Archive for the ‘Always look at the bright side of Trump’ Category

Scott McKay at the American Spectator Gives an Exercise in Realty about the House, Senate and the “Big Beautiful Bill”

Posted: May 26, 2025 by datechguy in Always look at the bright side of Trump, politics
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As I’m not writing regularly anymore it’s not often that I read a piece and think: “I wish I wrote that.”

But Scott McKay’s piece at the American Spectator (via Hotair headlines) certainly fits the bill.

You see it’s all about the reality of the math.

It’s irritating to have to bring this up, but the Republicans have a 220-215 majority in the House and a 53-47 majority in the Senate which isn’t really 53 votes given that Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, Thom Tillis, Mitch McConnell, Bill Cassidy and a few others seem to do everything they can to torpedo the conservative agenda. For the most part, they’re ineffective in that respect, because none of them are all that willing to be the one vote that kills a bill or a nomination. They know there will be consequences for that, and they don’t have the courage to face those.

Nevertheless, that 53? It plays like 51. And the 220 plays like 215; luckily, 215 was all the Big Beautiful Bill needed on Thursday morning.

You have the number of votes that you have. Then there is the reality of the the filibuster:

Mike Johnson couldn’t send a clean, stripped-down budget bill through the House, though that would have been easier, and the budget aspects of the bill might have been better. Know why? Because codifying Trump’s agenda through legislation in 2025 means everything has to be attached to a must-pass bill.

As in, budget reconciliation.

You have to force the agenda through an omnibus bill if you want to pass it, because Democrats will reflexively filibuster everything the rules allow them to.

There is zero chance of passing a bill in the senate that requires more than 50 votes and JD Vance. Which means it has to be done in a single bill.

And then there is a reality:

The point is that while this thing could have been quite a bit leaner from a budget perspective, assuming it gets through the Senate and Trump signs it, Congress will have then codified the bulk of Trump’s agenda by the middle of the summer and there won’t be all that much to do for the rest of the year other than to shrink the federal government.

Which isn’t a bad place to be in.

And if you can’t understand why Vought would be so sanguine about the bill even though it doesn’t seem to be very aggressive in chopping down on federal spending, this is likely why.

Some of this is speculative, I’ll grant. But again, this is an ongoing process. And we are dealing in the world of what is possible with the Congress we have.

Within that world, this is a win. Sure, it’s probably not a beautiful win. It’s a 50-yard field goal with one second left to eke out a victory, and the team didn’t cover the spread.

But in the end it will be codified into law and let me remind you of something I said 15 years ago during the Scott Brown special election back in 2010:

…in an attempt to stop Obamacare. In a broadcast by 73wire with Stacy McCain and Ali Akbar (Brown’s new media guy) we talked about the healthcare bill and there was an interesting exchange. I stressed how important this election was because it was necessary to stop obamacare BEFORE it was passed prompting the following:

Ali: “And if it does pass, we will repeal it!”

DaTechGuy: “No we won’t.”

It was very telling that Ali (who is a really smart young man) didn’t argue the point with me and changed the subject.

It was six long years before there was a chance to get rid of Obamacare, and when that chance came John McCain with the applause of every Democrat in the Senate cast the vote to save it.

There is a lot that COULD have been in that big beautiful bill if we had more votes to spare in the House or the Senate but there is plenty IN that bill that the left loathes and that we have wanted to get done for a while.

Once those things are law it will be tough for Democrats to get the votes to repeal them. They’ll need the house and the senate and a President ready to sign and they’ll need majorities where even Democrats in swing districts will go along and you remember what happened last time swing dems did so.

Thus came the Stupak Amendment and the fig leaf he provided while proving disastrous to him and his followers was a Godsend to others as he said later:

“I had a number of members who thanked us after because they could vote no.”

But Stupak fig leaf would quickly wither. His seat and 62 others for democrats would not survive election day and even more shocking to the left the New GOP majority would remain even after the re-election of President Obama

I think putting the dems in this position is a good idea.

Just Because We Lied to You About What You Saw With Your Own Eyes on Joe Biden Doesn’t Mean You Should Believe Your Own Eyes on South Africa Says MSM

Posted: May 21, 2025 by datechguy in Always look at the bright side of Trump, media, politics
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Donald Trump decided to present the president of South Africa, with the entire press corps in the room the evidence of the danger to white farmers in South Africa:

This was actually confirmed as as issue by a SA official at the Oval Office today, but hey are you going to believe your own eyes or CNN?

Trump played the video in front of the guy. Every single network was there, and yet every single network denied what they say.

The irony? All of this took place 24 hours after the Biden health story where the media talked about how they missed a story right in front of their eyes.

