Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

A dilettante blog from the great progressive state of West Virginia.

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Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Message Discipline

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  2. 2.

    Patricia Kayden

    We all knew that Republicans were going to come for the entitlement programs. That they have the nerve to do so after passing tax cuts for the 1% is gutsy on their part. I’ll give them credit for that. They really just don’t care.

  3. 3.

    OzarkHillbilly

    The most important benefit off incumbency—money—

    I’m not sure that is quite true. I think it has more to do with apathy. People don’t like change and they will stick with the current corrupt thief simply because they can’t be troubled to do the research to find out what his opponent is for and against. That and R vs D.

  5. 5.

    p.a.

    McTurtle is a snake, but he’s a competent snake. The fact that he talks about this before the election gets me thinking he thinks the vote is in the bag, and that their suppression/caging efforts are being effective.

    GOTV!

  7. 7.

    Cermet

    The turtle shit could care less what the politics of this might appear or impact the current election – he knows they will lose the house but he has to secure funding from the cock sucker brothers and this will do that. Saving the senate long term is his only real critical goal because it secures his power.

  8. 8.

    Proudgradofcatladyacademy

    Hi.

    Keep voting. Kind of alone right now 4:00 am on the west coast but the nursing home called today. Dad passed away last night.

    Thank you from a lurker. I read you all and during my transition from Minnesota Trumpistan to a city where there’s a tea bus giving free tea out on Saturdays….you all have been a source of humor and support. A internet family that you probably didn’t know exsisted for me. Even now the snarky witty comments make me smile.

    Thank you.

  9. 9.

    Schlemazel

    I don’t think any model or historical comparison does or can adequately account for the magnitude of Dem candidate fundraising, & how this shows, though nobody felt it, a tectonic movement on the House map. The most important benefit off incumbency—money—is gone. This is huge.

    From your tweet to His noodley appendage!

    I was too sick last week & This week I am in PA on business so I have not spent any time working the campaigns. I know the level of excitement and anxiety was higher than even ’04. If you have a couple of hours please call and see if you can help out, even if your local Dem ‘has no chance’. We need to not leave a single wingnut unchallenged & those we don’t beat should be scared to death.

  10. 10.

    Mai Naem mobile

    I hope there is video of chipmunk cheeks talking about cuts to entitlements not just a print headline/interview. And the Dems better use it in ads. Also,notice how the asshole wants the Dems and the GOPigs both to agree to cuts. Asshole didn’t want any input in judges but he wants the Dems’ help in entitlement cuts. Chuck Schumer needs to tell him to shove it and have Susie Collins and Jeffy Flake help him make entitlement cuts

  12. 12.

    Cermet

    By the way, what entitlement program? I paid fully into SS and Medicare but the gov refused to invest this but spent it on a military/industrial complex making the rich, richer so their is no multiplying affect from my years of paying into it via the std capitalistic method of interest gained from using the funds to create a bigger, more productive country via infrastructure, and production. Fuck calling it by a name the thugs love. It is a hard earned, paid for benefit that the government wastes. Rather, this income is spent upon welfare for vast industrial waste land that feeds young men into a meat grinder and slaughters vast numbers of brown people.

  15. 15.

    debbie

    @Cermet:

    Let’s get a law passed where Congress has to cut their own pensions by the same percentage they plan on cutting SS/Medicare.

  16. 16.

    Baud

    Let me be the first to say that I don’t understand why the Dems aren’t talking about entitlements.

  19. 19.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Proudgradofcatladyacademy:

    I am so sorry for your loss. And while you certainly (understandably) feel “kind of alone right now,” you are not.

    When your life resettles, please delurk and be part of the conversations here.

  24. 24.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Proudgradofcatladyacademy:
    And when great souls die,
    after a period peace blooms,
    slowly and always
    irregularly. Spaces fill
    with a kind of
    soothing electric vibration.
    Our senses, restored, never
    to be the same, whisper to us.
    They existed. They existed.
    We can be. Be and be
    better. For they existed.

    -Maya Angelou

  27. 27.

