Vox - This could be a really long government shutdown

[TomCADem]

This article hits the nail on the head. Given that Trump makes no pretense of caring for anyone but his most rabid and racist base, there is no incentive for him to compromise. Indeed, to the extent that it takes attention away from the investigations against Trump, the drama of a shutdown is welcome. That is the sad thing. The publicity of a shutdown is just the type of distraction that Trump wants.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/12/21/18151582/government-shutdown-trump-wall-democrats

The issue is that hardline conservatives, who have little interest in compromise continue to have Trump’s ear. Even an offer from Vice President Mike Pence, who came to Capitol Hill Friday to broker a deal, fell short. His suggestion — $1.6 billion in wall funding — which Democrats previously signaled openness to, saw push back from hardline House Republicans. So Congress is stuck.

As a result, Democrats have little incentive to come to the negotiating table on this issue. After all, they’ve offered Trump money for the border wall in the past in exchange for broader immigration reforms. Then, it was a lot more than $5 billion too, only to see Trump blow up negotiations for even more hardline demands, like cutting legal immigration levels.

“Imagine how frustrated I was months ago when a big bipartisan group of senators reach a deal, which we were convinced he would accept,” Coons said. That proposal gave $25 billion for the border wall in exchange for protections for young undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children. “He turned that down. He didn’t just turn it down. He lobbied against it personally.”

Hours before the shutdown deadline, Trump met with Republican senators reportedly without an end game. He tried to convince senators to nuke a longstanding Senate rule that requires 60 votes to pass a spending bill, and pass border wall funding with just Republican support — a conservative pipe dream that doesn’t have enough support to actually happen.

[regnaD kciN]

1. After January 3rd, Trump has ZERO chance of getting his wall...

...because it would require a new bill, and that would get killed by the Democratic-controlled House. Senate Democrats aren’t going to cave between the 27th and then, and I don’t see Republicans being any more likely to nuke the filibuster then, either. So it’s inevitable that Trump’s going to have to give up his wall dream either way. Is he stubborn enough to keep the government shuttered indefinitely, just out of a hope that the gridlocked new Congress will “cry uncle” and give him whatever he wants if it stretches into the weeks on even months? If he tries that, I would expect we’d eventually see a no-wall CR passed by Congress, with enough votes in both houses to overturn his veto.

[TomCADem]

6. Would You Rather Have Headlines About Investigations...

...or headlines about Day ## of the Shutdown? In the latter case, at least you have your base cheering you on.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

8. there will be both

Day ## of the Shutdown would likely be in the corner of a screen filled with either live hearings or the latest scandal uncovered in investigations.

[Goodheart]

2. Which is why I predicted earlier that McConnell will go nuclear.

It's far more likely, in my view, that McConnell will cave in desperation than that a supreme narcissist will admit defeat.

This is going to be a long one.

[rso]

3. Wall

But even with the new Senate, where republicans will have two additional seats, there are not enough votes to vote to go nuclear on budget matters. Several Republican Senators are already on record opposing it.

[flibbitygiblets]

4. This is really Trump's only move

Other than give in, which he won't because Mueller.

[Miigwech]

5. repubes should just lie to trump

Just tell the ignorant blob his wall is funded and have him sign the bill. trump lies to American's and the world everyday ... new standard set by trump

[allgood33]

7. This is the real GOP "wet dream" better than sex to them: destruction of the Federal government.

No enemy could do it better.