The "Scorched Earth" actions taken in MI and WI by GOP legislatures

[MineralMan]

may well be predictive of similar plans for the national government. In both Wisconsin and Michigan, Republican legislatures are enacting bills to be signed by their Republican governors that strip power from governors, executive branch agencies, and even the legislature in the future. They see the writing on the wall, as Democrats regain power, and are trying to leave nothing behind in their destruction of representative government.

Now that the Democrats have regained a majority the House of Representatives, Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled US Senate may well attempt a similar move in the final two years of the Trump Administration.

Donald Trump, himself, has already been engaged in stripping Executive Branch agencies and organizations of leadership. He has appointed do-nothing or destructive heads to those agencies and organizations and has left other appointed positions vacant in them. We're seeing the results in such organizations as the EPA, DOE, Interior Department and more. Historical responsibilities and protections are being eliminated and staffs allowed to shrink without replacement.

The process of creating a national "Scorched Earth" are well underway. The destruction of the system of government that we have maintained over the decades is proceeding apace under Donald J. Trump. That is the plan. When Trump's first term as President ends, and a Democrat is elected as President while, at the same time, the Senate once again gets a Democratic majority, the damage will already have been done.

Donald Trump and the GOP leadership seem bent on destroying the very fabric of our government and economy. I can see no other way of looking at it. Worse, I am at a loss to know how we can prevent the Republicans from burning everything down as they retreat into utter defeat. I hope we can find a way to prevent this heinous plan from being carried out.

[DinahMoeHum]

1. I have a suggestion. . .

. . .but it's not fit for public discussion here.

[MineralMan]

8. You are correct about that. It is not.

[Woodycall]

40. But the founders did it.

And they did it with gusto. We celebrate it every July 4th big time. We even take a day off work to do it. Why is it so unspeakable now? Just asking.

[Johnny2X2X]

2. They aren't playing Democracy anymore

Recognizing that one party in this country no longer cares about or respects American Democracy is the first step.

Democrats are still playing the game of Democracy, Republicans have left those constraints behind.

[MineralMan]

5. That's our challenge for the next two years.

We must shift the governance of this country and it's individual states toward Democratic principles. We need to show people what the Republicans are trying to do and end that party's dominance.

[Johnny2X2X]

11. It's challenging

What is so challenging about this in my opinion is that Democrats are lagging at anticipating what Trump and the GOP will do next because Dems are still mired in the American Democracy paradigm.

Nothing is off the table for 2020 up to an including Trump having all Democratic candidates arrested. Trump suspending the elections. Trump instituting Marshall Law. He will do anything to hold onto power.

[Just a Weirdo]

32. Trump himself will be arrested, incarcerated, found guilty of ALL charges hit upon him

and ready for a long stretch in AdMax in Colorado, isolated and ignored for 23 hours a day, with 1 hour of rec time. He'll be dead within a week of being placed there.

[erronis]

33. It's safe to assume that dump and the kgop will do everything they can to destabilize the US

(I used "assume" which just makes an ass o'me.)

Many of us held out hope that their was still some vestiges of decency and fairness rattling around in their heads, but all evidence is that they have been coopted and will cheat, steal, murder as necessary.

Obviously the kgop has some clever people pulling the levers to cause this much mayhem. The dems need to understand their own weaknesses and try to anticipate the next power play. We need to fight harder and smarter; not assuming that there will ever be a place for compromise with these vermin.

[machoneman]

26. We must destroy the Republiscum Party for their own good.

No kidding. They are already making themselves radioactive for 99 years and we need to help them along.

[MineralMan]

27. I can't disagree with that.

[NCjack]

3. The GOP is teaching us how they should be treated when we

find ourselves in the position that they are now. I see no way to cure this other than to do it to them to the extent we can all agree to cease and desist.

[MineralMan]

7. I disagree. We need to shut them out of control and then repair

the damage they have caused. Behaving as they do is not the answer. We need to demonstrate a new way forward.

