109 Comments

What a bunch of BS, Chris. Trust Republicans with the economy? Never. Every recession was caused by Republicans in the modern era, followed by a Democratic President who got us out of it.

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founding

Chris Cilliza is once again parrotING the MAGA talking points.Did you see him mention any of the numerous Biden's accomplishmention? No. I agree with it's all BS is spewing out

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Please consider that Chris is giving us intelligence about the Republicans. Consider this all a balanced article, and you will be satisfied with the information you have learned.

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Good point.

Having said that, the tone I read in the article is one that leans toward Trump, in an attempt to seem “balanced.”

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Good take.Yes,Chris points to certain factors that should favor Rs. But here are other factors Chris&we should consider. First, the pre-Harris polling re Joe's approval, economy, etc were affected by unhappiness w/Joe's running again& his inability to deliver messages effectively, including re the economy. Second, even b4 Kamala, Ds were ahead in Sen races in several swing states, including AZ,PA, NV, &even Ohio, which is no longer a swing state. Ds in those states,& now Kamala, are ahead b/c Trump has led the Rs into a fetid pool of insanity. Ds' social/economic agenda& some semblance of optimism, are winning the day.

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Chris is being, what the Soviets used to call, a “useful idiot.”

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What crap. The American economy is the strongest in the world, border crossings are down thanks to the executive order Biden HAD to make, because the Republicans refused to table the bill they helped put together. Trump was certainly the dumbest candidate they could have picked, but by then any genuine Republicans had fled the fold.

The media continue t paint the economy and border as the election points, while actual Americans will be voting on freedom and decency. On that alone Biden would still have won.

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A large part of the challenge that the Harris-Walz ticket has regarding the economy is that a super large portion of the American public is myopically focused on the here-and-now. They are upset by the higher prices they're seeing at the supermarket and in restaurants RIGHT NOW, but don't open their viewing horizon to see that all of this originated in the global economic crash that took place during the pandemic. They also can't see (or refuse to) that a significant chunk of these price hikes are due to price gouging by corporations. These same corporations enjoyed record-breaking profitability during this period, and rewarded their own executives with obscene bonuses, and stockholders with dividends and stock buy-backs. Prices could be much lower for millions of consumers if it wasn't for a handful of greedy corporate executives.

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Awesome $120B bill where $20B went to border and $60B went to Ukraine. Republicans were right not to pass this pork for Ukraine.

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Aug 10·edited Aug 10

You are thinking of a previous bill.

The bill in question, produced by gop Senator Lanford, addressed all the gop concerns about the border. It provided much needed funds for the border, like for more border patrol agents, more immigration judges, more detention spaces, it reduced the number of qualifications for asylum, and much more. But the gop House refused to even read the bill because djt told them not to fix anything at the border before November because he wants to use the border issue in his campaign!

So much for a border "crisis" that the gop had been crying about, and the supposed murderers etc coming over the border, the gop refused to lift a finger to fix anything at the border before November!

And, in case you did not notice, the Ukraine funding passed seperatley later on, with a bi-partisan vote!

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It was introduced in the Senate and failed to pass…why would the house read it?

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And, they would read it because they had been crying for months and months that there was a terrible crisis at the border that needed to be fixed! But, once some bi-partissn solutions were put on the table, they rejected it, not because they disagreed with the solutions, but because djt said NOT TO FIX ANYTHING at the border BEFORE NOVEMBER so that he could use the border issue in his campaign! Gee, how djt and the gop care about protecting the border communities, they refuse to even lift a finger to help until after November!!

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Aug 10·edited Aug 10

Lol, it passed the Senate in a bi-partisan vote. The House rejected it BEFORE the Senate even published it and sent it to the House.

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WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate failed Thursday to advance a border security bill as both parties seek to hone their messages on immigration policy in the runup to November’s elections.

The Senate bill failed to advance on a 43-50 procedural vote.

