(11-24-2016 08:45 AM)I45owl Wrote:  

(11-22-2016 12:14 PM)illiniowl Wrote:  Had Hillary won, I honestly think she would be working right now on having another private server set up. The woman just can't help herself. And had she won, she would have seen her election as the ultimate vindication of her methods, giving her carte blanche to keep at it. Or, if it wasn't some new illegality committed as president, a full excavation of what she's already done through the Clinton Foundation ultimately would have done her in. She had better hope that Obama not only pardons her but that the pardon is sweepingly phrased. (Actually, she's not the type to sit around and just hope for it. She'll find a way to purchase it.)

I actually think one of Trump's first acts should be to pardon HRC.

(11-22-2016 12:14 PM)illiniowl Wrote:  Trump is the ultimate RINO; Pence is the real deal. Trump has no true friends in Congress, only temporary allies of convenience. There is no basis for loyalty whatsoever.

I'm not up on the Machiavellian twists and turns that it would really take to push an agenda through a divided and split congress, but I had wondered if Trump may be better served by taking up some of the Democratic agenda where feasible. He might then be able to push through part of his agenda where Republicans may not like it (sadly, free trade may be such an example) and others where he doesn't need Democratic support. Not being beholden to the Republican Party might serve his agenda well in some cases, even though the Democrats despise him.

Interestingly, the Cato institute and Koch brothers seem to be the big winners in the nominations thus far, in spite of the fact that the Koch brothers withdrew sponsorship from the Republican Convention when Trump solidified the nomination.

A few of Trump's main policy objectives (if the doesn't move away from them) are decidedly un-Republican or even Democratic. One big ticket item he ran on was implementing a massive infrastructure investment without providing any sort of spending offset/revenue hike to pay for it. Another that comes to mind is the tax plan that is not coupled with decreased spending and will 100% increase the deficit, which has been steadily shrinking.

I think the first item is something Dems can, and should, get behind if he decides to pursue it, but push for a revenue increase to fund it (IMO). The second, I don't think Reps will even get behind it unless it can be shown to, at a minimum, not increase the deficit.