[Just a Weirdo]

34. Payback's a bitch. First we fix the Republicans's creation of "problems"

Then we introduce legislation banning the Republicans or any other party from doing such dick moves like fucking up the lame duck session as a "revenge". That also includes prison time of a minimum of 25 years.

Then we can return back to sanity after a few years of Democratic control and see how the Republicans respond. If they continue to be dicks after 4 years, then mandatory mental health law checkup is required for any right-wing fuckwads.

[Girard442]

4. It's almost like they're working for someone who wants to see the country destroyed.

[MineralMan]

6. Sadly, people who want to see that are now in charge.

They're working as hard as they can to destroy everything. It's a last-gasp effort to retain power.

[lark]

9. If we retake all 3 branches, we could take revolutionary steps to recover.

Dems have not demonstrated much if any spine and too many are really DINO's, like the No Labels folks. However, if they remove the filibuster for anything, they can increase the SCOTUS numbers and install 2 Dems to counteract the illegal acts of Repugs. That would be the most dramatic ways of undoing all the bad, over time, foisted on us by this illegal government. They also need to require 10 years of tax returns to run for president & no retaining of any personal businesses, all have to be liquidated and put in a blind trust. Election laws also need to be changed, everyone is automatically registered on their 18th birthday, election day is a holiday, all votes have to have paper backup, hand count any race that shows only 1% difference between the candidates, eliminate signature matching (people's handwriting changes substantially as they age) and stop eliminating people who haven't voted in last few elections, no poll moving or closing (except for area emergencies) within 180 days of an election, any person in charge of states elections must resign 180 days before running for an elected position. All contributions for elected officials must be published, no exceptions, with criminal fines and jail times for individuals and campaigns that violate this. These changes would definitely strengthen our country and are desperately needed to address the current imbalance, IMO.

[MineralMan]

14. Yes. That is what we need to do.

Will we have the will to do it, though? That's the real question.

[lark]

18. Exactly!

Will the rich DINOS make sure to keep the 1% advantage in place or will they put the country first? Huge question!

[roamer65]

10. I say this as a Michigander.

MI repukes...Proposal 2 is now law in MI. You won’t get to pick your voters anymore. We are coming for you in 2020.
All of you.

[Whiskeytide]

12. Elect people who say they hate the government, ...

... and you get people who act like they hate the government. Who knew that would happen?

[MineralMan]

15. Yes. We have let down our guard and allowed this all to take place.

I hope we have finally learned.

[Perrenial Voter]

17. That is why they went to such lengths to get Kavanaugh on

the Supreme Court: the SC will act as a check on Congress and the Presidency when Democrats take over. The Republicans are playing from a different set of rules than Democrats, one that has evolved from the knowledge that they are representing a small minority of the population. They are--or at least have become--quite anti-democratic.

[Bettie]

13. I'm kind of at a loss as to why

they would do this.

Do they really think they will never regain power and have to deal with this crapstorm they are creating? Is the plan to make Dirty Donny a dictator in hopes that he is nice to them?

I have a Senior and a Junior in high school. I'm worried for them. I have some hope that this will be put right before my ten year old leaves school. Oh and my oldest boy's college fund? I'm afraid to look at the value right now.

[MineralMan]

16. Frankly, I do not know the answer to that question.

[WestMichRad]

39. The answer is pretty unpleasant.

Why are the Repubs doing this? Two reasons:
1. They're setting the stage to throttle Dem administration energy and progress in the courts. The more energy Dems must put into this, they reason, the less energy available to repair the messes they've made. (To wit: in MI, one effort is to fund the legislature so that they may be provided resources to legally fight against the state's attorney general court positions... in effect, fund them to fight us. Aka basic theft of public taxpayer money for FUNDING THEM to fight our positions in court.)
2. They are using and will continue to use every capitalist trick they can, including theft, graft and corruption, to hoard resources and exert what power they can to retain their favored financial positions. I have little doubt that the upper 0.01% reason that increasing riches will put themselves in more favorable positions to survive the ever worsening catastrophe that climate change will bring (...while most of the rest of us, or our kids and/or grandkids, get screwed, of course).

