Congressional Republicans visit the Oval Office to negotiate with President Joe Biden over the COVID-19 relief bill. But how can a party out of power have any influence given the political power imbalance?
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Video below hosted at Rumble.com
31 replies on “How GOP Negotiates from Weakness with Team Biden in Control of Federal Government”
For Scott, your closing argument is noble and commendable.
Unfortunately I’m not going to live forever. Neither are you nor anyone else in this discussion. Behaving nobly serves what purpose? When you’re out of ammo, pleading for mercy may postpone your death, but reloading to fight another day is the better tactic.
Apparently, no matter how hard I try otherwise, when I open my eyes all I see is kabuki theater. Bill calls it “horse trading” with money that doesn’t exist to begin with.
What I do see is the republican party digging their own grave. When digging one’s own grave, first step is to stop digging; yet republicans continue to dig deeper.
Biden is a traitor and a cheater, he admitted it himself “we created the biggest voter fraud organization ever”. Most people ignored this as a slip of the tongue, however according Time magazine this is entirely correct: https://time.com/5936036/secret-2020-election-campaign/
He should be opposed in every way possible.
People with Dementia can’t be held fully responsible for their words or actions. I hate that this guys wife, family and so called allies/friend are effectively committing elder abuse by marching him around and telling him what to say and do.
The problem I find with this is that when Republicans had the House, the Senate AND the Presidency, they STILL negotiated from a position of weakness.
“But how can a party out of power have any influence given the political power imbalance?”
To me, this is not the question. How can a party out of power have any influence given that even when they have power, they refuse to fight for the goals and values of their constituents? THAT is the question.
As a Wisconsinite, I want my money. Though, my senator Johnson has been one of those trying to keep the debt in line and was one pushing for the business help and not handouts to individuals and voted against the last proposed trought-faucet. Unfortunately he’s countered by senator Baldwin.
Playing from Rumble just fine, and the Firefox browser video pop-out working the same (and I think it just a Firefox option, not a Youtube video feature, since it works on other sites too).
I did get an auto play to the next video today though and since the guy started off with an f-bomb it was really unfortunate. (headphones means no one else was disturbed).
I have to say I do agree wholeheartedly with Scott’s description of how to behave with integrity in the current situation, or any situation where you are in the weaker bargaining position. In fact, that description is something that I want to aspire toward. It is truly inspirational.
The other side of it is that in our world today, someone in politics who lives with this kind of integrity faces almost insurmountable odds. The Left certainly will show no respect, and will see this as a sign of weakness. They have no trouble living under the Ends Justify the Means code, and if you aren’t willing to oppose them in the same way they oppose you, they aren’t going to suddenly become fair dealers when they see your integrity.
Then there are those on the Right who will see this kind of integrity as rank betrayal. But I didn’t hear anything even close to betrayal in what Scott said.
In the end, living with integrity is the only way to go when you know that you will one day stand before the Living God and give account of how you lived your life. It’s the much harder path to take, especially when you know that you are going to take fire from both sides. The enemy fire is probably easier to take. Fire from your own side brings a special kind of wound with it.
We are in a situation where we must maintain integrity and our position and not allow the other side to get us to give up or give in and accept their plans as foregone conclusions. That’s a tall order, and will test our resolve.
I don’t see it as “rank betrayal,” I see it as a sign of perpetual weakness. Showing yourself as a pigeon ready to be plucked. Losing with “integrity” is still losing. I have no interest in giving up. I want to FIGHT BACK and bloody the nose of our enemies (not a word I put in quotes).
It sickens me to listen to Scott prattle on about being honest with those that prefer him, and us, dead.
Well, I have similar feelings. The anger boils in me when I see and hear the terrible things that are happening right now. Wanting to hurt the people causing the pain feels so righteous, and if the worst does show up on our doorsteps we’ll be fighting for our lives. There is a time to fight, for sure. Each of us can and should stand up and fight for what we believe in. Fighting can take several forms, though.
I think it takes great courage to hold to your convictions in the face of tyranny, when the consequences could be life-threatening. And it takes great courage to hold on to them in the face of censure from your friends, because when your friends don’t understand you it gets pretty lonely out on that battlefield.
We need people to hold up the values we are fighting for, if for no other reason than to help us see the differences. Because if it comes to bloodying each other’s noses, the destruction is going to look the same on both sides of the conflict and we’d better have a good picture of those values in our heads to keep from descending all the way into the satisfying feeling of destruction for its own sake. We all have that in us, to annihilate and scorch and salt the earth. I’m glad there are those who take another approach and try to win with reason and integrity for as long as they can. I want to be on the side that holds those virtues dear.
