HERE'S YOUR BARGAINING CHIP, MR. PRESIDENT: "Democrats Unveil Bill to Raise Federal Minimum Wage to $15" https://t.co/XUOYzA1d2I Give Dems a minimum wage hike in exchange for the wall. Think outside Lindsey's box!
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) January 16, 2019
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
Um, Hillary Clinton https://t.co/D8QUzQKkg2 https://t.co/Qe75HyiWFc
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) January 16, 2019
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
Looks to me like figure would be around 590,000 if you take the 60,782 figure from this release https://t.co/B41oFvKcqk and plug it into this chart https://t.co/2Sq9Q9CsSw FY2019 still on track to surpass even 2014 surge, when "amnesty" talk was omnipresent. https://t.co/Llboo643NY
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) January 16, 2019
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
This *would* be 3D chess … https://t.co/g30SInFhBR
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) January 16, 2019
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
What would help prevent deaths? A border wall in remote areas (as well as near towns). Like a fence around a swimming pool to keep people from drowning. https://t.co/elk0a7DAbN
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) January 16, 2019
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
Which way is the ski rental? https://t.co/WiJ6pcDkr0
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) January 16, 2019
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
Up 5 points from August. Meanwhile the % who think government is doing too *much* is down 6, to 28%. Theory:
When people talk about immigration, the "control" side gains–and shutdown is keeping them talking about immigration. At some point Chuck/Nancy may have enough. https://t.co/k2s8dmC9cS— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) January 16, 2019
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
If only there were some policy that could keep labor markets tight even if the economy cools a bit…. I mean, we have to let all our people –citizens, legal residents — get jobs. But what about … [just trying to think this through here ]… https://t.co/EtuEoi3V4C
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) January 16, 2019
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
Again, Trump is delivering on his most basic promise: "[A]fter 35 years of essentially flat wages — are finally clawing back real added income, Last year, wages grew by 3.2%, the biggest increase since 2009 and a full 1.2% higher than inflation," https://t.co/dSy5p3GCRJ
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) January 16, 2019
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
They could bring back only those federal employees who spark joy.
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) January 16, 2019
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
Specifically grounds his New Constituion in globalism ("military presence in over 170 countries … trading relationships")? https://t.co/JtX8xMr1t2
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) January 16, 2019
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
More nostalgia for the Days of the Gang of 8, when bipartisan statesmen convened to con the public into a giant amnesty & immigration increase with fake promises of enforcement. Swamp at its finest https://t.co/8BBO4SJfKu https://t.co/eoPB5Z4m9w
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) January 16, 2019
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
‘Safe’ Border City Awash in Rio Grande Crime Wave https://t.co/pylOkCtZnj "[T]he actual crime rate is higher than official statistics let on….[C]rimes – even violent ones – are not always reported."
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) January 15, 2019
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
That will require retraining the manatees https://t.co/KkPngqHa4x
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) January 15, 2019
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
"The Postman Always Rings Twice" https://t.co/jlmQj97x5E
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) January 15, 2019
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
The so-crazy-it-can't-possibly-work-but-it's-deliciously-subversive possibility would be if the savings (in salary, or heating bills, or whatever) from furloughing all these workers and de facto shrinking government could somehow be used to … fund the Wall. https://t.co/XTPwtuebxP
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) January 15, 2019
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
Doesn't it seem like if you really wanted to woo away moderate House Dems you wouldn't invite them to a WH meeting where they have to openly defy Pelosi even to attend? You'd have discreet meetings with them out of the spotlight–eg on the Hill. https://t.co/m5q6vuJaZ4
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) January 15, 2019
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
Not saying I endorse this approach. But having worked in federal government** (briefly) I don't think it's crazy.
** — I was, in retrospect, an extremely non-essential employee. https://t.co/WGbL9UaNJo
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) January 15, 2019
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
"We do not want most employees to return, because we are working better without them." This is an old Charles Peters/@washmonthly point, known as the "Czech Embassy" story–when that embassy was forced to operate on a crew of 1/3 of its staff, and worked better than with 3/3. https://t.co/JaoykO01Vf
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) January 15, 2019
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
Could shutdown be an end in itself? If you keep reinstating high-priority people, and leave the rest furloughed, have you achieved something conservatives have NEVER been able to achieve–cutting the size of government by eliminating the fat. Zero-based budgeting! https://t.co/QjTQInE6xy
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) January 15, 2019
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
Wish I had some faith that the WH's legislative people–eg Shahira Knight–actually believed in the cause Trump's trying to serve (immigration control). Why don't they hire someone like @EagleEdMartin? https://t.co/rhJkBAzbB4
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) January 15, 2019
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
Sure seems like @CNN and @MSNBC have shifted to Russia, Russia, Russia … Was it because an ongoing national seminar on border security — which inevitably showed that real walls work and "technological" walls don't — wasn't serving these networks' anti-Trump constituency? https://t.co/Bnpd6In4mX
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) January 15, 2019
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
Reopening selected departments to relieve acute problems (eg DOT?) could be part of a Rope-a-Dope strategy — allowing Trump to keep *enough* of the government shut down to keep the national conversation on the border wall (a conversation I think he wins) https://t.co/xJUYDyEOqy
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) January 15, 2019
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
Stay paranoid … https://t.co/e6e61TtPLY
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) January 14, 2019
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
VW Passats built in Chattanooga have a good reliability rating in Consumer Reports — a pleasant surprise. (Why a surprise? Not because they're made in USA but because they're Volkswagens. ) https://t.co/IymQT5XcQG
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) January 14, 2019
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey