April 8, 2011 10:13 AM Government shutdown: Can they make a deal?
Posted by Stephanie Condon House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio listens at left, as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev. speaks to reporters outside the White House in Washington, Thursday, April 7, 2011, after their meeting with President Obama regarding the budget and possible government shutdown.
(Credit: AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
By Friday morning, with just hours left for Congress to avert a government shutdown, Republicans and Democrats seemed closer than ever to reaching a budget deal. But at the same time, the negotiations seemed as intractable as ever.
Democrats say Republicans are prepared to shut down the government over a women's health policy rider. Republicans say Democrats still need to "get serious" about spending cuts. Whatever the case may be, if Congress doesn't pass a budget for the rest of the fiscal year by midnight tonight, the federal government will in part stop operating.
President Obama huddled with House Spekaer John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in the Oval Office again on Thursday night, and negotiations on Capitol Hill lasted until 3 a.m. early Friday morning. A Democratic aide told CBS News Capitol Hill Correspondent Nancy Cordes that Mr. Obama agreed to a number "higher than $34.5 billion" in spending cuts to include in the six-month budget bill. On top of that, the aide says negotiators "settled" just about every policy issue Republicans wanted to include in the bill -- for instance, a policy rider over the Environmental Protection Agency is now off the table.
However, Democrats say talks remain stalled over a GOP policy rider to cut Title 10 funding, which provides a few hundred million in grants for clinics like Planned Parenthood.
"This all deals with women's health," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said this morning. "Everything has been resolved, everything... that is the only issue that was left undone when we left the White House last night."
"We agreed on spending cuts, and they still are not happy," he added.
Republicans insist there is no agreement on how much spending to cut from the budget.
"While nothing will be decided until everything is decided, the largest issue is still spending cuts," said Michael Steel, a spokesperson for House Speaker John Boehner. "The American people want to cut spending to help the private sector create jobs - and the Democrats that run Washington don't."
Additionally, an aide for Boehner told CBS News White House Correspondent Mark Knoller that Democrats need to "get serious" about spending cuts. The aide said, "The lack of substantial cuts is at the core [of the continued disagreement]. For the most part all policy points have resolution or are close to resolution."
Another congressional aide close to the negotiations told CBS News' Nancy Cordes that, as negotiations stand right now, Democrats have conceded to Republicans on about a dozen policy riders, including one that would prohibit any federal funding for transferring prisoners from Guantanamo Bay to the U.S. for imprisonment or trial.
As for the Title 10 funding, a Democratic aide told Cordes that Republicans want that money given to states in the form of block grants, apparently so Republic governors would have discretion to funnel that money elsewhere. Democrats oppose that idea, and the aide said they offered Republicans a standalone vote on that rider outside the funding bill. Republicans said no.
Mr. Obama plans to call Boehner and Reid mid-morning Friday for an update on the negotiations.
Libertatem Prius!
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* Block IRS enforcement of Obamacare mandates…or no IRS budget for 2012 until Obama agrees
* Block EPA imposition of carbon taxes and regulation…or no EPA budget
* Stop the FCC from crippling talk radio and regulating the Internet…no FCC budget for 2012.
* Prohibit the NLRB from taking away the secret ballot in union elections…or no NLRB budget.
* Prevent HHS from rationing health care or cutting Medicare…or no HHS administrative budget for next year
Morris and McGann say there is no need for an Armageddon, a total government shutdown such as 1995-1996 (which backfired). Instead target the offending agencies and shut them down until Obama backs down.
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Nikita Khrushchev:"We will bury you"
"Your grandchildren will live under communism."
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I heard Dick Morris' idea about selective withholding of certain departmental budgets a couple weeks ago and thought it was an interesting idea. Although I'd rather see some of those departments completely eliminated rather than just defunded for a budget year.
I'm also tempted to want the ATF added to that list but, at the same time that might hurt folks who are trying to get tax stamps processed for NFA items. Certainly wouldn't want that as the wait for those is already long enough.
Oil climbed above $126 a barrel on Friday after attacks on Libyan oil fields reignited worries about supply and inflation fears pushed gold to a new record high.
Rising oil, metal and food prices have stoked inflation in economies around the globe.
Brent crude was up more than $4 at a fresh two-and-a-half-year high of $126.72 in late evening trading in London. This is highest intraday level for front-month Brent crude since August 2008.
Rising oil, metal and food prices have stoked inflation in economies around the globe and created concerns that it will damage the fragile economic recovery.
Inflation jitters and the weaker dollar saw investors buy gold and silver, which rose above $40 an ounce for the first time since 1980. Gold was up $17.15 at $1,475.23 an ounce.
In Libya, rebels and forces loyal to embattled leader Muammar Gaddafi exchanged accusations over who had attacked oil fields and infrastructure vital to both sides.
Rebels say government attacks on three different installations in the east have halted production of the oil they desperately need to finance the uprising against Gaddafi.