    JoyceH

    @p.a.: You saw McConnell’s comment as proof that the fix is in? Funny, I had the exact opposite reaction. My thought at such a remark right before the election was that McConnell has to be trying to throw the election.

    Which doesn’t make sense – unless it does? Consider that Congressional leaders know more about the Trump cavalcade of crime than we do. He’s got to know that the whole business is going to hit the fan before 2020. If Republicans still control Congress, they either have to manage the dismantling of the Trump administration, which will infuriate their base, or try futilely to maintain the coverup, which will infuriate everyone else. And everyone else encompasses a lot more people than their base. So why not relinquish power and leave the messy job to the other party? They got their tax cuts, they got their judges. They can just take home their loot and tell Republicans “Hey, what could we do?”

  34. 34.

    Chyron HR

    @p.a.:

    Or else McConnell does expect the house to flip, and he’s preemptively setting the media narrative that the new Democratic majority has to be bipartisan and save us from the deficit by helping Republicans cut social security and medicare.

  42. 42.

    Baud

    @JPL: I do hope the House passes Social Security reform that expands social security. Then we can see where American voters in the “heartland” stand on that issue in the 2020 election. I’m tired of protecting entitlements. Let’s take it off the table one way or the other.

  43. 43.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    The kind of heartening part about it is, even with 24/7 Trump coverage and zero national coverage of health care or economic issues, it got thru.

    So it can be done. You really can get people to talk about something as boring as “preexisting conditions” or “Medicaid expansion” if not nationally then in a senate race or a house race or a governor’s race. Cordray is running an ad on Mike DeWine suing to overturn minimum wage increases in municipalities. In Ohio this is called “home rule” and it’s a complex legal issue. There’s a 30 second ad on it. You have to have high expectations for voters, a leap of faith.

  44. 44.

    Ken Shabby

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    It took my wife and I four (of six) years to understand this, the poem’s idea.
    Yes, it’s a loss but the Gift is that we have had such people in our lives. It flips like a switch, takes a while to be lived in but, takes you from almost daily despair to life again.

    We’re both back to just OK and that’s if we don’t look directly at such things.
    Takes a while.

  46. 46.

    MazeDancer

    Ryan announced his Gut It All plan weeks ago.

    Was responsible for free PostCard #1 on PostCardPatriots.com mentioning his announcement.

    Hoping Mitch’s threats encourage everyone to use it. Addresses also free.

    (Yes, I can turn anything into Pushy PostCard Promo. Only 11 more days. One a day, you can manage to write one a day. Save Democracy. Save HealthCare and SocialSecurity.)

  49. 49.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    Everyone in the Village believes Cocaine Mitch is a political genius, yet 3 weeks before an election he jumps on the 3rd rail of politics.

  50. 50.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Cermet:

    the gov refused to invest

    This is not true. SS funds are invested in the “safest” investment known, US govt bonds.

    These commenters are no doubt well-intentioned, but they are woefully misinformed on this issue. Here is the truth: Every year since 1984, the Social Security system has had more income than it needs to pay current benefits and administrative costs, so it invests the surplus in interest-bearing government bonds, backed by the full faith and credit of the US Treasury.
    Why put the surplus payroll funds in Treasury notes? If you had $2.8 trillion in extra cash, wouldn’t you want the money to earn interest instead of stuffing it under your mattress?
    The same goes for the Social Security system. As the Social Security Administration explains: “The Social Security trust [fund] holds money not needed in the current year to pay benefits and administrative costs and, by law, invest[s] it in special Treasury bonds that are guaranteed by the U.S. Government.”

    I put “safest” in quotes because nothing is safe when Repubs are in charge.

  51. 51.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    Never say never, though. The GOP’s complete and utter lack of anything approaching a plan or idea for health care is hurting them, and it never did before. Spending 8 years bitching about Obamacare and not doing any work of their own is taking a toll. They’re actually in worse shape on health care than they were in ’08 because now people hate their private plans and they have a sense there’s some other alternative that is being denied them.