Why anyone trusts them is beyond me, but I suspect is bubble reinforcement because once people decide they were wrong they have to see themselves in the light of truth, and that’s just too much for most leftist’s these days.

The “We’re there no graves in Egypt?” Republicans

Posted: April 9, 2025 by datechguy in Always look at the bright side of Trump, politics
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fyi I’m going to be completely offline the next few days so comments won’t get approved before Monday.

I know we live in a time where we are used to instant information and instant action but the reaction of some conservatives over the last few days are making me doubt the sanity of some.

It’s sort of like when a Baseball team wins twenty in a row. It’s a great time and it’s a lot of fun but if after winning 20 in a row you get upset because you don’t repeated win twenty in a row.

Trump has been winning big for a long time in this first 100 days. No president has ever done so much in so little time.

But persuading people who have been ripping you off for decades to make a deal, and to GET a deal in writing that doesn’t happen instantly.

Trump announced his tariffs a few days ago, stocks reacted poorly and people panicked and let the same media who had buffaloed them for years drive them like fools. When Trump stuck to his guns they panicked more BUT not as much as those countries who rapidly figured out that Trump wasn’t bluffing.

The calls poured in dozens of countries anxious to make a deal, with the primary exception of China who immediately retaliated and the EU who claimed retaliation to happen in a week.

Now I don’t have the business experience that Donald Trump has but even I know that it takes more than a day to finalize a deal between two nations and commit it to paper. How many days do you think it takes to do so with 75 or 80 nations. Say 90 days?

The left and the media starting spinning this as Trump caving. When it was obvious that he hadn’t and even worse the stock market soared beyond all it had lost and then some suddenly it was insider trading.

I expect this from the left media and if you don’t expect from the people who lied to you about Biden’s condition for four years you’re a fool.

But if you’re a member of the GOP who has seen the last two and a half months of almost continual success did you really have any business freaking out during this weekend or beyond?

The reaction of conservatives reminds me of the twelve tribe of Israel during the Exodus from Egypt.

Over and over again after they had been delivered from danger they would start their cry: “We’re there no graves in Egypt that you led us out to get slain or starved, or die of thirst etc etc etc.”

When I hear conservatives whine about Trump not being dignified enough, or not winning fast enough, or not continuing an uninterrupted winning streak they sound like those who had seen miracles over and over again and now act if they are entitled to them.

Now there are many who make their living Hitting Trump and getting clicks from it and those folks are going to play the panic for all it’s worth.

But if you’re not one of them, please don’t become one of those “We’re there no graves in Egypt” Republicans?

Keep your head and let the people who spend their lives doing and building things do what they do best.

Remember it’s like the Tom Brady years here in New England. Just because Brady made it look easy to get to the Superbowl year after year didn’t mean it was. He’s just good.

Just because Trump has made it look easy doesn’t mean it is.

The 1776 Revival on the House Floor or Trump Wins Again

Posted: February 25, 2025 by datechguy in Always look at the bright side of Trump, politics
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For the last 35 days we have seen an almost unbroken streak of victories for the Trump administration with only slight temporary setbacks in the courts that are likely to become solid wins as well.

Tonight on the House floor Trump just got his biggest win by a single vote and if you want to know how he managed it think of this key moment from the movie/play 1776

In the drama Ben Franklin calls for a poll of the Pennsylvania delegation with Ben Franklin voting for independence and John Dickerson voting nay and the final decision being up to James Wilson who decides he doesn’t want to become “The man who prevented American independence.” and thus votes Yea! (Historically Franklin arranged for two delegates from PA to miss the vote thus giving him the majority needed to carry the state for independence but I digress…)

Something much like this happened in DC on Tuesday.

As I noted Donald Trump has been on a huge winning streak and his actions continue to poll incredibly well among the general population with well over 50% backing him and among GOP voters the number is in the high 90’s.

https://twitter.com/ForecasterEnten/status/1894424037129904413

The text

Why GOP members will be hesitant to fight Trump: “Republican [voters] love Donald Trump the way Grimace loves Ronald McDonald”… Trump’s net approval with the GOP is even higher than it was during his 1st term. Also, GOP voters trust Trump over Congressional GOP: 58%-22%.

Click the link to see the CNN video.

Bottom line Trump is REALLY popular so once Thomas Masse of KY noted he would be a “No” no matter what that meant that every single other holdout had the potential to become THE member of the GOP responsible not only for Trump’s first defeat of his term, but be the man or woman who gave the Democrats a lifeline when they are drowning.

In short their political career would be over.

That is the position that Trump and Johnson put them in and nobody proved willing to jump off that bridge.

So Trump gets another win. and the GOP agenda goes on.

I’m not sick of winning yet.

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