State of emergency
Apparently, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) warned her colleagues to pass the CR or else:
“He will declare a state of emergency,” the senator told her colleagues, seemingly referring to a potential action President Trump might take if Congress does not pass a spending bill before the government runs out of funding midnight Friday.”
LOL! “potential”? “might”? Does anyone seriously believe that Trump *won’t* declare a state of emergency if the Democrats pass the CR? Will democrats now be willing hostages indefinitely to the threat of a Trump state of emergency for anything he deems emergent before he heads off to the golf course?
Here’s Josh Marshall with a non-PC metaphor that nails the Democratic position: “Indeed, as a whole it’s a bit like sitting in the mess hall in Treblinka planning an escape when someone says, “But if we try to escape they’ll kill us all!”
I’ve been a Democrat all my life. My party has done a number of embarrassing things, but this failure to resist has made me ashamed of my party. Now they plan to govern while cowering? Why bother to hold power if you don’t use it?
Yes, I’ve read that DOGE wants a shutdown so (a) they can blame the Democrats and (b) if it goes on for more than 30 days, it will make the firings easier.
If you look at the, you know, actual history of shutdowns, it’s the GOP who got blamed. And if you think that increasing unemployment is good for the American economy, you need to take remedial Econ 101. Democratic Party leadership is GOP lite. To me, *that’s* the real emergency. Shame.
The real emergency is not seeing the end game which is replacing the current financial system and the dollar with an oligarch controlled crypto system that is global in its reach (and in many ways already is) and totally outside government controls or regulations even as it free-rides on US power, the dollar and the treasury market. While all the chaos goes on the infra-structure (SWF) is being implemented. At least half of the cabinet hold crypto; so does trump and his family; Musk and Bannon. It is the reason trump pardoned Ulbricht.
Decimating the government is key as is creating a recession and the devaluation of assets essential to banking stability because the point is destabilizing Federal Reserve dominance.
Think of it this way, the new money billionaire cadre (Musk, Bezo, Zuckerburg, Brin, et al.) are tired of paying tribute to the banks and think others should pay it to them instead.
They are ego/drug-fueled enough to believe in their power and this is their shot at creating a “new world order.”
We are in the grip of crazy and hence all the crazy talk which is just a distraction from the even crazier goal.
Sounds utterly ridiculous; but it’s where all the pieces of the crazy puzzle line up (including the supposed power struggles among Bannon, Musk, & Miller who all on board with crypto).
dd:
That is a sound recital by you. Is anybody else touting this? I am not arguing against your assertion. I am wondering if others see this as an issue or a plan by Repubs.
@Bill,
I’ve seen similar projections online.
Joel:
Good morning.
It has been a while since I have read a “dd” comment. I am sure you may be seeing similar (or thinking) as what is being stated. We are too occupied with the present and not looking ahead of where this is going. I am just citing what I believe dd is saying and what you potentially are seeing also. A few will be empowered and the rest of us knaves the sheep. Unless, something changes with the people who bought into this.
It is not too late yet. Just pontificating as an elder should be doing. I could be wrong or overly worried.
I follow markets a lot as it was part of my work and became my hobby. I’ve posted this kind of thing before on at Krugman but more in jest as it seems so far out; but if you consider that Bessent was with Soros and involved in the pound plunder then it makes sense and especially having read Soros “Toward a New World Order” many moons ago.
This is the New World Order.2 but with a total restructuring. The bankers are out and the techno class (via crypto) will reorder the system and the power structures to their benefit. They have a front man, they have innumerable distractions, they’ve taken over the biggest payment system in the world, if they take out the economy and blame the Fed (reminding everyone of the huge bailout); then everything is “disrupted” enough to introduce a US crypto platform.
Crazy yes; but “value” and “wealth” are wholly human social constructs; so then it’s easy to create fictious instruments that have “value” ie CDS, CDOs, Leveraged ETFs, bitcoin, meme coins. The key is to chain to already existing recognized “money” ie the USD and Treasuries to the new instruments and then infer government back stopping. The 2007 crisis was about new instruments ie CDO, MBS and CDS that had no government backing but ended up having a 100% payout via the taxpayer (see AIG) and Fed balance sheet that still has MBS on the books.
This is a battle of the big players and we’re just the immiserated pawns.
JMHO
dd:
I just placed the link (George Soros) into the title. It works. So, not to worry! I think you have such an ability too where you highlight the title and click on “Link” and paste the URL in the appropriate place on “Link.”
@dd,
“This is a battle of the big players and we’re just the immiserated pawns.”
Yes. But Trump and Musk think they can control it. They can’t.