  55. 55.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    If he does (and it’s not just him- they’re all doing it) then we have a kind of template for how to do this, though. Here’s what basically happened, IMO. They raised a bunch of money and recruited a lot of candidates based on opposition to Trump, which was easy, because a lot of people loathe Trump. But then they switched and ran on issues where they barely mention Trump. You could do the same thing in 2020. He’ll still be loathsome and he gets 24/7 coverage. He’s actually worse now than he was the day he was elected partly because he has to keep amping up the hatefulness to keep the media coverage.

  56. 56.

    Patricia Kayden

    @debbie: I’m impressed by their willingness to give a middle finger to middle class and working class Americans. Quite a gutsy move. And yet, millions of Americans will still vote for them. Because Jesus and abortions and guns.

  58. 58.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    I always think I’m going to win. A long time ago I decided it was better to be disappointed sometimes than depressed all the time. I do feel good about Cordray though, partly because DeWine is an incumbent and I think incumbents who are polling even are actually back – they’re in worse shape than it appears if they’re at “42” or whatever. He shouldn’t have started there.

  59. 59.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Baud: I think of mine most days, and my sister too. My father’s been gone 8 years now, my mother 12. My sister for 24. It is hard to imagine that anything could ever fill the holes they have left in my life because, quite simply, nothing and nobody can.

  61. 61.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    But then they switched and ran on issues where they barely mention Trump.

    There’s a tension there though. I noticed that in the debate with Elizabeth Warren. Do you focus on issues, or do you respond to GOP attacks? I remember soon after the election, people blamed Hillary for focusing too much on Trump. But in the Warren threads yesterday, people were blaming history for not responding hard enough to Trump’s attacks. It seems we are giving no direction to Dem leadership on how they should behave.

    It’s a bit different with Congress, because it’s more local and less media-centric. But it’s a perennial problem IMHO.

    @Patricia Kayden:

    It’s not gutsy. As I said above, it has never hurt them politically to talk about it.

  63. 63.

    SFAW

    @Mai Naem mobile:

    Chuck Schumer needs to tell him to shove it and have Susie Collins and Jeffy Flake help him make entitlement cuts

    No, Schumer needs to say “Why the fuck is that fascist talking about fucking over — YET AGAIN — anyone who is not a millionaire? Was it not enough that he already took $2 Trillion from the non-wealthy, and ‘transferred the wealth’ to his super-rich benefactors? How much are they paying him off to push this through? And now he wants to kill those patriotic Americans who need Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid JUST TO FUCKING SURVIVE? Take your ‘entitlement cuts’ and shove them up your Turtle ass, you fucking traitor.”

    OK, so delete the F-bombs. But outside of that …

    Schumer does not need to play it cute, he (or his surrogate) needs to punch that motherfucker in the throat, hard. Repeatedly.

  66. 66.

    NotMax

    Open Thread?

    Attention bargain hunters – Sears announced an additional round of closures of their own brand, Kmart and Lands’ End stores on Monday. Full list is included in the article.

  68. 68.

    Quinerly

    @Proudgradofcatladyacademy: oh… So sorry about your dad. I woke up very sad this morning myself. Three year anniversary of my mom’s death. Trying to lay off politics today. The constant fire hose of shit gets to me day in and day out. Was skimming the comments here and your nym and post stuck out. Had to comment and send my condolences. Hang in there.

  70. 70.

    SFAW

    @JPL:

    I think it would have been good fun if Luckovich had added some road apples just below the Traitor-in-Chief’s mouth.

  73. 73.

    Ken Shabby

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    This is somewhat related to that

    A treasured grandmother, in her last – 93, two months shy 94 – year said

    No one will remember me.

    Yes, they will grandma because I will tell them.

    Our loss is closer but I am guided by Give not Take.

    Well. Maybe not here…

    ;- )

    Some days, as per comment above, am desperate for humor. This joint provides.

  74. 74.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Cermet: That was originally exactly what “entitlements” meant.

    But the word became convenient for the right when “entitlement” became a pejorative term for an unearned attitude. “Let’s cut your Social Security and Medicare” is monstrously unpopular; “let’s take a hard look at reforming entitlements” sounds like you’re cutting off handouts to some other people who are lazy moochers, even though it’s exactly the same thing.

