has, repeatedly).

  151. 151.

    Millard Filmore

    @NotMax:

    Debt ceiling vote likely next month.

    Since the Democrats are sane and do not want to crash the world, they will be FOR raising the debt ceiling. Therefore many Republicans will be against it. The world will not look kindly at our failure here.

  152. 152.

    Peale

    @jl: So he’s just going to accuse everyone we have a trade deficit with with currency manipulation and slap on tariffs? I don’t know why anyone would do business with a US company at this point. No one can plan more than two weeks ahead.

  154. 154.

    Zelma

    @rikyrah:
    Interesting point. I live in a resort town where the average age in the winter is 68 and the average home is over $1 million. I was at a bar last night and overheard a conversation between three old guys. I thought, oh no, I’m gonna overhear all about how great Trump is. Instead, I heard complaints about his incompetence, like. “He shouldn’t have run for the job if he didn’t get what it was about.” Trust, me none of those guys voted for Hillary. Incompetence is our best hope.

  155. 155.

    tobie

    I called Mark Warners Vienna, VA office to express my profound disappointment in his vote for Tillerson. No one there asked for my zip code or address. I think it’s not a bad idea to let him know how awful we think this vote was and to indicate that we’ll be watching to see how he votes on DeVos and Sessions. If he votes for them, he should be primaried. The two most powerful Cabinet posts are Sec of State and AG. Warner’s betrayed the Democrats once voting for the brutish boor Tillerson. If he does it again with the racist dullard Sessions, I’ll have to wonder if he’s truly a Democrat.

  156. 156.

    NotMax

    @Elizabelle

    Big problem to consider is should Garland get the nod that then opens up the chief judgeship on the D.C. circuit for appointment by this administration.

  158. 158.

    O. Felix Culpa

    Can anyone explain why the Democrats might not filibuster the Supreme Court pick? I’m picking up squishy vibes right now and am puzzled/concerned.

  159. 159.

    Alain the site fixer

    @Major Major Major Major: I thought so too. He’s clearly a boozer. But he’s up at 2 to prep for the day. So that gives him some amazing power and rapport that other ms don’t have. He’s a mess but he’s up and ready to humour and plot and guide and explain and set the frame for the day. Scary.

  165. 165.

    TriassicSands

    While DeVos might not be the most important nominee to reject, she is certainly totally unqualified and (like Trump) unfit for the position she has been nominated to fill. The senator who should have had the most reason to vote “Nay” on DeVos is Alexander, himself once a Secretary of Education. His “Yea” vote in committee was an admission on his part that he believes the Secretary of Education is a meaningless post that can be filled by any schmuck.

  171. 171.

    Peale

    @Major Major Major Major: No. Really, the Democrats usually vote for this, except in one case during the Gulf War where they had had enough. After the theater was over they voted for it. Otherwise, this is the typical thing that Republicans do so that they can tell their constituents that they are tough on the deficit. The problem is that a lot of house members actually believe this now.

    The Dems can get maybe a few concessions out of this if they withhold their votes. But not many. As much as we want to see Trump fail, we don’t really want interest rates to go through the roof. Plus we know that he’s incapable of doing anything that can fix a catastrophe.

  173. 173.

    schrodingers_cat

    @NotMax: That was only Latinos and undocumented workers. Now T has opened up a war on every immigrant, legal and otherwise. It has to be all immigrants and citizens who feel solidarity with the immigrants.
    * More than 1/3 of GCs awarded (close to half) every year are spouses of US citizens.

  176. 176.

    Millard Filmore

    @Major Major Major Major:

    Doesn’t the opposition party usually vote no, though?

    Could be. I am hoping that the Democrats will balk at crashing the world, or at the very least crashing the USA and every country that has hitched their fate to ours.

  177. 177.

    Peale

    @Iowa Old Lady: It builds up. After awhile you think all those things that are wrong with your condition as being normal. When I used to work a job that required me to work on three hours sleep, I figured losing my temper at my desk was just my personality. It really wasn’t.