The seven-week old civil war has cut Libya's 1.6m barrel-a-day output by 80pc to between 250,000 and 300,000, a senior government official told Reuters.
Elsewhere, about 10 pro-democracy campaigners were killed in Syria, and Nigeria, which produces 1.9m barrels per day, has had to delay elections in some areas, after the threat of bomb attacks.
Saudi Arabia has largely replaced the missing production from Libya.
However, the risk of further disruption to global supplies has seen the oil price to rise about $10 over the past couple of weeks.
Amrita Sen, analyst at Barclays Capital, said: "The pressure to break out of the $115 range was building for a while. Spare capacity is eroding steadily, inventories are below the five-year average and demand growth shows no signs of breaking. Libya being out of the market for a protracted period of time, coupled with simmering issues in Bahrain, Yemen and so on has provided with various sources of long-term unease for the market."
Unrest in the Arab world has added a $20-25 premium to oil prices since the toppling of regimes in Tunisia and Egypt in the last few months, said Mike Wittner, head of commodities research at Societe Generale.
The International Monetary Fund on Thursday said the global economy was entering a period of scarcer oil, adding that tighter fundamentals could cause price spikes rivaling the 2008 run-up that drove oil to nearly $150 a barrel.
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Nikita Khrushchev:"We will bury you"
"Your grandchildren will live under communism."
“You Americans are so gullible.
No, you won’t accept To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. ."
We’ll so weaken your To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. like overripe fruit into our hands."
Deputy Secretary of Defense William J. Lynn III Message to DOD Workforce on Potential Government Shutdown
“The department remains hopeful that a government shutdown will be averted. The President has made it clear that he does not want a government shutdown, and the administration is working to find a solution with which all sides can agree. However, prudent management requires that we plan for an orderly shutdown should Congress be unable to pass a funding bill before our current funding expires on April 8.
“The President and the secretary know that the uncertainty of the current situation puts federal employees in a difficult position, and are very much aware that a shutdown would impose hardships on our military and civilian personnel as well as our military families. As we approach the expiration of the current continuing resolution, we will provide you with updated information as soon as it becomes available. For now, I want to provide you with information on how the potential shutdown - should it occur - will impact our military and civilian personnel.
Department of Defense (DoD) Operations During a Shutdown
“Operations and activities that are essential to safety, protection of human life, and protection of our national security, are ‘excepted’ from shutting down. The DoD will continue to conduct activities in support of our national security, including operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Japan; Libya-related support operations; and other operations and activities essential to the security of our nation. The department must also continue to provide for the safety of human life and protection of property.
“Other excepted activities will include inpatient and essential outpatient care in DoD medical treatment facilities; emergency dental care; non-appropriated funds activities such as mess halls and child care activities; certain legal activities to support ongoing litigation and legal assistance for deployed DoD personnel; contracting and logistics operations that are in support of excepted activities; certain education and training activities to include the DoD education activity schools; and financial management activities necessary to ensure the control and accountability of funds.
“In the absence of appropriations, non-excepted activities that have not already been fully funded will need to be shut down in an orderly fashion. In accordance with existing laws and regulations, I will issue more detailed guidance to the department regarding specific activities that are considered excepted or non-excepted. However, the secretary and I understand that the military departments and defense agencies and individual commanders must tailor this guidance to many different situations around the world. Therefore, should there be a government shutdown, DoD personnel will be informed through their chain of command about how a shutdown may affect them personally.
Duty Status
“Military personnel are not subject to furlough and will report for duty as normal during the shutdown. Reserve component personnel should refer to the DoD Contingency Guidance document and to their chain of command for more specific information.
“Civilian personnel deemed to be performing excepted activities will continue to work during the period of a shutdown.
“If there is a government shutdown beginning on Saturday, April 9, all DoD personnel should still report to work on their next scheduled duty day, beginning at their normal duty hours to receive additional instructions.
“Civilians will be briefed by their supervisors by Friday, April 8, as to whether their work and responsibilities fall into excepted or non-excepted status, as defined by applicable laws and regulations. Excepted status categories are outlined in the DoD Contingency Guidance document, which is being distributed through the chain of command. If their work and responsibilities are non-excepted, or if they are not needed to carry out excepted work and responsibilities, employees will be furloughed in a non-pay status. Furloughed employees may not telework or volunteer to work.
“Generally, contractors performing work on contracts funded prior to a shutdown, whether supporting excepted activities or not, may continue working and will be paid out of the obligated funds, subject to further direction from the contracting officer. New contracts, or increases in funding of existing contracts, needed to support excepted activities may be entered into during the period of a shutdown, but payments under such contracts cannot be made until Congress provides additional funding. Contract personnel should also report to work on Monday, April 11, to be briefed on their status.
Military, Civilian, and Retiree Pay
“If the government shuts down due to the absence of funding, the DoD will have no funds to pay military members or civilian employees for the days during which the government is shut down. However, both military and civilian personnel will receive pay for the period worked prior to the shutdown. Military personnel, and civilians occupying excepted status positions and required to work, are entitled to be paid for work performed during the shutdown, and will be paid retroactively once the department receives additional funding. Congress would have to provide authority in order for the department to retroactively pay non-excepted employees for the furloughed period.