  76. 76.

    Ken Shabby

    @Quinerly:

    Even by fingernails.
    A kind of peace does arrive but it’s damn hard earned.
    Nothing nice about it and not much for it.

  77. 77.

    SFAW

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    No. Fuck civility

    Fuck off.

    The Schumer/whoever rant needs to “play in Peoria” more than on places like this fecking blog.

    Anyway, I hope all is well in the Ozark homestead. How’s the puppy doing? [It’s you with Percy/Persistent, right? Or has my senility advanced even more than I thought? Wait, where was I?]

    ETA: To be clear: to me, there are gradations of civility. Getting rid of an F-bomb or 10 does not mean becoming nice-and-polite, it just removes a distraction or 10. So I’m OK with being in someone’s face.

  84. 84.

    SFAW

    @Ken Shabby:

    Nothing like a Good Day for making things right.

    Not sure I get your point. Being snarky/ironic?

    Going high means from the throat, up.

    Tentatively agree. I’m also OK with any of them being kicked in the nuts, with steel-toes. [ETA: Although I guess, technically, that’s not “going high.” But I’m OK with that, too.]

  86. 86.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    There’s a tension there though. I noticed that in the debate with Elizabeth Warren. Do you focus on issues, or do you respond to GOP attacks? I remember soon after the election, people blamed Hillary for focusing too much on Trump

    Hillary was just recognizing reality. It was going to be all Trump all the time. The only coverage she got was the emails. Sadly, the NYTimes led the coverage and they suck at issues coverage. They do “political/social commentary” or something.

    There’s an advantage to GOP Party and message unity- they’re tied to Dear Leader. Everyone always talks about the herding cats thing as if it’s 100% downside. It also leaves room for a candidate to distance him or herself from a bad leader or bad position.

    Mike DeWine’s entire campaign could be summed up as “I’m not a dogmatic Gooper and please let’s not mention Donald Trump” but Cordray doesn’t have to mention Trump- Trump is 24/7.

  87. 87.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @SFAW:

    [It’s you with Percy/Persistent, right?

    Yep. He’s fine, feeling a little under the weather today after yesterday’s “tutoring”. Yesterday morning on the way to the vet, he willingly climbed into the truck for the first time. (and considering what the end result was, maybe the last time?) Always before he reacted to the open door of a vehicle with abject terror. So progress is being made.

    @Immanentize: That’s what you get for patting yourself on the back. ;-) Sorry for your pain

  88. 88.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    The money alone would explain the sense of painic from the GoP, fund rasing is the only reason they are in office now. They are looking at their grift collapsing.

  90. 90.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    If it was “about Hillary” as a candidate then we wouldn’t see the same thing playing out in this midterm. They’re not covering issues. In this election it mattered less because Trump is known and not liked and it’s a midterm so it’s easier to go under them, but they still don’t cover anything but Trump’s reality tv antics and Hillary is down the road.

    They say the exact same thing about the midterms that they said about Hillary- “Democrats are just anti-Trump”. It wasn’t true then and it isn’t true now. They only want to cover Trump/Anti-Trump.

    They love this Trump shit. It feeds the big beast and the beast is always hungry. It’s an industry and they are industry players as much as any lobbyist or candidate.

  91. 91.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Baud:

    Do you focus on issues, or do you respond to GOP attacks?

    You attack Trump, relentlessly. Trump is the incumbent.

  93. 93.

    SFAW

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    It’s hard to “go high” when they are lower than a snake’s belly in a wagon rut.

    I was thinking “whale shit in the Marianas Trench,” but that’s just me.

  94. 94.

    satby

    @Immanentize: I have felt your pain as recently as a couple days ago. Add Aleve/naproxen to the icing stat because it will fight the inflammation before it gets much of a start.
    I’ve never broken a bone (yet, anyway) but my tendons seem to be as fragile as butterfly wings.

  95. 95.

    Kay

    errol barnett
    ‏Verified account
    @errolbarnett
    Follow Follow @errolbarnett
    More
    Jared Kushner did not answer my question and the secret service informs me, while obscuring my phone, that despite identifying as WH press, there is a “time and a place” for questions.
    It is unclear when and where that is.

