Senator Manchin on Trump’s proposal

On Saturday, President Trump suggested a plan that would end the government shutdown and get him $5.7 billion for his wall (or whatever he is now calling it). Democrats opposed it. Today’s News-Register editorial, "Manchin Is Right About Compromise," claims that West Virginia’s Democratic senator, Joe Manchin, suggested that he might support it:

A few Democrats, including Manchin, said the proposal could offer a chance at compromise.

Sorry, I could not find any other Democratic senator who saw it this way. And I wouldn’t be too sure of Joe as Politico reported earlier today:

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) is undecided on whether he’ll support President Donald Trump’s new proposal to reach an immigration deal in exchange for $5.7 billion for his southern border wall.

“He needs to see the final proposal before he decides,” said Jonathan Kott, a spokesperson for Manchin, in an e-mail.

Who is responsible for this shutdown?

As could be expected, our local “newspapers” have adopted the president’s position on the government shutdown – that this is the Democrat’s fault. Like Trump, our papers have a selective memory:

As the shutdown hits four weeks, remember what Trump said on Dec. 11.

Trump: If we don't get what we want ... I will shut down the government ... So I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down. I'm not going to blame you for it. pic.twitter.com/z1ptWRo7Nk

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 19, 2019

Back in December (which seems like a long time ago on this), here’s how the AP described why the government shutdown took place:

Rattled by accusations he was caving on his promised border wall, President Donald Trump instead bowed to a conservative backlash.

After signaling earlier in the week that he was backing off a government shutdown threat, Trump rapidly changed course on Thursday, informing House Republican leaders that he would not sign a short-term funding measure because it did not include money for a southern border wall. His second reversal in a matter of days — with time left to pivot yet again — came after conservative allies and pundits savaged him for waffling on a central campaign promise. . . .

Conservative commentator Ann Coulter published a column that called Trump "gutless" and said in a radio interview that she won't vote for Trump in 2020 if he doesn't deliver on the wall.

"Nor will, I think, most of his supporters. Why would you?" she asked, arguing that Trump's time in office will one day go down as "a joke presidency that scammed the American people."

Conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh said Trump had "gotten word" to him that he would either be "getting funding to the border or he's shutting the whole thing down." That was after Limbaugh complained a day earlier that it appeared "Trump gets nothing and the Democrats get everything, including control of the House."

(I could not find this AP article in either Wheeling "newspaper.")

We know what Manchin thinks. More importantly, what do Coulter and Limbaugh think of Trump’s Saturday proposal?

Here is Rush Limbaugh’s reaction and I’m not quite sure of what to make of it. Ann Coulter is certainly a lot clearer:

Trump proposes amnesty. We voted for Trump and got Jeb!

— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) January 19, 2019

100 miles of border wall in exchange for amnestying millions of illegals. So if we grant citizenship to a BILLION foreigners, maybe we can finally get a full border wall.

— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) January 19, 2019

The best quote and best advice on this was from, of all people, Fox News analyst Juan Williams:

You should go listen to Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter, because they’re running this government. And they have forced this president into a trap.”

1/22 update -- at least they're consistent

Today's Wheeling News-Register carries an AP update on Trump's proposal. Unfortunately for local readers, the paper drops the last 20% of the article. Here's the first sentence that is dropped:

Some on the right, including conservative commentator Ann Coulter, accused Trump of offering "amnesty.