These kinds of discussions are extremely important. I’m so glad we have this forum. We need to hear everything and be able to reason together. I appreciate talking with you.
Let’s have a conversation after( or if) Bill reads C. Bradley Thompson’s article “Why Marxism—Evil Laid Bare” and answers the question, ” What Type of Person is Attracted to Marxism?” These 1.9 T kerfuffles are not the battle hills you want to die on. There are much bigger and more significant issues at hand. Two goats and eight geese walked in to see the Devil in the oval office……We are in serious trouble, more than anyone knows or wants to believe.
Scott, when and if you look back at interviews and videos of people who got to actually meet with Trump and talk to him about issues, the one thing they invariably said was that he listened to them and took them seriously. That is why they got Alice Johnson pardoned and prison reform done and on and on. Trump is in many ways a blowhard, braggart and uncouth, but one on one he was almost perfect at really understanding and talking to people and making them feel and be important.
Now,,,,,do you really think Biden will be that way to the people who come to see him?
Scott, You described the mindset that politicians SHOULD have, but unfortunately, few politicians think that way. There may be a few Republicans who do and maybe even a rare Democrat, but I think the best we can hope for is for Republicans not no lose their spines (it’s too late for some, as they clearly have no spines) and to draw a line in the sand.
Biden will lie to your face, then stab you in the back on the way out the door.
Yup!
DEM-ruined states want the Federal government to bail them out. That was their plan from the beginning. They don’t care about the people who suffered from the lockdowns.
I don’t think they care about anything but themselves.
The Republicans have always been in a position of weakness. A self-inflicted position that has never boded well for our freedoms. I believe it comes from corruption as well as a lack of belief in the foundational principles of our Republic. What they say and what they do are very different things.
I believe there are Republicans who believe what they say and that they are saying the right things most of the time: Rand Paul, Mike Lee, maybe Marco Rubio. Opinions might differ in regard to Cruz or Cheney or Cotton or Sasse or Jim Jordon, et al. And there are also grifters who get so wrapped up in winning a position at the federal trough that they ignore any sense of honor they might have previously possessed (per Mark’s comment below).
For Republicans, with a reputation for supporting business, what they fail to grasp is their focus should be on minimizing externalities and other distortions of the marketplace, keeping it as free as possible. Not on supporting particular businesses, rent seekers, or even whole industry groups. They should come closer to the Edmond Burke view that a representative provides his best judgement and experience on behalf of the nation as a whole, which may occasionally conflict with what appears short term to be beneficial to his constituents. E.g., how many Iowa or other farm belt legislators have taken positions against the economic, scientific, and moral problems associated with ethanol subsidies?
Too many Republicans are also lawyers or miseducated economists, who adopt flawed thinking about the role of Keynesian fiscal stimulus as the sources of job creation, rather than innovation and entrepreneurship. I don’t hear anyone advocating for the removal of “maintaining full employment” from the charter of the Federal Reserve. They have enough to do just keeping the dollar pricing/value level stable.
(Ideally – yeah, I know!) they should approach their prospective donors with “here are my positions on the issues – I hope you concur. If you don’t, I will understand your supporting other candidates instead. But just because you donate to my campaign, do not expect me to favor your special interests or causes over that of the general populace or marketplace.” Any responsible and patriotic donor should appreciate that whatever slice of the basket of issues his rent seeking might impact, it is a small fraction of what should be of concern to a national legislative agenda. …. So, Hello, Choir.
Sorry Scott but I have to say this …
You’re living in denial. Denial of the reality that the world has turned under your feet. You’re doing the same thing that the left does but with different colors on the same canvas. You’re looking at the political world the way you would like it to be not the way it is.
On a level playing field your principles would have a fighting chance. There is no longer any level playing field because the media has tipped the balance drastically. “Dignity” is weaponized against us (as are many other conservative virtues) when the other side refuses to respond in kind.
The press fawned over AOC and her empty accusations against Ted Cruz as she made him out to have attempted her murder. The mainstream press completely ignored the fact that AOC lied, was never in any physical danger and wasn’t even in or near the Capitol Building during the riot she claims Ted Cruz bears responsibility over and nearly resulted in her death.