    I’m ashamed we let this happen in the US- the nepotism is gross. Kushner is in the Saudi scandal up to his eyeballs and he’s untouchable because he’s in the Trump family and occupies this weird law-free corruption space that the Trump’s invented.

    Pass a LAW. Make it impossible for the Trump Administration to operate outside laws and rules. After Nixon there was something called “the transparency revolution”. “Good government” had a brief day in the sun. All kinds of sunshine laws were passed. The same thing needs to happen after we dislodge this corrupt First Family.

  97. 97.

    satby

    And because you’re all still in this thread, repeated from above:
    Had an unexpectedly good day at the market so donated to Postcard Patriots (and signed up to get some addresses). Now trying to find that request for help go-fund-me someone posted about a veteran a couple of days back. And not having much luck. Anyone remember what day that was?

  99. 99.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @SFAW: Moi? I am a very humble man. Have I told you lately how humble I am? Why I am so humble I have never taken credit for inventing the internet. Which I totally did not do.

  101. 101.

    chopper

    @Chyron HR:

    yep, this is it. he’s trying to foist responsibility for fixing the mess he made on the cleaning crew that’s coming in next shift. then he’ll start blaming them for making the mess in the first place.

  103. 103.

    Ocotillo

    I would suggest Social Security and Medicare be referred to as earned benefits and not entitlements.

  107. 107.

    SFAW

    @OzarkHumility:

    Moi? I am a very humble man. Have I told you lately how humble I am? Why I am so humble I have never taken credit for inventing the internet. Which I totally did not do.

    See if you can find my “Easter egg.” [Or whatever the kids call it.]

    ETA: Also, the intertoobz were/was not invented in Tennessee, not Missouri.

  108. 108.

    Immanentize

    @satby: I am sorry you had that happen too. And good suggestion on the Aleve. Done. I’m wearing my black tendon band and with my suit, it looks like I am heading to a funeral…

  111. 111.

    Dupe1970

    @OzarkHillbilly: Agree to disagree. Apathy helps but incumbent very often out raise their opponents and often scare away competition merely by the size of their war chest.

  113. 113.

    gene108

    @Baud:

    I do hope the House passes Social Security reform that expands social security. Then we can see where American voters in the “heartland” stand on that issue in the 2020 election.

    They will stand with the Republicans and racist politicians.

    If Obama’s Presidency taught me anything, it is that no amount of economic prosperity will out weigh the desire of heartland voters to have white men in charge.

  115. 115.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Dupe1970: Agreed, but as they say, money doesn’t vote. I just happen to think that as important as money is to a campaign, it’s importance is overblown. YMMV.

  116. 116.

    WaterGirl

    @OzarkHillbilly: Glad Percy came through okay! We’ll hope that he is out of it enough that he won’t make the connection between the truck and feeling so crummy.

    My Tucker came through his teeth cleaning just fine, but he is very subdued today. Last night, too.

  120. 120.

    Tony Jay

    @Ocotillo:

    I would suggest Social Security and Medicare be referred to as earned benefits and not entitlements.

    The puke funnel can smear any variation in terminology just by repetition. Over here the smug snakes of the Right like to sneer about a ‘benefit culture’ being to blame for unemployment, though I’ve noticed lately that they’re pulling more and more terminology straight from the American playbook, ranting on about “reforming welfare” and “freeing wealth creators from regulation”. I guess that reflects the internationalisation of the whole Right Wing project, they’re drawing from the same pool of Think Tank bullshit and can’t be bothered reformatting for different audiences.

    The trick, I suppose, would be to pick a term that they wouldn’t want to repeat. ‘Pre-Paid Security’ might work. Who paid for it? You did, that’s why you get it and you shouldn’t vote for anyone who wants to take your security away from you.

  123. 123.

    danielx

    Republicans cut taxes, deficit balloons, same Republicans start talking about deficits and “cutting entitlements”. Sun comes up in the morning, grass is green and water is wet.

    Now if we can just have some concern trolls tut-tutting about the deficit on Sunday am talk shows, the picture will totally be complete.