  178. 178.

    Alain the site fixer

    @Iowa Old Lady: Bannon goes to sleep early, like 8. So if he’s up to a normal time, he’s hurting the next day. Bad. I expect that’s his Achilles heel that will throw him up. Scary thing is from nightfall Friday until nightfall Saturday, he’s in charge of trumps brain. Ivanka and Jared are othrodox, so no tech no work, by holy law. That’s when the most mischief will happen I expect

  179. 179.

    randy khan

    @tobie:

    Warner has announced he will vote against both Sessions and DeVos. I wish he’d voted against Tillerson, too.

  180. 180.

    Kay

    When senators described the response to DeVos’s nomination at a committee vote Tuesday, they didn’t mince words. “Bombarded,” said Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC). “Avalanche,” said Connecticut’s Murphy. “Inundated,” said Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA). “My wife gets calls,” said Richard Burr (R-NC). “My son gets calls on cellphones to deliver a message to me.”

    people are so great with all these calls!

    Still I’m afraid Collins and Murkowski were strategic- they could let 2 off the hook and still pass her.

  182. 182.

    randy khan

    @NotMax:

    Aside from that it’s not going to happen, the chief judgeship of any federal court other than the Supreme Court is not decided by the President. It’s generally the judge with the longest tenure on the court who is still in active service, and that person serves as the chief judge for a limited term. Also, it’s basically an administrative position.

    Now if by some miracle Garland did get confirmed to the Supreme Court, that would leave a vacancy on the D.C. Circuit, but that’s a trade I’d take every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

  183. 183.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @efgoldman:

    Willing or not, he’s totally unable to.

    Very likely considering the way he comes accross as a Naracassist.

  186. 186.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Peale: So what if Trump’s simply to stupid to even ask for the debt cealing to be lifted? I mean this guy isn’t GW Bush the sequel to have the family retianers to hand the detials and he’s done pretty damn foolish stuff as it is.

  188. 188.

    randy khan

    @NotMax:

    It’s a matter of the courts’ own rules, which they set for themselves, so it literally doesn’t matter what the President wants. (Yes, in theory, I suppose you could pass a law changing that, but that seems unlikely.)

    And, since neither federal district courts nor the federal circuit courts have any discretion over what cases they get, and the chief judge does not assign cases to other judges, being the chief judge is pretty meaningless in terms of actual power.

  189. 189.

    Roger Moore

    @trollhattan:

    Green coffee beans keep for a long time, can even improve with age

    They’re also cheaper than equal quality beans that have already been roasted, often by a factor of 2-3x. They can be roasted using a popcorn popper- either air popper or a whirly-pop-style stovetop popper- and the coffee tastes better when it’s freshly roasted. I highly recommend people at least try roasting their own, especially because it gives you a chance to try the same beans roasted to different roasts to see what works well for you.

  190. 190.

    Millard Filmore

    @efgoldman: Right. And if we default, anything can happen. Money today is mostly just bits in a computer. Its all balanced on trust, faith, hope, contracts, treaties, and obligations. Break that trust and we go over the event horizon … zero divide, undefined, NaN Not a Number. As this has never happened to the world’s reserve currency, there are no guideposts and no turning back.

    I hope all the Ds for FOR, not sure there are enough sane Rs to join them.

  191. 191.

    oklahomo

    @Alain the site fixer: I hear you, but I’m wondering if he suffers the same delusions as his boss, that a skill (or an alleged skill) at one thing automatically translates into mad skillz at all things.

    ETA: I’m thinking of Himmler, who finally got a live military command in early 1945 to drive back the Russians with Army Group Vistula, and failed. Horribly.

  193. 193.

    ottercliff

    Collins & Murkowski took the two easy slots. The third defection would tip the boat and my bet is that no Republican has the spine to do that. Certainly not Pat Toomey!

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