I am pleased to report an unusual display of common sense in unusual places.
A Democrat Who Can Talk Trump, or a Reckless Maverick?
In an interview, Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania says the party needs to be part of the conversation, not get ‘freaked out’.
Please consider the WSJ article A Democrat Who Can Talk Trump, or a Reckless Maverick?
As Senate Democrats agonized over a looming vote that could boost deportations of immigrants living unlawfully in the U.S., the first Democrat to sponsor the Republican-led measure wasn’t even in the room.
Instead, Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was meeting on Thursday behind a different set of closed doors with President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general, Pam Bondi. Television crews waited outside, eager to ask Fetterman about the news that he planned to visit Trump at Mar-a-Lago, becoming the only Democratic senator so far known to meet with him after the election.
“If somebody is shocked or freaked out if I’m going to take a conversation with the president, I’d like to remind you that I’m not just for Democrats—I’m for everyone,” Fetterman said in an interview. After all, he said, “Most Pennsylvanians chose Donald Trump as our next president.”
“It’s like our phasers are set at freakout,” Fetterman said of Democrats, using a “Star Trek” reference. “You have a right to react any way you want, but I’m not that guy, and I am here to have conversations with our nominees and look for the ways we can possibly be a part of the dialogue.”
On Thursday alone, Fetterman met with three Trump selections, including Bondi as well as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be America’s top health official and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to serve as secretary of homeland security. In his sit-down with Bondi, Fetterman said he found common ground with the former Florida attorney general over the idea that federal prosecutions had targeted political opponents, an idea other Democrats have long portrayed as baseless Republican spin to defend Trump.
In the new Congress, Fetterman was the first of two Democrats to co-sponsor the immigration bill known as the Laken Riley Act—named for a 22-year-old nursing student in Athens, Ga., who was murdered by a Venezuelan national living in the U.S. unlawfully.
That bill is providing an early sign that Democrats are reconsidering their stances. On Thursday, the Senate voted 84-9 to open debate on the bill, with the support of 33 members of the Senate Democratic caucus, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.).
“There was a blinding flash of common sense,” Fetterman told reporters when asked to account for the shift among Democrats, drawing a cheer of support from a nearby Senate Republican. Last year Schumer declined to bring the same measure up in the Senate after it passed the House.
Senate Advances Laken Riley Act
NBC News reports Senate Advances Laken Riley Act to crack down on illegal immigration in bipartisan vote.
The Senate voted Thursday to begin debate on the Laken Riley Act, clearing a key hurdle to advance a Republican-led bill aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration that has garnered significant support from Democrats.
With a vote of 84-9, the bill easily cleared the 60-vote threshold to advance in the GOP-controlled Senate. But many Democrats have suggested they want to amend the bill, so it’s unclear whether it will get enough support for final passage.
The Laken Riley Act would change federal law to require Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, operating under the Department of Homeland Security, to take custody of people in the country illegally and detain them over theft-related crimes. It would target people who are charged, arrested or convicted for committing acts of “burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting,” according to the bill text.
The legislation would also empower state attorneys general to sue the federal government for alleged failures of immigration enforcement “if the State or its residents experience harm, including financial harm in excess of $100.”
This Will Succeed
NBC said “it’s unclear whether it will get enough support for final passage.”
I disagree. This will sail easily.
Democrat Senate Endorsements
- Ruben Gallego, Arizona
- Mark Kelly, Arizona
- John Fetterman, Pennsylvania
- Jon Ossoff, Georgia
- Elissa Slotkin, Michigan
- Jacky Rosen, Nevada
That’s six known with only one more needed to break any filibuster.
And even if it stopped at 6, I doubt senators would put their career on the line with a filibuster of this bill against clear national sentiment.
I expect another 6-12 Democrats will sign on, if not more.
Biden Concerned Over $3 Billion
Politico reports Biden Admin to GOP: Immigration Bill Will Cost More than $3 Billion.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it would require more than $3.2 billion in additional funding to implement the Laken Riley Act, according to a memo obtained by POLITICO that the agency prepared last year.