  124. 124.

    Barbara

    @Mai Naem mobile: Well, I have been looking for postcard sized messages, and I have seen several tweets that I can use to create a pithy message for the next tranche of postcards. My husband thinks it’s funny, but he did buy me a roll of 100 stamps.

  125. 125.

    WaterGirl

    @Barbara: When I lost my dad, the second of my two parents to go, it was beyond unsettling. The world still looked the same but I felt like my foundation was gone. It can take a good year to get your feet firmly back on the ground after a loss like that.

    Your mother and your brother? Too much loss. I am so sorry.

  130. 130.

    Kathleen

    @Baud: They are on Twitter. Every one of them I’ve seen, starting with Pelosi and Schumer. Don’t watch cable or network Media Gigilos but all they seem to want to hear is Slanders demonizing Dems.

  131. 131.

    J R in WV

    @Proudgradofcatladyacademy:

    Sorry for your loss… my dad died at 1 pm or so Houston time on election day, 2004, so I know where you are today. My brother and his family were in Houston, love Texas, were why dad was there in the first place, are all hard core Republicans to this day. We don’t discuss politics in order to maintain some semblance of family.

    I’m glad we help you deal with harsh reality. I find I too get a lot of support from the Jackal community. Humor and information to help cope with the horrible daily assault on our national values. Hang in there.

    Losing a parent is always hard. It sounds like it was a long expected event, as it was for both of my folks, and that does help a little with the shock aspect. But it is still a blow, best of luck coping with it. Come here if you need human contact, any time of day or night. The insomniacs are usually here and willing to chat about anything.

    Our hearts are in the right place, mostly. We do care about each other, and about you in particular, today.

  132. 132.

    J R in WV

    @JPL:

    The butt stops here

    Luckovich

    He is a wonderful, imaginative artist working for all of us. Thanks for sharing this with us here on B-J. I don’t think any change would be an improvement, it is perfect as it is composed and executed by Luckovich!

  133. 133.

    Groucho48

    I just tell the right wing trolls that the best way to “fix” SS is to increase the minimum wage. The main reason there is a bit of a future deficit in SS is that SS projected wages would increase roughly along with productivity. If we can get back to that, SS will be fine.

    Of course, they have no memorized response for this so they just laugh and move the goal posts. But, it does put them on the defensive.

  136. 136.

    Rick Taylor

    @Kay: “They’re actually in worse shape on health care than they were in ’08 because now people hate their private plans and they have a sense there’s some other alternative that is being denied them.”

    And because Democrats stole the moderate version of health care. The GOP can’t come out with a workable market based health-care plan, because it will essentially be Obamacare, which the’ve denounced.

  137. 137.

    Kent

    From the last Dana Houle quote: “I don’t think any model or historical comparison does or can adequately account for the magnitude of Dem candidate fundraising, & how this shows, though nobody felt it, a tectonic movement on the House map. The most important benefit off incumbency—money—is gone. This is huge.”

    I think the Republicans were incredibly stupid in the way they jammed through their tax cuts and judges. They basically gave the right wing billionare donors everything they were looking for in the first term. Now all they have to do is play defense which is about 100x easier than offence in the American political system. Had the Republicans really wanted to perpetuate their power they would have done the following:

    1. Make ALL the tax cuts temporary and fairly short term so that all the billionare donors would have had continued reason to fight for a Republican majority, and
    2. Keep the judicial filibuster and push more centrist judicial candidates forward that would earn at least 8-10 democratic votes so they could continue to tell all their fanatics that they need a 60 seat majority in the Senate to give them what they want.

    Now that they’ve got their permanent tax cuts and locked a pro-business anti-regulation majority into the Supreme Court for a generation there really isn’t much left for billionare donors to worry about anymore even if the Democrats take one or both houses of Congress.

    Congress typically writes expiration dates into most legislation, especially big regulatory programs that generate lots of lobby dollars. They do that specifically to keep the special interest money flowing every year. The farm bill is a perfect example. It was political malpractice for them not to do the same thing with corporate tax cuts.

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