August 24, 2017

Donald Trump and the Debt Ceiling: Stupid or Evil?

The latest from America’s tweeter-in-chief:

And now the eternal question: stupid or evil? Does Trump really have no idea that tying it to the VA bill would have just meant the VA bill failed? Does he really have no idea that the main holdup is among Republicans? Does he really have no idea that a big reason for this holdup is that his own OMB director rallied the lunatic troops into action until he was finally reined in a few weeks ago?¹ Does he really have no idea that McConnell and Ryan haven’t even seriously discussed this with Democrats yet?

Or does he know all that stuff and he’s just lying about it? In this case, I’m going to vote for stupid. I think he truly has no idea how this stuff works.

¹Mulvaney was all-in on the proposition that Democrats should agree to huge spending cuts in return for raising the debt ceiling. This has now become a rallying cry among ultras in the House. It’s unclear why they think Dems should do anything but laugh at this.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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