Immigration in the US

That. Was. AMAZING.

holy shit

I guess this is some sort of 70s song reference?

Jesus what a fuckface.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is expected to sign an order sending the troops to the border, bolstering National Guard forces there, a U.S. official said Thursday. The action comes as President Donald Trump has spent recent days calling attention to the migrant caravan slowly making its way by foot from Central America into southern Mexico, claiming without any apparent basis in fact that “Middle Easterners” were among them.

The additional troops would provide logistical and other support to the Border Patrol, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a plan that had not yet been finalized and formally announced.

Trump tweeted earlier Thursday that “Democrat inspired laws make it tough for us to stop people at the border” and that he was using the military for what he called a “National Emergency.” He vowed, “They will be stopped!” in apparent reference to the caravan, which was still about 1,000 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border and starting to dwindle. Previous migrant marches have largely dissipated before reaching the United States.

The additional members of the military would assist the Border Patrol by providing things such as vehicles, tents and equipment. There already are about 2,000 National Guard troops there under a previous Pentagon arrangement. The new troops would be active duty forces, the official said.

I think at this point Kasich knows that he’s got no future with the GOP. He also knows he has no future with the Democrats, but whatever.

Kasich is actually an evangelical Christian, but he seems way more able to walk the walk. Or hell, at least talk the talk about what Christianity is actually about.

Well I applauded after his speech. What do you think Timex, in a very divided country is two votes enough to make the guy President?

I think he’s chance is past. Honestly, if the GOP had put him up against Clinton, he would have won easily, and the country under his leadership would not be the clusterfuck we see today.

+3 points for the sentiment. -2 points for ending with “on all sides”.

Hard to argue with the latter part of your statement. I think we would still have exploded the deficit, but that’s a feature of the party now, not a bug.

It’s possible, but if there’s ONE guy who can actually lay a legitimate claim to knowing how to balance the budget, it’s Kasich.

Kasich also turns water into wine and gives the bestest back rubs.

I’m now much more interested in this “Kasich”. Does he do house calls?

And if he’d balanced the budget, we’d currently be deep in a recession and headed for a certain Democratic landslide in the House and Senate.

Eh, the economy did fine the last time he balanced it.

And given our economy was already doing well, that’s the time to do it.

Yeah, the idea of balancing the federal budget* is a fetish if there ever was one. If it were at all a real necessity the much-feared “bond vigilantes” would have sunk the US (and Japan, for that matter) well WELL before now. Now, can an excessive federal deficit lead to inflation? Sure.

*Unlike state/municipal and private budgets

We ran a budget surplus from 1998-2001. Annual growth in 2001 was the lowest in the last 25 years excepting 2007-8.

2001 also had the DotCom bubble burst and 9/11.

Sure, but a federal fiscal surplus removes money from the economy. That’s just math. It’s why we had the stimulus bill in 2008, which helped the U.S. weather the recession better than most other large economies. Regardless, it’s not the case that the economy did fine in the wake of the last fiscal surplus. It tanked.