Blog Credo

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

H.L. Mencken

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Politics. How Does It Work?

So, Chuck Schumer apparently decided to shoot all of his own hostages today.  Some of this is predictable, in that Democrats like Schumer don't want to be taking hostages anyway.  Like most Democrats in Washington, Schumer tends to live in a reflexive crouch against attacks.  He doesn't want to people to say that Chuck Schumer shutdown the government. 

Harry Reid, you are missed. 

The arguments for a two year funding bill are not without merit.  It will make sure that certain important programs get funding.  Great.  It might get us closer to stopping government by crisis.

Except....

If you are the "out party" then crisis works to your benefit.  If you are the "out party" calm benefits the dominant party.  Maybe that's irrelevant in Trumpistan, because he will create his own crises, but it's still important.

Except....

This bill removes any leverage the Democrats have to get a DACA fix passed.  Certainly, any fix is unlikely to pass the House, unless it meets Trump's approval.  It could pass, but Ryan won't bring it to a vote.

This feels very much like a premature capitulation, at a time when Democratic activists and voters are spoiling for a fight.  But Chuck Schumer and the moderate Senators are not fighters.  They simply aren't.  They don't have the numbers or the electoral safety to force meaningful concessions, so they will sacrifice a million young people in order to save their jobs.

Profiles in derpage.

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