As part of his regular morning program to insult the nation, Donald Trump said he was meeting with Democratic leaders to discuss the tax bill and what needs to be done to avoid a government shutdown.
But maybe he should have checked his calendar first to see if anyone agreed to heed his summons. Because Sen. Schumer and Congresswoman Pelosi just blew him off.
“Given that the President doesn’t see a deal between Democrats and the White House, we believe the best path forward is to continue negotiating with our Republican counterparts in Congress instead. Rather than going to the White House for a show meeting that won’t result in an agreement, we’ve asked Leader McConnell and Speaker Ryan to meet this afternoon. We don’t have any time to waste in addressing the issues that confront us, so we’re going to continue to negotiate with Republican leaders who may be interested in reaching a bipartisan agreement.
Ryan and McConnell know they need Democratic help. Republicans haven’t been able to even move a spending bill out of the House since the tea party “not one dime for government … except my salary” faction moved in. The only person who’s not worth talking with is Trump—who will sign anything that hits his desk.
Trump isn’t about to veto a spending bill that comes up through the Congress. He’s so desperate to have an “accomplishment” to call his own that he’s already linking to crazy conspiracy theory sites just because one of their crazy theories is that Trump has actually done something.
Tuesday, Nov 28, 2017 · 5:30:34 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner
Now the Republican leadership has decided not to offend Trump by not meeting with the Democratic leadership.
Trump has said he won’t make a deal. And now Ryan and McConnell want to blame the Democrats for not being willing to make a deal.
The only thing that Republicans can accomplish on their own is a shutdown. Which could be what they want … but if they get it, they will own it.
Even if a deal is reached at the 11th hour, the prospect of a government shutdown could rattle financial markets. In the event that a shutdown were to occur, the results would likely be disastrous for Republicans heading into the 2018 midterm elections.