Instead of Draining the Swamp, the GOP is Greasing the Wheels

[Draggingtree]

Mises:

Instead of Draining the Swamp, the GOP is Greasing the Wheels

16 hours ago Tho Bishop

 

Donald Trump may have found electoral success campaigning as a political outsider ready to “drain the swamp,” but his first week as President-elect indicates that a Trump administration may prove to be a stimulus for action in Washington. In stark contrast to the legislative gridlock we’ve seen since the 2010 midterms, now that the GOP has full control of all three branches of government, we should be prepared for of flurry of legislative activity to emerge from the beltway.

 

This would explain not only Trump’s hire of RNC chair Reince Priebus as his chief of staff, an establishment bridge to Congress for the former populist candidate, but also the news today that Republicans will be voting on eliminating the ban on earmarks that was put in place in 2011. This would be a move enthusiastically celebrated in Washington by those who consider legislative inaction a truly terrible thing, since earmarks were among the most effective ways to bribe politicians to support bills they otherwise wouldn’t. In exchange for a wavering member’s support, an earmark ensured that their home district would receive a lucrative project. Earmarks were responsible for the infamous Alaska’s “bridge to nowhere” among a variety of other examples of absurd government waste.

 

[Draggingtree]

7 Takeaways From Trump’s First Week As President-Elect

By Steve Berman | November 16, 2016, 09:07am

 

It’s been a week since Donald Trump won the election. Here are some key takeaways that can lend us some clues as to what we can expect moving forward, and some we can extrapolate for the next four years.

 

Actually, it’s mostly good news.

 

You might think that’s either too obvious or not pertinent, but it’s important. That first visit to the Oval Office seems to have had an effect. There he learned the scope of what the President of the United States does, and it may have humbled him a bit. The fact that a thousand people will need to be ready to start work on January 20 is sinking in, and Trump is working hard to play catch up.

 

Trying is 80 percent of the job. It’s not necessarily a bad thing to have someone with very little conception of the actual duties and pressures learn the position. As long as he tries.

 

One of Trump’s first acts was to can Chris Christie as head of the transition team. The reason: Christie loaded the team with lobbyists and some political hacks. Were they “bad people?” http://theresurgent.com/7-takeaways-from-trumps-first-week-as-president-elect/