“Military retirees and annuitants are not paid from annually appropriated funds, and therefore their benefits should continue without interruption.
Additional Resources
“The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has created a document to address some of the questions that I know must be on your mind. The document can be accessed at http://www.opm.gov/furlough2011 . OPM will provide additional pertinent information for federal employees as the week progresses.
“The department’s leadership will do our very best to provide clear information about the status of events as the week progresses. Additional information regarding military and DoD civilian pay, leave, and other DoD policies applicable to a potential shutdown will be posted on the department’s main website as soon as it becomes available.
“Thanks to the hard work and dedication of all of you, the Department of Defense provides critical services to the American public. Your contributions touch people’s lives in so many significant ways, and I want you to know how deeply I appreciate your dedication and your expertise. Our decisions concerning which functions are excepted or not excepted are based on government-wide legal, regulatory, and policy guidance as well as our best judgment on how to reconcile our national security requirements with the limitations imposed by a government shutdown. The fact that certain functions are not excepted or that certain personnel may be subject to furlough should not be taken as a statement that the secretary or I or the department do not value those functions or employees. Thank you for your continued service to the department and the nation.”
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Nikita Khrushchev:"We will bury you"
"Your grandchildren will live under communism."
“You Americans are so gullible.
No, you won’t accept To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. ."
We’ll so weaken your To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. like overripe fruit into our hands."
This is stupidity incarnate. 80% of the Gov is unaffected. 20% of low end grunts get screwed. They need to sack up and quit leveraging policy over just paying the gaddam bills. Policy will be 2012 and voting. Jeezez.
According to the Department of Agriculture, if this government shutdown stretches into February there won’t be money for food stamps. And it certainly looks like this shutdown could last for quite a while, because President Trump is not backing down on his demand for border wall funding, and the Democrats have pledged not to give him a single penny. So a few weeks from now, approximately 38 million people could be suddenly cut off from the food stamp program. If that scenario were to unfold, there is no telling what could happen. After just a few days, government workers are already freaking out about having their paychecks delayed. If people are getting this restless already, what will things look like when tens of millions of Americans are suddenly cut off from their primary source of food money?
Even though the government has been shut down, the Department of Agriculture still has some existing financial resources at their disposal, and they are assuring us that those enrolled in the food stamp program will still receive their benefits “for January”. The following comes from CNN…
Eligible households will still receive monthly SNAP benefits for January. But other domestic nutrition assistance programs such as the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, WIC, and the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations will only be operational based on available resources. Additional federal funds and commodities will not be provided during the shutdown.
Child nutrition programs including School Lunch, School Breakfast, Child and Adult Care Feeding, Summer Food Service and Special Milk will continue through February.
The mainstream media is blaming this shutdown entirely on President Trump, and that gives the Democrats a tremendous amount of leverage. The longer this shutdown lasts, the more painful it will become for ordinary Americans, and once food stamp funds run out the pressure on President Trump to surrender will be immense.
Will Trump be able to keep going once tens of millions of Americans are yelling and screaming about having their food stamp benefits cut off?
For now, the Department of Agriculture will attempt to keep things going for as long as possible “using existing resources”.
But those “existing resources” will not last for very long.
During a lapse in government funding, we will be providing as many of our core services as we can using existing resources. We’re keeping up our duty to “Do Right and Feed Everyone,” as @SecretarySonny says.
And things are already changing. At this point, approximately 95 percent of all federal workers involved with the food stamp program have been furloughed…
As the government shutdown drags into its fifth day, nearly all employees in the office overseeing federal food stamps have been cut.
As of Wednesday morning, the remaining staff dwindled down to a mere 5 percent.
We have never seen food stamp benefits cut off nationwide before. So we actually don’t have any frame of reference for what could happen.
Could we see the type of civil unrest and rioting that I warned about in The Beginning Of The End? When people are hungry, they get desperate pretty quickly. And history has shown that when people don’t know where their next meal is going to come from they can get quite violent.
And even without the government shutdown, President Trump was planning to knock millions of people off of the food stamp program anyway by tightening work requirements…
If Congress won’t make more food stamp recipients work for their benefits, the Trump administration will.
The US Department of Agriculture unveiled a proposed rule Thursday that would expand work requirements in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, as the food stamp program is formally known. The proposal comes on the same day as President Donald Trump plans to sign a farm bill that had a similar provision that was eventually eliminated.
So one way or another, a lot of people are soon going to lose their benefits.
A Department of Transportation worker in Missouri picked up cashier shifts at Barnes & Noble. A paralegal for the Justice Department in Texas stopped using her “gas-guzzling” pickup truck and pulled her motorcycle out of storage. An air traffic controller in California is avoiding any purchases that aren’t vital.
As you can see, the suffering is getting worse with each passing day.
