(07-02-2018, 01:27 PM)mikesez Wrote:

(06-30-2018, 10:33 AM)Last42min Wrote: Obviously the debt is an issue, but the President doesn't set the budget. If you're hardcore, I guess you think he should veto the budget legislation passed by a Republican House and Senate, but I don't really think that's his job. That said, the budget has been challenged and/or vetoed by presidents in the past, so I don't think it's unreasonable to expect that from him. Personally, I put the onus for the budget on the "conservative" congress. Trump would have approved basically anything, especially with a government shutdown looming and a media eager to excoriate him for it. Within the role he was designed to do, Trump has been very conservative. Judge appointments, border enforcement, deregulation... all pretty conservative.

It's so weird how the so many constitutional scholars creep out of the woodwork with their "The President doesn't set the budget" tautologies as soon as the President is a Republican - yet they never seem to mention it while the President is a Democrat!

I don't think tautology means what you think it means. 

To your point, though, conservatives railed against the Republican majority congress when they passed a budget that gave Obama everything he asked for in 2015. They had control of the House and Senate, so there was no reason to do this. The base didn't blame Obama, they blamed congress (specifically after Republicans fully controlled congress) This happened again in 2018 with the looming government shutdown. The base was very upset with congress, even though the media largely focused on Trump. There is a difference between what the political leaders do and what the political base wants them to do. If you understood anything about the conservative base, you would know that your strawman is barely standing. 

Let's be clear: The only reason I posted here was to encourage conservatives to be cautious in defending Trump with regards to N. Korea. I don't feel like it's in their best interest to defend that position when nothing has come of it yet. I mentioned that Trump had governed relatively conservatively and Kotite mentioned the budget as an attack on that concept. This is the part where I just insert a random line to see if you actually read my whole post or just key in on certain words. If you read the whole thing, just respond with gravy so I know I'm not arguing with a simpleton or an ideologue who's too intellectually lazy to read what I write. I countered Kotite, by saying that I don't think that the budget falls squarely on the shoulders of the president. I even made concessions that I can see that it's at least a reasonable argument to suggest otherwise. In no way, shape, or form am I exonerating Trump for the current budget approval. If he didn't veto it, he bears some responsibility for the consequences. That said... giving you that point, he has governed conservatively within the capacity of his office. It would be nice if you tried to understand the conversation before applying sweeping generalizations about my positions.

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