04-27-2020, 08:17 AM
Missed a lot of this over the weekend so not going to try to respond to specific posts, but my general thoughts:
1. Re: more stimulus checks, I am in agreement with Stupac, as I've said before. In the short to medium term (the period we are talking about), there is zero risk of currency flight from USD. Where is it going to go? Yen? Yuan? Euro? Pound Sterling? I don't even think I need to explain why those currencies are no better than ours, and in many ways worse. I don't think Argentina is a worthy comparator for this reason.
2. Re: partisanship, Nancy Pelosi and Steve Mnuchin have worked very effectively together - look to signals from them, not Schumer, McConnell, or even Trump (who doesn't care enough about the details to get involved). Who knows if that will continue, but thus far partisanship on Capitol Hill has not been the problem. However, it will be as soon as we move to things like funding for states and localities and vote by mail, because then the GOP is likely to want to block anything they think helps the Dems politically (the opposition to vote by mail being motivated essentially by a desire to suppress the vote).
3. The left will blame Trump because Trump never extends an olive branch and always takes the low road, because he'd prefer to pander to his base at all time. Trump has to be the first mover because he's a solo operator. The Dems have lots of medium-profile politicos but no equivalent to Trump, who spends half his time insulting Dems, calling them stupid nick names, railing against the press, etc. He invites no opportunity for compromise. Even if a single politician like Gavin Newsom says he has worked well with Trump/the feds, that doesn't move the needle. But Trump won't do this, so there we are. Folks criticized the Obama Beer Summit, but that single act showed more willingness to listen and be open to the other side's position than 3+ years of Trump combined.
Seriously: ask yourself how many times Nancy Pelosi has insulted Trump as compared to how many times he's insulted her. It's not even close.
1. Re: more stimulus checks, I am in agreement with Stupac, as I've said before. In the short to medium term (the period we are talking about), there is zero risk of currency flight from USD. Where is it going to go? Yen? Yuan? Euro? Pound Sterling? I don't even think I need to explain why those currencies are no better than ours, and in many ways worse. I don't think Argentina is a worthy comparator for this reason.
2. Re: partisanship, Nancy Pelosi and Steve Mnuchin have worked very effectively together - look to signals from them, not Schumer, McConnell, or even Trump (who doesn't care enough about the details to get involved). Who knows if that will continue, but thus far partisanship on Capitol Hill has not been the problem. However, it will be as soon as we move to things like funding for states and localities and vote by mail, because then the GOP is likely to want to block anything they think helps the Dems politically (the opposition to vote by mail being motivated essentially by a desire to suppress the vote).
3. The left will blame Trump because Trump never extends an olive branch and always takes the low road, because he'd prefer to pander to his base at all time. Trump has to be the first mover because he's a solo operator. The Dems have lots of medium-profile politicos but no equivalent to Trump, who spends half his time insulting Dems, calling them stupid nick names, railing against the press, etc. He invites no opportunity for compromise. Even if a single politician like Gavin Newsom says he has worked well with Trump/the feds, that doesn't move the needle. But Trump won't do this, so there we are. Folks criticized the Obama Beer Summit, but that single act showed more willingness to listen and be open to the other side's position than 3+ years of Trump combined.
Seriously: ask yourself how many times Nancy Pelosi has insulted Trump as compared to how many times he's insulted her. It's not even close.