Nationwide, in far too many places they still have enough political muscle to at least deny progressive process... and Repubs are planning to be back in political power, asap. In the meantime they're getting in practice at fouling opposition governance, with eyes toward Dec. 2020 if and likely when the chief idiot again buries them at the ballot box.

I really despise those f*ers.

[certainot]

19. democrats can protest in WI and MI at these 4 universities, and scare the crap out of the R-cons

if wisconsinites and michiganders want to get republican attention they can protest at the universities

Uni of Wisconsin 5, Michigan St. 11, Michigan 7, Western Michigan 1 (republiconradio.org)

for the purpose of getting them to stop broadcasting sports on 24 limbaugh stations and probably a number of other rw stations. — those stations are essential for everything wisconsin and michigan republicans do and will continue to cheer them on, make excuses for them, and support trump. they are their only real advantage because they're unchallenged in messaging.

if the GOP in those states were to pay $1000 for a 1hr infomercial 24 stations doing 15 hours/day are worth about $18 MIL/ week FREE to cheer on this bullshit!

republicans will freak out and attract media attention

those schools need to reread their mission statements

even just a discussion about it will cause advertisers who don’t support trump and this crap to desert those stations

WI and MI republicans depend on those stations every election cycle to get elected and reelected. they use them to presell their legislation and stop progressive legislation.

it’s all FREE paid for by advertisers that are often ready to find alternatives if given a push. and it’s all endorsed by those universities — many of those advertisers would bolt if they thought there was a possibility the universities could start looking for alternatives

ex gov walker’s emails showed how much he and the cons depended on talk radio. talk radio is their only real advantage.

[erronis]

35. Interesting and workable idea.

[Ford_Prefect]

20. I take it that the same Usurpation in NC was not really worthy of notice?

[MineralMan]

22. Not at all. I simply failed to include that.

You're welcome to add your analysis of it to the thread, though.

[NEOBuckeye]

21. The Republican Party needs to be liquidated

A political party that cannot abide by the rule of law and democratic principle should be forcibly disincorporated.

[ancianita]

23. +1 Totally with you. But how.

[MineralMan]

28. Massive Democratic voter turnout in all future elections.

That is the only way to achieve that goal.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

37. shine a light

Informed voters will liquidate the RepubliKan party. The publicity in Wisconsin has already caused the cockroach legislature to scale back some of their anti-democracy bills.

Keep shining a light on their dirty deeds until they scurry back under their rocks.

[Garrett78]

24. While I'm optimistic about taking the White House, taking the Senate...

...is less likely than some seem to realize. We'll need massive turnout in 2020.

[MineralMan]

25. We need massive turnout in every election.

If we learned nothing else from all of this, it should be that. That will answer all of the questions, and ensure our success.

[Garrett78]

29. For sure. Some seem to be assuming we will net 4 Senate seats in 2020, but that's a tall order.

[Just a Weirdo]

30. The scorched earth policies of the Republicans are going to be oveturned

and all the shit that they have fucked up will be overturned by the courts.

Then the Republicans should be placed under arrest and held for RICO charges.

[MineralMan]

31. The courts may not do what you think.

They should, but can only rule on whether the measures were passed legally. Arguments will be made on both sides of that question. the outcome is not certain.

[onetexan]

36. was already decided in the NC case when that state's GOP party pulled the same stunt

will not hold water in court. Idiots don't tend to learn from their mistakes.

[Still In Wisconsin]

38. In this sense, TRUMP is doing exactly what his voters elected him to do.

Didn't they basically vote, more or less, to "burn it all down?" Well, that's what he's doing. Trump basically destroys everything he touches. It's the one thing he's actually good at.