What is next? Will we soon discover that some government workers have been forced to buy generic brands at the grocery store due to this never ending horror of a government shutdown?
But seriously, the longer this shutdown lasts, the more that people are going to complain.
And right now Trump does not appear to have any intention of giving in. When reporters asked him how long he is willing to wait, Trump responded by saying “whatever it takes”…
Funding for nine federal departments lapsed Saturday amid an impasse over whether to fund the president’s proposed border wall. As congressional leaders and the White House appear to make little progress toward a deal, the shutdown could last past Jan. 3, when Democrats take control of the House.
Asked Wednesday during a surprise visit to U.S. troops in Iraq how long he would wait to see his demands met, Trump responded: “Whatever it takes.” The comment suggests little willingness on the president’s part to back down as Democrats refuse to approve funds for the proposed barrier.
Of course Chuck Schumer has drawn a line in the sand and has pledged that he will never, ever allow Trump to have funding for a border wall.
And so we have a political game of chicken playing out right in front of our eyes, and the Democrats have absolutely no incentive to back down because the worse things get the better it will be for them politically.
At this point it is very easy to imagine a scenario in which this shutdown extends into February, and when food stamp benefits get cut off we could truly see a national temper tantrum unlike anything that we have ever seen before.
Senator Schumer has rejected the President's request for funding a border wall, even withdrawing an earlier offer of $1.6 billion. As I write, Congress is working on a stop-gap measure to avoid a shutdown but with no funding for the wall. This action doesn't bode well for congressional relations in 2019. It reflects the underlying truth that America is more divided than at any point in modern history.
It's not just the border wall. Sen. Schumer's response is the Bronx cheer to anything the President proposes. Nancy Pelosi follows up with her sniveling whine about how "he hasn't got the votes." What about discussion? It's hard to discuss issues with someone who begins and ends the conversation with derision and contempt for the other, and that's the default position of the Democrat Party today. Democrats are so reflexively partisan that compromise is impossible. Then they proceed to accuse conservatives of causing the division. And that accusation is the basis for more division.
Conservatives operate from the assumption that politics is a civil discussion of ideas leading to proper decisions. There is a problem at our southern border, and it's getting worse. The Left rejects even this obvious truth. They support open borders and elimination of ICE, a policy that would invite vast caravans of millions of illegal immigrants along with criminals and terrorists in their midst.
The latest Rasmussen poll showed Americans evenly divided about significantly expanding the border wall though among the President's base there remains overwhelming support. Politicians are divided, but that division reflects a fundamental truth: Americans themselves are so strongly divided that compromise seems impossible.
Unlike President Trump, who simply wants to preserve a safe and orderly system of immigration, the Left is playing politics with the issue. They're courting the Hispanic vote in border states like Arizona in advance of the 2020 presidential election. That is a risky tactic. Half of Americans are deeply upset by their support for open borders. For conservatives it makes no sense to open our southern border to millions of unvetted illegal immigrants.
To progressives, however, it does make sense, because progressives are pursuing a politics of disruption and division with the intent of overturning society.
That politics is modeled on the tactics of Lenin, not on the constitutional foundation of our country. The Left's goal is to trash the conception of America as it has existed for 242 years and to replace it with a socialist state thought up by a deeply alienated European intellectual named Karl Marx.
Marx is the model not just for the Left's thinking but also for its political tactics, and so for the division that we experience today. Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals is merely an "Idiot's Guide" to Marx's day-to-day politics of division and disruption. Time after time, at one party congress after another, Marx outmaneuvered his opponents by proposing extreme positions and refusing to compromise even on small points of doctrine. Like those who followed in his footsteps, including today's Democrats, Marx was skilled at making threats and shifting blame to others—a model for the Democrats' perennial threat to shut down government and blame it on the opposition.
Marx's fanaticism was grounded in his ridiculous belief that his ideas would sweep away an unjust class system and create a stateless utopia controlled by the workers themselves, though only after a long period (years, decades, centuries?) of cruel totalitarian rule by the "vanguard of the proletariat." The French political elite has always seen itself as a similar vanguard governing in the interests of ordinary citizens and without their consent. That perverse view of reality is now being rejected in France, as it has been rejected with the election of President Trump in America and with the passage of Brexit in Britain.
At least half of Americans are disgusted with the political elite in Washington, though a sizable coalition of Leftists, minorities, and intellectuals seem not to have gotten the message. Over time the rebellion against the Left will gain force, however. It is not in the interests of Hispanics, blacks, women or any other group of Americans to support a leftwing political elite that insists on governing without their consent.
That kind of governance always ends with the impoverishment of ordinary workers and the creation of lavish conditions for the elite. Mao lived a sybaritic lifestyle while 45 million Chinese starved or were executed, and he seems to have enjoyed it, claiming as he did that it was "necessary" for millions to starve. According to the latest polling, 60% of American millennials would prefer to live in a communist or fascist state. An authentic division based on ignorance on one side cannot be resolved by facile talk of "civility," though it may eventually be resolved as some on the Left gain maturity, become educated with regard to the truth about communism, and gain first-hand experience of the consequences of socialism.
