Interesting post from KOS - Trump may already lost GOP Congress.

[Stonepounder]

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/3/18/1645023/-Trump-May-Have-Already-Lost-Republicans-In-Congress

Trump May Have Already Lost Republicans In Congress

We are less than two months into the Trump presidency and it looks like he may have already lost the Republican Congress. The buildup of the Russian connections, the evidence-free accusation that Obama wiretapped him, the collapse of Trumpcare under the weight of the horrendous CBO score, and now a budget that is full of attack ad fodder for Democrats may have finally stiffened the back of Republicans in Congress.

This was supposed to be the wonderful honeymoon period for Republicans where they would pass all those things they'd been promising forever and ride the wave of Trump's popularity. Instead, the actual process of governing, especially with an ignorant, erratic, and unengaged President, is only creating more and more bad press for the GOP and threatens to unravel their majority.

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The Trump administration released its budget proposal, again without any consultation with Congress and apparently based mostly on Trump's campaign promises and tweets. This budget is dead on arrival and has even managed to anger Republicans in Congress. It is a wet dream for Mick Mulvaney and Steve Bannon but it is just that, a dream. No member of Congress is going to vote to eliminate Meals on Wheels for the elderly. McCain and Graham will never vote for 30% cut in the State Department, even with the increased military budget. Trump is not going to get Joe Manchin to vote for a budget that eliminates the Appalachian Regional Commission. Who is going to vote for cutting the National Institutes of Health, which is responsible for cancer research and basic research for new pharmaceuticals? The budget even includes funding for the border wall that apparently we are going to pay for and Mexico is not. It cuts funding for Amtrak service and airline flights for rural areas. That should go down well in counties that rely on these services and voted for Trump. And there are probably a hundred more items I could point to that would create problems for the GOP in this budget.

As Kevin Drum notes, this is not a serious budget proposal but simply another campaign document meant to appeal to Trump's base. The problem is that is also full of campaign materials for Democrats. But an additional problem created by it not being a serious document is that it now puts all the responsibility on Republicans in Congress for coming up with a budget apparently on their own. That has proved difficult to do. Remember, last year, despite also having control of both the House and the Senate, Republicans were unable to even produce a budget. Paul Ryan could not even get one out of the House and over to the Senate. If the Trumpcare bill collapses, it is going to be even more difficult to bring the warring factions with the GOP together to come up with a budget.
Lastly, Trump's Muslim ban 2.0 was also struck down by a federal court. Again, this may make great PR that appeals to Trump's base, but it just weakens Trump even more.

[dalton99a]

1. Watch how they vote, not what they say.

[BamaRefugee]

2. Especially McCain and Graham

their endless whining has never ONCE produced anything even REMOTELY good for progressives.

[NBachers]

3. And if we do get rid of Agent Orange, the republicans will take credit for it.