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Aug 10·edited Aug 10

"The vote caps an embarrassing week for Senate Republicans, after Republicans who said they would not aid U.S. allies before addressing the influx of migrants at the U.S. border promptly slammed the very deal they had demanded hours after it was released. Former president Donald Trump, who has made the border a core campaign issue, criticized and mischaracterized the bill, arguing that only reelecting him president can fix the border, which contributed to its rapid collapse of support.

In an angry floor speech ahead of the vote, Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), the bill’s chief GOP negotiator, said he was disappointed that some of his colleagues were deciding not to try to solve the border crisis simply because it’s a presidential election year. Lankford also said he was threatened by a “popular commentator,” who told him, “If you try to move a bill that solves the border crisis during this presidential year, I will do whatever I can to destroy you.”

"Sunday morning, there was a real crisis at the border. Monday morning, that crisis magically disappeared,” said Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), who helped negotiate the deal with Lankford. “It turns out border security is not actually a risk to our national security. It’s just a talking point for the election.”

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The border security deal was part of a $118 billion national security supplemental package that included $60 billion for Ukraine, $14 billion in security assistance for Israel and $10 billion for humanitarian assistance for civilians in Gaza, the West Bank and Ukraine.

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Aug 10·edited Aug 10

The Senate Langford bill that the House rejected before even reading it, had no funds in it for Ukraine. It was a border security bill, period. Go read it, or go read about it from legit sources, so you won't sound so clueless going forward.

There had been a previous border bill which included Ukraine funds because lawmakers were desperately trying to fund Ukraine but the gop kept refusing, and they thought if the Ukraine funds were included in a border bill the gop could not refuse to ok it.

The Langford bill took out all the Ukraine funding, addressed all the gop concerns about the southern border, and the gop House rejected it because djt said not to fix the border before November so he could use the issue in his campaign!

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So you're a Russian apologist? And, BTW, where did the other $40B go?

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Dawn, he's trolling us. Just ignore him.

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A Russian apologist is someone who simply didn’t care when Putin annexed parts of the Ukraine under Obama and Biden in 2014, but suddenly care after Putin re-attacked i

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Just a quick question, who was President and Vice President when Russia annexed the Ukraine in 2014?

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It is the definition of pork to bake in $60B for foreign aid for Ukraine and $20B for the USA’s border and name it a Border Bill. This was a political stunt by Biden and Dems. If you believe giving $60B to Ukraine is important…put it on a distinct bill. Please perform your own research on the bill’s breakdown.

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Aug 10·edited Aug 10

Ukraine funding passed later, standing alone, not in any border bill, in a bi-partisan vote! Funding aid for an ally at war is not pork! Gop and democrats have both voted funding for Ukraine ever since putin illegally invaded Ukraine in an unprovoked attack. Those are facts. Deal with it.

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They passed most of the Ukraine funding. This bill was purely the border. More personnel to process people faster and spread further along the border.

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You’re literally asking yourself if Trump is BLOWING IT? Has he ever been NOT BLOWING IT? WTF is this? The stock market is CRUSHING IT. Inflation is going DOWN. We had a global pandemic, remember? The one that Trump BLEW the response to? That one? The one that had killed 400 THOUSAND Americans by the time he left office? And then staged a coup?

Biden’s economic policies have steered us out of the fallout from the pandemic. This whole line that Trump and the GOP are great on the economy is total BS. The US has the strongest economy in the world.

It’s surreal that you’re asking if Trump is BLOWING it on the same day you wrote “66 LINES…..”.

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Some how because it isn’t todays breaking news Chris suggests it is that people don’t like Donald and not that he is a rapist, insurrectionist, stole classified documents, a climate change denier, Putin buddy, anti NATO, wants to be a dictator, got hundreds of thousands dead with his covid response, caused a huge deficit with his tax cuts, tried to steal the election, endless liar, a business fraud, ended Roe, wants to end healthcare and social security, backs project 2025, and paid $130,000 and committed 34 felonies to hide that when Melania had a baby he had sex with Stormy D. The media hasn’t picked up yet that he was buddies with Epstein. … oh he’s a racist and demented.