The lying, preening jerk of a drama queen wins because the deck is stacked in her favor. She’s going to keep winning as long as that condition prevails.
You’re still playing political chess when the other side has made politics a blood sport. You can move your board pieces around with staid, stoic dignity and principled fairness all you like. It won’t matter if you don’t see the barbarian with a sword sneaking up behind you and that barbarian doesn’t give a fig for your chess pieces. IN FACT that barbarian hopes like hell you’ll keep your eyes firmly glued to the chess board and make the job of stabbing you in the back so much easier thereby.
Sadly, what has been lost with most all politician and pretty much of all bureaucracy is honor.
This meeting was a photo op. Biden likes to be that guy everyone likes, so they picked a group of Repubs who were mostly in agreement with him with only a few minor disagreements. Those R’s also don’t have real decision making power in the Senate. Note that neither McConnell nor Thune were invited. This wasn’t a negotiation. It was tea.
Scott, I think the days of being able to do as you’ve said are long gone on the federal level. Sure, you can go into that office showing your opponent that you’re a man of integrity, but as soon as you step out of the office, not only is the news media going to label you as a racist misogynistic werewolf, but your opponent will echo the exact same thing on their twitter account. Don’t believe me?
Let us consider, as a microcosm of this discussion, the episode between Ted Cruz and AOC two weeks ago. AOC rightfully made comments on her twitter handle condemning the retaliatory measures Wallstreet took against the Gamestop a few weeks ago; she indicated their needed to be Congressional hearings. Ted Cruz agreed with her 100%. AOC turns around and slams Ted Cruz by calling him an attempted-murderer, but that she didn’t want his support and that he needed to resign.The news media praised her for her “courageous remarks.”
I think the Bible gives the best piece of advice with regards to how to handle stuff like this: Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces. (Matthew 7:6).
Scott, what you’re forgetting is those 10 Senators that went to the WH did so even though they KNOW that President Asterisk has NO integrity, NO ethics, NO morals, and NO credibility.
One does not have to be a “preening jerk” to announce opposition to any policy. Going to the WH and presenting your hand in the form of a handshake does nothing but strut to the photo op. If I were one of 50 Senators in the minority, and I knew President Asterisk from my previous encounters with him when he was Veep and Senator, and I knew that he was a corrupt liar, plagiarist, and gaffe monkey, I could bank on that experience and take actions reflecting that experience and with what my constituents want. I don’t need to go to the WH to do those things. That word “preening” usually happens inside the Oval Office, btw.
Spending another $2 trillion and have the absolute lion’s share go to pork — and very little go to the people who could actually use the money — is not where I come from. In that sense, Steve is on point by saying if the damned government would just get out of the way and let the economy do what it does when you leave it alone, that money could be used to spend down the mountainous debt we already have.
I’m with Bill on this. Scott, what you said sounds nice but I think it’s a bunch of horse pucky. Here’s another platitude, Nice guys get screwed. Pelosi, Maxine Waters, AOC — they’re not nice guys — they got elected. Hell, Trump is not a nice guy. A blowhard. Just happens to be my blowhard, with ideas that I mostly agree with. Stick with what you say and treat others pretty much the way they treat you. Then others are a little more careful about what they say. I know it’s with us, but God, I hate politics.
I agree completely. The United States has historically had a policy of never negotiating with terrorists; however, those same adversaries now control the White House, Congress and much of the Senate. These people in power are bent upon the destruction of our beloved nation with the intent to further their perverted pursuits of power and wealth.
I just noticed that the video embeds here are now via Rumble instead of YouTube – nice!
Good point. YT is the repository of fascism, especially when you espouse conservatism or – God forbid – start talking about a stolen election.
Nice, but I miss the YouTube links to random videos.
A price well worth paying to preserve liberty.
I’m SO excited not to have to watch the vids on YT. Now I can completely ban that insidious monster from my life. 🙂
De Fletcher, A GREAT BIG HEARTY “HELL YEAH” to your post.
Alan K: you can end up wasting a lot of time going down the rabbit holes provided by those enticing random videos. Guilty as charged! 🙂
But Rumble will have to gain a major increase in users before they can compete with YT on the thousands (millions?) of nonpolitical videos of interest: historical, appliance and vehicle repair, entertainment, etc. But having a pro 1st Amendment option for political expression is still very valuable and needs to be supported and encouraged. Having our Congress face some reality around Section 230 reform legislation would be nice, too.