I agree with James Carvel; sit back and let Trump, DOGE, Musk, and MAGA do the damage. Voice opposition but let it happen. If Democrats succeed in stopping half of the Trump agenda, Trump will blame Democrats for the failed outcome. And the low information voters will agree with Trump.
Veterans support for Trump is 60%. Let him cut the VA. Rural support for Trump is overwhelming. Let him cut Medicaid and close rural hospitals. It is unfortunate but it has to hurt before people will wake up.
Mark:
Veterans seem to always like the tough speaking guys. Trump has never soiled his hands yet. He talks big and someone else does the dirty work. I would not trust his orders. Hegseth is not much better even after serving. His worries are how you look and not what you did. He scrapped a lot of talent that would know what he is doing is wrong.
Then there is the Corporal. How do you serve 4 years, been in a combat connected part of the world, and leave the military as a corporal after 4 years? Maybe I was in the wrong Corps? Or they saw value in a 22-year-old who was an E-5 after 25 months.
Sen. Gillibrand’s warning that Trump would declare a state of emergency was probably right, and Joel’s warning that he will do it anyway is probably correct also. But I believe it would have been so much easier under the guise and chaos of a government shutdown, which would have been clearly blamed on the Democrats.
Schumer is really taking a beating from Progressives, which I expected, & the media, which talks of “throwing in the towel,” “waiving the white flag,” “caving,” and the like. Also, many pundits that I respected are jumping on. I even got a funding text from one of many Democratic groups that have my number entitled, “F**ck Schumer.”
While I understand the frustration, I still think the anger & hostility is shortsighted. Trump’s doubling down on his idiotic proposals is pushing the Trump-Musk-MAGA movement to a breaking point. After a devastating week on Wall Street, I think the 600+ uptick in the Dow on Friday was mostly due to the relief that there isn’t going to be a shutdown, not any strength of Trump’s policies, which are driving the markets crazy.
So, with the government shutdown averted, the Trump-Musk-MAGA “Administration” keeps functioning on its accelerating, self-destructing, wildly chaotic trajectory toward disaster. Meanwhile, the courts are still working & public opposition is growing daily.
Of course, Democrats are angry because, in their shortsighted view, Schumer appears to be supporting Trump. But he isn’t. I thought Senator Schumer’s floor speech explaining his reasoning was pretty good (https://tinyurl.com/ms7c82e). It’s keeping Democrats out of the blame for the chaos & from being labeled as co-conspirators to the Trump madness in government. It is also just a CR until September. Considering the current momentum, by that time, the Trump “Administration” may have completely imploded.
Trump is killing himself with obvious lies, idiotic tariffs, racist actions, insane foreign government takeover proposals, demeaning and betraying allies, threatening NATO, disrespecting veterans, attacks on political enemies & media, Hitler-type racist rants, and numerous other outrageous actions that are upsetting and infuriating the domestic and world order.
Looking toward the midterms, while the Democratic activists may be mad, are they going to vote Republican or not vote in an election if they have an opportunity to take over Congress? I don’t think so. But what about the 50% of Independents that lean Democratic and the 20+% of the GOP “never Trumpers”, and even the non-activists that call themselves Democrats? How would they have felt if the Democrats had shut down the government? A government shutdown with no clear way to get out of it and a madman at the helm could have delivered all kinds of hell that we can’t even imagine, including a declaration of Martial Law and/or a State of Emergency. At least now, we still have some basic systems in place like the courts and the right to protest. The country is angry as hell. Public opposition and protests are growing daily, and we’re beginning to win some major cases in the courts, and none of the disruption or bullshit can be blamed on the Democrats.
While there are many, many bad outcomes from a government shutdown, one of the worst could have been its effect on the judicial & legal system. Unlike executive branch agencies, the federal courts can continue operations for about two weeks following a government shutdown. Civil cases, on the other hand, often experience significant delays. Imposing a moratorium on civil trials has been suggested as a money-saving measure in a prior shutdown. Trump would have certainly supported, and SCOTUS probably would have called for a moratorium on all civil cases. That action alone could have immediately stopped 117 lawsuits against the “Administration” and the new ones being added daily.
In cases where an attorney from an Executive Branch agency is not working because of the shutdown, hearing and filing dates may be rescheduled. Trump could have said there are no funds for the government attorney and legal proceedings would be delayed.
Research says that for the federal courts, a funding lapse would be uncharted territory. The Supreme Court and each circuit court, district court, and bankruptcy court would have a lot of discretion to determine which employees count as “essential” or “non-essential.” So, the courts could end up acting very differently, and the ones that like Trump could really mess things up.
Here’s How a Shutdown Could Affect the Courts
How a U.S. Government Shutdown Impacts Courts & Access to Justice