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As Rick Wilson has analyzed in his Substack, the stolen valor argument is BS (my term not Rick’s). Why is there a discussion at all about this non issue when Trump evaded service with bogus unsupported bone spurs snd has on multiple occasions trashed snd insulted those who served and could not visit a WW1 cemetery in France because the rain might muss the orange raccoon on his head? Trump’s express concern was a “war injury” of STDs potentially acquired in the sordid club life of Manhatta? Chris, why are you not discussing that? The attack on Walz who served honorably for 25 years gives you context to do so. Let’s stop normalizing Trump and his MAGA thugs.

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Perception made by decades of propaganda and a GOP that has NO intention of solving anything at the border. This is their campaign money maker, their top fear threat, Speaker Boehner (GOP) and Speaker Johnson GOP) would not even move a bipartisan Senate bill to the House for a discussion or debate. Then, come election time, the Democrats are soft on the borer. Chris, you can put this in the GOP column, but please, for your readers that are smarter and more aware, don’t phrase it as the GOP is stronger on immigration issues. They had and have continued to dupe their Fox watching constituents that this is true. Please…. this is the number one LIE they continue to harp on. Journalists need to start calling them out on it, and we (thinking people) need to share it with our friends and family who won’t change the channel that this is just BS…..

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Chris,

You are so full of manure.

Kinsinger, who served in the military explained all of Walz’s decisions. There are not “on the line.” They are well within bounds.

Cut the crap.

Honestly, you sound like a Republican hack.

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Sigh. Really? Don’t make me regret subscribing.

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Aug 10·edited Aug 10

Swift Boat version II looks like a bust...or as the Politico reports...

"WHAT CHRIS LaCIVITA ISN’T READING — As Walz continues to face a barrage of attacks from Vance on the legitimacy of his military record, the WSJ editorial board (Fox News in print form) nudges Trump’s campaign to move on from the allegations, noting that “the charges leveled so far about his military service look like ‘thin gruel,’ as our friends at the New York Sun put it.”

Make no mistake, this smearing of Tim Walz's sterling, honorable 24 year years of unblemished service is pretty transparently bullcrap and deeply disgusting.

Adam Kinzinger ex-GOP congressman run out of the party because he refused to lie and kiss Trump's butt, being a very rare breed...a principled conservative Republican and vet, had this to say...

The Swiftboating of Walz is Sick, Inacurate, and Will Fail

Weak men attack stronger men to make themselves feel better

https://adamkinzinger.substack.com/p/the-swiftboating-of-walz-is-sick

Perfect illustration of the GOP's PHONY support and respect for the military.

How would the GOP react to this HYPOTHETICAL attack on JD Vance???...

'JD Vance retired after only four years in the military, leaving his fellow Marines fighting a war in Iraq, while he rushed back home to take advantage of the newly expanded GI Bill (supported by then Rep Tim Walz) so he could suck off the government teat to pay for his Ivy League Yale law degree'

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Swift Boat? John Kerry threw away his medals as a public protest then tried to run upon his medals 30 years later…wonders why his fellow veterans are opposed to his presidential campaign.

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Chris, Chris, Chris, she said, shaking her head sadly. You completely ignored the point that this election is not so much about the issues (if it was, the Dems win running away), as it is about the idea that democracy is on the line.

Interesting that in your analysis you completely fail to mention Project 2025 and the GOP/trump plan to take over the country in a way that would ensure they’d never give it up. Others below are saying much of what I’d add, so I won’t.

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Chris missed so many key points. He must have been tired when he wrote this.

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Or he is just trying to shape the narrative to fit his world view.

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I don’t know. I’ve read this blog for a long time and I’m not aware of any political bias. He makes political observations. The only narrative I’ve observed is his personal struggles.

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founding

No, he has not tired. He has always meant everything he wrote in that post. When someone tells you who they are, believe them

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The quote actually is “when somebody tells you who they are, believe them.” Chris was not writing about himself.