Unlike those on the Left, who have always proceeded from Marxist assumptions but who are now unashamedly Marxist, conservatives support commonsense positions like working for what you get and respecting the rights of private property. Today's Democrats have thrown those principles to the winds. Corey Booker supports the idea of a "guaranteed job," which is to say an income for nothing, since no one can "guarantee" a job for those who refuse to work. Like Bernie Sanders and others, Booker also supports "Medicare for All." Behind that innocuous-sounding proposal is a devilish prescription for wealth transfer and bad healthcare. The cost of Medicare for All is estimated at $33 trillion over a decade, none of which would be paid for by those added to the rolls. By definition, the proposal would have to be funded either by the middle or upper class. Taxing the top 10% alone would not produce enough revenue. So, the cost would fall on the backs of the middle class.
The middle class would also bear the brunt of lower quality health care. They would be thrown in with those who now crowd the emergency rooms and charity wards. This is not the type of healthcare I want for myself or my family.
The division in our country is not just a matter of slight differences in policy. What leftists like Booker and Sanders are proposing is the destruction of the American middle class and the institution of government control over all sectors of the economy. It is an avowedly socialist agenda, which is nothing less than communism.
As a Fulbright scholar I lived in communist countries for several years, and I saw the empty shelves, lack of services, fear of speaking, and utter demoralization that result when a political elite gain control of society. The institution of socialism in America would have the same consequences as it did in Eastern Europe. The division we see in America today is, in effect, a referendum concerning the future of the country. Do we wish to become another authoritarian socialist state or remain the free capitalist nation we have been for 242 years?
No wonder we are divided. The division is real. As Marx stated in the Communist Manifesto, the middle class must be "swept away," and today's Marxists intend to carry out this threat. Though there are plenty of soccer moms in the suburbs who don't realize it, the middle class is fighting for its life. Once healthcare, education, retirement, and the workplace have been thoroughly socialized, opportunity and freedom will cease to exist.
Unfortunately, this is no time for civility. Civility assumes that both sides are composed of ladies and gentlemen who are willing to compromise. At this point the Left consists of sixties-style fanatics who will stop at nothing, as in the fight over the Kavanaugh appointment or the present calls for impeachment. Many conservatives wish to return to the days of civility but increasingly find themselves thrown into the ring with those who lack all sense of shame. When that's the case, one must play hardball.
Ultimately, America will return to its path as a constitutional democracy and will restore the liberty that such a republic implies. Unfortunately, with Democrats running around in Che Guevara T-shirts demanding fundamental change, that future is a long way off. For now, we must employ every legal and non-violent means to preserve our constitutional democracy. As long as Democrats wish to destroy our freedoms and all that we have worked for, the nation must and should remain divided.
Democratic House leader Nancy Pelosi is spending the government shutdown at a luxury resort in Hawaii, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.
Pelosi, who has put blame squarely on President Donald Trump for the current government shutdown, was spotted Thursday vacationing in Hawaii at the Fairmont Orchid resort, where room accommodations range from $899-a-night for a standard room to $4,899-a-night for the presidential suite.
The resort, on Hawaii's Big Island, features a golf course, six restaurants, and a 10,000-square-foot oceanfront pool. It also features a "Spa Without Walls," where the 110-minute Ali'i Royal Experience is available for $369 and a 50-minute couples massage runs $549, according to the spa menu. While at the spa, guests can snack on a gluten-free grilled prawn summer roll for $19.
Trump canceled his Christmas trip to Florida and remained in the White House, saying on Christmas Eve that he was "waiting for the Democrats to come back and make a deal." The president left the White House on Christmas to travel to Iraq and meet with American troops stationed overseas.
Trump has been holding work meetings since Congress went into recess,
including one with Department of Homeland Security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen on how to fund the administration's border security plan.
Pelosi, meanwhile, has been speaking to the press. She gave an exclusive interview to USA Todayjust before Christmas calling Trump a "fear monger."
"He talked about terrorists coming in over that particular border, which wasn't so," Pelosi said. "He's using scare tactics that are not evidence-based, and it's wrong."
Trump has said he will not sign a funding bill that doesn't include funding for construction of his border wall. Pelosi is set to take over as speaker of the House in the new year, setting off an immediate standoff with the White House on legislation to reopen currently unfunded federal agencies.
This is not Pelosi's first holiday vacation to Hawaii. In 2011, it was reported by the Hawaii Reporter that Pelosi had in previous years stayed in a $10,000-a-night suite at the Four Seasons Resort in Kona for her holiday vacation.
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Nikita Khrushchev:"We will bury you"
"Your grandchildren will live under communism."
“You Americans are so gullible.
No, you won’t accept To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. ."
We’ll so weaken your To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. like overripe fruit into our hands."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took the extraordinary step Wednesday of urging President Trump to delay his State of the Union address until the partial government shutdown ends, or submit the address in writing.
