Name:	GoneFishin -	Reply
Subject:	Drain The Swamp...Yea Right
Date:	1/9/2018 6:05:31 PM

Can anyone agree with this proposal that Trump made at a meeting today with both parties as a way to get them to work together???

"Early in the hour-long conversation, Mr Trump lamented the lack of comity in Washington these days and suggested a rather swamp-friendly solution

"I hear so much about earmarks and how there was a great friendliness when you had earmarks," Trump said. "Maybe all of you should start thinking about going back to a form of earmarks".

Earmarks, for the uninitiated, are a legislative procedure where legislators can attach spending for specific projects onto larger bills, often to the benefit of constituents in their home districts.

Supporters view it as a way to grease the wheels of legislative compromise. Detractors, who succeeded in getting the practice banned when Republicans took control of the House of Representatives in 2011, say it encourages wasteful spending and corruption.

Now the president, who railed against the Washington "swamp" and its corrupt practices as a candidate, is endorsing a measure that capital insiders - lobbyists and lawmakers alike - once adored."

Name:	Talullahhound -	Reply
Subject:	Drain The Swamp...Yea Right
Date:	1/9/2018 8:05:10 PM

I think what he is saying that things used to get done in Washington and now they don't.  People of both parties used to socilaize after hours, and that is no longer done.    And I don't think he is endorsing earmarks, but rather that their existence  required some horse trading behind the scenes to reach an agreement.    Everyone has to admit that the way our current Congress is run, they get practically nothing done, becasue they refused to engage each other.  I think Trump is doing a good job in drainig the swamp.  People are leaving Congress that should have been gone years ago.  There are a few more to go, but I think some of them are committing to dropping dead on the job (which is actually a better deal for their survival, than if they die after they leave)  I have no doubt that is what is keeping John McCain on the roster.  

Name:	architect -	Reply
Subject:	Drain The Swamp...Yea Right
Date:	1/9/2018 8:47:06 PM

Whether the rightwing is willing to publically acknowledge it or not, in their heart they know that things stopped getting done in Washington in early 2009 when the GOP met as a caucus and agreed that their goal was to make Barack Obama a one term president by opposing anything he proposed.  They not only know it...they celebrate it!

Name:	Talullahhound -	Reply
Subject:	Drain The Swamp...Yea Right
Date:	1/10/2018 1:41:33 PM

That personally horrifies me, and told me that they had their heads up their butts.  But you have to admit that Pelosi and Schumer are doing the exact same thing.  Seems like people in Congress (both houses) have forgotten they are supposed to be working for the people of this country.  Most people can live with some level of compromise.  

Name:	architect -	Reply
Subject:	Drain The Swamp...Yea Right
Date:	1/11/2018 10:12:09 PM

I agree Hound.  Unfortunately when one side decides to adopt ''no-compromise ever'' as their official policy the other side will tend to follow suit.  I don't agree with that fact, but it is a fact and in this case it was the GOP that established the pattern in that meeting in early 2009. It is not in the best interest of the country but both sides now put party above country.  That is why we need a viable moderate alternative.