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From The Reporter’s Notebook
Donald Trump and Speaker of The House Paul Ryan (R-WI) met Thursday, sparking a media scrum and protests, including this paper mâché likeness of Trump, captured by TPM’s Lauren Fox.
Agree or Disagree?
Josh Marshall: “Let’s remember the idea. Trump says he will create a “deportation force” which will round up and deport approximately 11 million undocumented immigrants in 18 months. This might not unreasonable be characterized as a war crime. Despite just being a bad idea on numerous counts, just in very concrete terms there are credible estimates that the costs of such an operation could run to half a trillion dollars. This would also involve effectively orphaning huge numbers of children who were born in the US and thus citizens but are the children of undocumented immigrants. In some cases, it would probably mean the de facto deportation of those American citizens.”
BUZZING: Today in the Hive
From a TPM Prime member: “I am a mainstream Dem, and a person of color. I am a labor Democrat, in the old sense when labor was a strong organizing force and most union people were Democrats. I am a public health professional. People like me are invisible to Sanders and his cult, and were invisible in the HuffPost piece as well. Bernie Sanders priorities are not my priorities. I have other issues that are far up on my priority list — criminal justice reform, a policy strengthening collective bargaining, reproductive rights and protection, reduction of gun violence. Protection of children. The public option for strengthening health care reform. Bernie Sanders’ stump speech doesn’t speak in any real way towards the things I find very important, very pressing. And sure, income inequality blahblahblah, I find his rhetoric, which passes apparently for “policy”, is dumb, unrealistic, not where I’m at in terms of what can be accomplished. First, Bernie Sanders is in the pocket of the National Rifle Association — he votes how they tell him to vote; he voted in favor of forbidding public health research on gun violence. So I’m definitely not in his corner on that. It’s not my own priority to provide free college to everyone and the great expense of the tax-paying public. I know that single payer is not achievable in the foreseeable future in the USA; it didn’t even work in Vermont. I’m not into hating on corporations in general, and I don’t mind agricultural products that have been selected to resist disease and drought. I’m not reflexively against trade agreements. Break up the banks? Please. That’s stupid, and unwise. Jesus Christ, what would happen to the global economy if some fringe ideologue came in and “broke up the banks”? Hating “Wall Street” is facile, naive, and inflammatory. And the truth is, Bernie Sanders lacks the temperament, the leadership skills, the policy chops, the ability to negotiate and to form coalitions and consensus. In fact, just the opposite. He’s divisive and seems to delight in alienating even the people who might want to join him on some issues but not all. He’d be a terrible, embarrassing President. He’s destroy the credibility of the Democratic Party for a generation.”
Related: TPM readers talking about Bernie Sanders.
Have something to add? Become a Prime member and join the discussion here.
What We’re Reading
A Russian insider said that secret, state-sponsored doping fueled Russia’s Olympic gold medals. (The New York Times)
American capitalism’s late crisis. (TIME)
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