The president has been slated to deliver his televised annual address to a Joint Session of Congress on Jan. 29. But with no compromise in sight to resolve the standoff over government funding -- a stalemate that extended into its 26th day, with the impact deepening for furloughed federal workers and others -- Pelosi, D-Calif., suggested Trump put those plans on hold.
“On January 3rd, it was my privilege as Speaker to invite you to deliver the State of the Union address on January 29. The Constitution calls for the President ‘from time to time give the Congress Information of the State of the Union,” Pelosi wrote, but noted that “since the start of modern budgeting in Fiscal Year 1977, a State of the Union address has never been delivered during a government shutdown.” DEMOCRATS BOYCOTT WHITE HOUSE BORDER SECURITY MEETING
She concluded: “Sadly, given the security concerns and unless the government re-opens this week, I suggest that we work together to determine another suitable date after government has re-opened for this address or for you to consider delivering your State of the Union address in writing to Congress on January 29.”
Pelosi detailed the need for proper security at events such as the State of the Union, citing comments made by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen who recognized the “need for the full resources of the Federal Government to be brought to bear” to “ensure the security of these events.”
“The U.S. Secret Service was designated as the lead federal agency responsible for coordinating, planning, exercising, and implementing security for National Special Security Events…” Pelosi wrote. “However, both the U.S. Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security have not been funded for 26 days now – with critical departments hamstrung by furloughs.”
A senior Homeland Security official later told Fox News, however, that they have been preparing for months for the State of the Union event.
"We are ready," the official said. "Despite the fact members of the Secret Service are not being paid, the protective mission has not changed."
The official added: "It is a 'no fail' mission."
Despite Pelosi's suggestion to come to an agreement on a new date, Pelosi did not rescind the president’s invitation. That decision ultimately rests with her, as speaker of the House.
The address, historically, has not always been delivered in person. Thomas Jefferson started the practice of submitting the address in writing, and it was not until Woodrow Wilson's administration that the speech was delivered in person again.
Pelosi’s letter to the White House comes as the shutdown, the longest in history, has left more than 800,000 federal employees and contractors without pay. Some employees are deemed essential to government functions and are required to work without pay. Others have been furloughed, and also do not receive paychecks.
The government first ran out of funding on Dec. 22, as the president requested $5.7 billion in funding for border security and construction of a border wall or physical barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border, citing an “invasion” and a “humanitarian crisis.”
Pelosi, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., have vowed to block any spending proposal that includes funding for a wall.
Negotiations between Democrats and the president have grown increasingly contentious. Last week, a tense White House meeting ended abruptly, with the president walking out of the room after Pelosi maintained that she would not accept a spending package with wall funding.
Pelosi, after the meeting, said Trump was "petulant," and Schumer added that Trump slammed his hand on a table in frustration and had a "temper tantrum" -- a claim Trump, Vice President Pence and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., later denied.
This week, Trump, instead, decided not to invite Pelosi to a border security meeting at the White House, but reached out to other rank-and-file Democrats to join his lunch with Republican members of Congress. All of the Democrats invited declined the president's invitation.
"The President offered both Democrats and Republicans the chance to meet for lunch at the White House," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement Tuesday. "Unfortunately, no Democrats will attend...It's time for Democrats to come to the table and make a deal."
Sanders added that Pelosi and Schumer "refuse to negotiate."
However, some Democrats -- including Reps. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J.; Abigail Spanberger, D-Va.; and Vincente Gonzalez, D-Texas -- attended a meeting Wednesday with the Problem Solvers Caucus at the White House.
"There is strong agreement across the aisle and around the country: We must reopen the government. Our security, safety, and economy have been compromised, and millions of families are suffering," they said in a statement Wednesday. "There is also strong agreement that if we reopen the government, the possibility exists to work together and find common ground to tackle some of our country’s toughest problems and fix them. But that conversation can only begin in earnest once the government is reopened."
Sanders on Wednesday said the meeting was "constructive."
"They listened to one another and now both have a good understanding of what the other wants," Sanders said in a statement. "We look forward to more conversations like this."
Meanwhile, Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Chris Coons, D-Del., are leading a bipartisan effort urging the president to support legislation ending the shutdown in the short-term to give Congress more time to address his border security request.
In a draft letter to the White House obtained by Fox News, Graham and Coons "respectfully requested" that the president support a short-term continuing resolution of three weeks, to re-open the government and "give Congress time to develop and vote on a bipartisan agreement that addresses your request," including "debating and voting on investments on the Southern border."
Congressional aides told Fox News that the senators were still gathering signatures in support of their proposal.
The president has repeatedly said he is willing to "compromise," calling that a "win" for everyone involved. But Trump continues to insist on a border wall, even threatening to declare a national emergency over the lack of funding for border security. This week, the president warned of a "big new Caravan" heading up to the Southern Border from Honduras.