Secondly as others have pointed out, democracy and abortion are two critical issues and cuts left both off his list of factors in voters’ minds. Saw a poll today that shows young voters, actually the largest block of voters (this ain’t 2016) overwhelmingly g believe Harris will do a better job with the economy. I suppose if you are in the 1% that may not be your thinking, but for most Americans Trump will screw them. An independent analysis of project 2025 suggest the taxes will increase by nearly $3000 for the average middle class family under their proposed tax plan on the other hand, millionaires and billionaires will make out like bandits.

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My guess is, going forward, it will be very hard for a President, any President, aside from a national crisis and an initial honeymoon, to get an approval rating over 50%. Everything is so polarized, the ratings seem set in stone. The fact that Biden (an accomplished President) has the same basic approval rating similar to Trump (a lunatic) tells you everything you need to know.

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Chris, I'll put my money on any Democrat beating any Republican in the popular vote in the presidential races going forward for the foreseeable future. And with that most of the time they will win the electoral college. 2016 was a fluke, and 2000 was decided by the Supreme Court. Dems have the advantage at the federal level. Repubs are there to muck up the system at the federal kevel They have become a states' rights party. Trump is their last best hope of getting to the White House and he is blowing it.

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Seriously Chris, the republicans are better on everything? Please try to remember what the Biden administration has managed to pass. I don’t recall an infrastructure bill getting done, or the CHIPS Act for starters. As for Trump, he has no policy other than what benefits him. This article is nonsense. If Trump loses, and he will, it won’t be just because he’s such as despicable human being as is Vance, it will also be based on his utter contempt for the rule of law and the constitution. Give me a break.

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You may be forgetting about Trump's highly successful and history-setting Infrastructure Week.

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Trust Trump w/ the economy??? Let's consider his track record of fraud: Trump U, Atlantic City, Trump Shuttle. Now DJT enterprises has a market cap of 5 billion and just reported a loss on the quarter of 16 million with meager revenues -- well under 1 million. That's laughable.

Harris/ Walz need to address valid concerns, but also educate re the economy. No credible economist will declare this to be anything but a generally good economy. Powell has said just that. Job growth and GDP growth have been steady. Inflation was a world wide problem caused in large part by the Covid close-down, re-opening, and then supply side issues. It was fueled in part by government spending under both Biden and Trump. That spending kept a lot of people out of poverty. An under-reported and poorly understood fact is that Trump's policies set the stage for inflation. He cut taxes while increasing spending; he lobbied for a weak dollar; he imposed tariffs and launched trade wars that did little but drive up prices.

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One of the first things Trump will do is fire Jerome Powell. He wants control of the fed and he’s even said so this week Main Street media never reported on this, but Trump‘s job owing of the Fed during his first administration bringing interest rates to almost 0 was a huge factor in housing inflation. People purchased houses way beyond their means and refinancing existing homes and the price of real estate just kept climbing rapidly. Trump should be held responsible. Nobody holds him responsible for things that he does from Covid which nobody talks about today and was a case of horrendous mismanagement on his part to our relations with Putin and Ukraine, which again he put America on the wrong side of history.

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FWIW, it’s not at all clear Trump could fire Powell absent good cause

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Good grief! Chris writes: "What if I told you that: the incumbent president’s approval rating has been stuck in the high 30s for more than a year." Has Chris looked at the polls since President Biden pulled out of the race?? Does Chris understand just how good the economy is in our country these days?? Did Chris notice that the stock market recovered everything it lost on Monday and, BTW, there were some good explanations for what happened Monday and one of those explanations was NOT "recession." It has not been a completely rational, accurate or perceptive week for "So What?".

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If the Republicans were actually still the GOP of old and they had flushed Trump and his MAGA movement in 2021 they would win the coming election in a historic landslide. How those bozos fail to see that is astounding. (Keep nominating the most toxic and felonious individual in the history of your Party. What could go wrong?) The Dems can thank their lucky stars for that stupidity.

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Given one who keeps trying to get paid subscribers to his sthick, what can you expect? Time to get back to your original content.can’t see any room for your positioning except maybe to pay your bills,shame,shame !

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