"Tell Nancy and Chuck that a drone flying around will not stop them. Only a Wall will work. Only a Wall, or Steel Barrier, will keep our Country safe! Stop playing political games and end the Shutdown!"
Trump and Pelosi have clashed several times throughout the partial shutdown, with the House speaker on Tuesday blasting the president for holding the paychecks of hundreds of thousands of federal employees "hostage."
Meanwhile, House Democrats have tried to pressure the Senate to take up bills funding parts of the government, to no avail. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., announced Tuesday that if the government remains shut down, the House will not have its planned recess next week.
"If the government is not open, we will not have a recess," Hoyer told reporters on Capitol Hill Tuesday. "That does not mean we will be here every day, members will be on 24 hours notice. We'll have some votes next week...we'll be here next week to do business."
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by Cassandra Fairbanks January 17, 2019 238 Comments
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders has posted a letter that President Donald Trump sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi informing her that her upcoming “public relations” trip to Afghanistan, Egypt, and Brussels has been postponed so that she can stay in DC and negotiate with him.
The letter adds that she is welcome to still take the trip — but she would have to fly commercial on her own dime.
“Due to the Shutdown, I am sorry to inform you that your trip to Brussels, Egypt, and Afghanistan has been postponed. We will reschedule this seven-day excursion when the Shutdown is over,” the letter begins. “In light of the 800,000 great American workers not receiving pay, I am sure you would agree that postponing this public relations event is totally appropriate.”
President Trump added that “I also feel that, during this period, it would be better if you were in Washington negotiating with me and joining the Strong Border Security movement to end the Shutdown.”
“Obviously, if you would like to make your journey by flying commercial, that would certainly be your prerogative,” Trump wrote.
The letter concludes by saying that he looks forward to seeing her soon and “even more forward to watching our open and dangerous Southern Border finally receive the attention, funding, and security it so desperately deserves.”
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders posted a letter that President Donald Trump sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi informing her that her upcoming “public relations” trip to Afghanistan, Egypt, and Brussels has been postponed so that she can stay in DC and negotiate with him.
Pelosi was told to fly commercial on her own dime.
“Obviously, if you would like to make your journey by flying commercial, that would certainly be your prerogative,” Trump wrote his letter to Pelosi.
This is epic!
It gets better…
House Speaker Pelosi and other lawmakers were on the bus, en route to the airport when she found out Trump canceled the “public relations” trip.
President Donald Trump just sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying her trip to Brussels, Egypt, and Afghanistan has been postponed. She and other lawmakers are on the bus already to go to the airport. #POTUSpic.twitter.com/XQ1F1auXCW
— Edward Lawrence (@EdwardLawrence) January 17, 2019
Fox News reporter John Roberts said Pelosi was scheduled to leave at 3 PM when the President informed her that her trip would be postponed — Trump gave her a ONE HOUR notice!
“Due to the Shutdown, I am sorry to inform you that your trip to Brussels, Egypt, and Afghanistan has been postponed. We will reschedule this seven-day excursion when the Shutdown is over,” the letter begins. “In light of the 800,000 great American workers not receiving pay, I am sure you would agree that postponing this public relations event is totally appropriate.”
President Trump said in his letter that he looks forward to seeing Nancy Pelosi soon.
BREAKING: Sources tell Fox News that there are furious calls going back and forth now between the Hill, State, Pentagon and White House amid Trump’s cancellation of House Speaker Pelosi’s 7-day foreign trip.
Anon says:
January 17, 2019 at 3:42 pm
Whoever thought up this move deserves a huge promotion. Anyone remembers this from 2009 – Pelosi has habit of reserving military aircraft for personal use of her and her family vacations, then cancelling them last minute:
“It is my understanding there are no G5s available for the House during the Memorial Day recess. This is totally unacceptable…The speaker will want to know where the planes are…” wrote Kay King. https://web.archive.org/web/20100128...ilitary-travel
There was also the “emergency boutique shoe shopping”, when her SUV entourage made dangerous illegal turns, then parked illegally in front of a fire hydrant … to shop for high-end shoes. Clearly official government business. http://www.theamericanmirror.com/nan...cross-traffic/
We’ll see how many times this gets mentioned on the disinformation news.
Don't know if this means anything, or is just a coincidence
All 3 places NP + AS planned to visit on this trip all supposedly have relevance to Trump within the last month… Brussels, Egypt, Afghanistan
(not saying any of these stories are true or false, just that they were topics of discussion in the deep state / normie world)
Trump Discussed Pulling U.S. From NATO, Aides Say Amid New Concerns Over Russia (NYT; NBC; CNN - 1/14/2019)…
NATO Headquarters - Brussels, Belgium
Trump orders major military withdrawal from Afghanistan as Mattis departs (Wash Post; NYT; CNN - 12/19/2018)…
Trump hasn’t ordered Afghan troop withdrawal, White House says… (Boston Globe - 12/29/2018)
Afghanistan
Pompeo in Egypt amid concerns over Trump's Middle East policy… (CBS; Wash Post; NYT - 1/10/2019)…
Cairo, Egypt
(yes, msm references, just used to show it's relevance to places on trip list, and connection to deep state's stories that they have been pushing this past month)
>All 3 places NP + AS planned to visit on this trip all supposedly have relevance to Trump within the last month… Brussels, Egypt, Afghanistan
This isn't so hard to understand:
Q told us that Hussein, Noname, HRC and Kerry were travelling the world to convince the leaders of other countries that the Dems were still in charge and that Potus won't be there for long.
Now Potus told the world, who is in charge of the US and who's not, by exposing Pelosi as someone, he can ground, if he wishes to do so, or allow her to fly commercial.
He told the EU and others that HE is the one in charge in the US and no one else.
This isn't about Pelosi.
This is a demonstration of power to the world.
Pelosi finding out the hard way that you can't out-troll Trump
January 17, 2019 03:37 PM
President Trump just grounded House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
The White House published a letter Thursday afternoon announcing the president had canceled the congresswoman’s scheduled seven-day tour of Brussels, Egypt, and Afghanistan. Pelosi’s congressional delegation was slated to depart at around 3:00 p.m. Thursday, meaning they learned of the cancellation roughly 30 minutes prior to takeoff.
"Due to the Shutdown, I am sorry to inform you that your trip to Brussels, Egypt, and Afghanistan has been postponed," the president’s letter reads. "We will reschedule this seven-day excursion when the Shutdown is over."
“In light of the 800,000 great American workers not receiving pay, I am sure you would agree that postponing this public relations event is totally appropriate,” it adds. “I also feel that, during this period, it would be better if you were in Washington negotiating with me and joining the Strong Border Security movement to end the shutdown. Obviously, if you would like to make your journey flying commercial, that would certainly be your prerogative.”
As congressional delegations are typically flown by the U.S. military for overseas trips, the president does indeed have the power to cancel the trip. The commander in chief has oversight of the armed forces. That doesn’t mean this isn't petty or ridiculous — then again, so is Pelosi's talk of canceling the State of the Union.
Trump’s letter comes just one day after Pelosi sent the White House a letter proposing that the president’s Jan. 29 State of the Union address be postponed until after the partial government shutdown ends.
“In September 2018, Secretary Nielsen designated State of the Union Addresses as National Special Security Events (NSSEs), recognizing the need for ‘the full resources of the Federal Government to be brought to bear’ to ensure the security of these events," Pelosi’s letter reads. "The extraordinary demands presented by NSSEs require weeks of detailed planning with dozens of agencies working together to prepare for the safety of all participants. However, both the U.S. Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security have not been funded for 26 days now — with critical departments hamstrung by furloughs,” the letter adds. “Sadly, given the security concerns and unless government re-opens this week, I suggest that we work together to determine another suitable date after government has re-opened for this address or for you to consider delivering your State of the Union address in writing to the Congress on January 29th.”
Like the flight cancellation, Pelosi’s proposal is a nakedly political calculation, as noted yesterday. Both the U.S. Secret Service and Homeland Security disputed the speaker’s suggestion that they’ve been hobbled by a lack of funding. The Secret Service revealed further that they weren’t even contacted by the speaker’s office regarding her supposed reason for wanting to postpone the State of the Union.
Pelosi’s concerns are obvious nonsense, given that she extended the invitation to Trump on Jan. 3, 12 full days into the partial government shutdown.
Pelosi tried to pull a power move on the White House. On Thursday, Trump landed a brutally timed counter-punch. His reasoning — that she should be in the nation’s capital to continue negotiating the end of the shutdown — is a scathingly shrewd touch. Also, just to rub some salt in the wound, a White House official confirmed to NBC News that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is still slated to fly to Davos, Switzerland, for next week’s World Economic Forum.
Like the GOP presidential field in the 2016 primaries, Pelosi may be learning the hard way that you can’t out-troll Trump. This is his bread and butter.
The ball is in her court now, and it's unclear where she goes. When Trump trolls, "There are no lands beyond."
Jennifer Franco
@jennfranconews
15m15 minutes ago
#BREAKING: White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders say President Trump has cancelled his delegation's trip to Davos, Switzerland later this month for the World Economic Forum due to the partial government shutdown. #OANN
Chad Pergram
Verified account @ChadPergram
38m38 minutes ago
WH’s Sanders on admin officials & Davos: Out of consideration for the 800,000 great American workers not receiving pay and to ensure his team can assist as needed, President Trump has canceled his Delegation’s trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Last edited by vector7; January 18th, 2019 at 08:09.
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Nikita Khrushchev:"We will bury you"
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“You Americans are so gullible.
No, you won’t accept To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism.
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We’ll so weaken your To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. like overripe fruit into our hands."
Re: US Government shutdown looms
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio listens at left, as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev. speaks to reporters outside the White House in Washington, Thursday, April 7, 2011, after their meeting with President Obama regarding the budget and possible government shutdown.
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