All of a sudden Biden is concerned over $3.2 billion after wasting hundreds of billions on nonsense.
Blinding Display of Expected Idiocy
In a blinding display of expected idiocy, the extreme Left-wing lunatics at The Slate call the bill a Horrifying Trojan Horse.
It is baffling that so many Democrats would sign on to such a cruel and constitutionally dubious scheme.
A handful of Senate Democrats have proposed modest amendments to the Laken Riley Act, including provisions that would protect Dreamers and limit states’ right to overrule federal immigration policy. But it is frankly difficult to see how tweaks around the edges could fix the foundational flaws of this legislation
If Democrats cannot recover their nerve and stand up to this extremism, they will be complicit in the devastating consequences of its passage.
Heading Toward a Sensible Policy
On December 24, I commented Trump Backs Down From Strong Sweeping Deportation Promise
Both Trump and his border czar are sending strong messages that Trump’s deportation plan won’t live up to his campaign hype.
Deal for Dreamers
I suspect Trump privately got some heat from some governors who understand the economic insanity of “deport them all”.
Regardless why, I get to say “I told you so” once again to those who cling to every word Trump says.
To get a bill through congress for more border patrols, ICE agents, and to finish the wall, Trump is going to have to cut a deal.
And that deal will be amnesty for dreamers.
If you want to know what kind of dreamer deal to expect, please see my November 7, 2024 post The New Home for Hispanics is the Republican Party
The great news today is there is a clear majority for sensible actions.
Deport them all won’t happen, but deport the criminals and seal the border will. That’s what I wanted all along.
We are rapidly heading in that direction due to “A Blinding Flash of Common Sense”.
Wow.
Just to say, there is a difference between “secure the border” and “seal the border”. Using the Democrat definition, “secure border” means, “no one gets in unless we want them to come in”. We have in fact had a 100% secure border for the last four years.
Enforcing current laws would effectively end unlawful immigration. Read market-ticker.org by Carl Denninger he sites current laws that prohibit employment and housing for illegal immigrants. We don’t need new laws and as it stands now, neither side wants this issue to end, it’s a fantastic issue for raising contributions for both sides. So they’ll keep jawboning about it….forever, with no effective solution offered.
The leftist euphemisms on this issue of illegals here in the U.S. illegally are appalling, unacceptable and beyond dishonest. “Dreamers, “Immigrants,” “undocumented workers,” “unauthorized immigrants,” and “migrants,” are the most common. Calling an actual “border invasion,” a “border crisis,” is another gross miscarriage of the truth.
It is like clockwork. Now that Manchin and Sinema are gone, Fetterman becomes the new “rotating villain” in the right-wing donorCRAT Party.
https://www.salon.com/2010/02/23/democrats_34/
Nothing like extensive brain damage to turn you into a republican.
A minor point: those people are not ‘immigrants living unlawfully…,’ they are illegal aliens.
The probable sticking point: a Trojan Horse to stir up all sorts of gigantic disruptive litigation over a pittance ($100):
“The legislation would also empower state attorneys general to sue the federal government for alleged failures of immigration enforcement “if the State or its residents experience harm, including financial harm in excess of $100.”
This opens a vast wedge and is all out of proportion to what attention and resources need to be directed to, to solve the real problems in good faith.
With Inflation-Adjusted Dollars, that $100 should be $100,000!
“A Democrat Who Can Talk Trump, or a Reckless Maverick”?
> I will go with:
>> “A Maverick Democrat held back, and that can talk Trump”?
– In an WSJ article/interview, Senator John Fetterman, says the party needs to be part of the conversation, not get ‘freaked out’.
> Sounds “Based” to me?
– Sen. John Fetterman was meeting on Thursday behind a different set of closed doors with President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general, Pam Bondi.
> Even more based, as he backs up His Call: “For Conversations” If His Party won’t support what’s right, in His mind, then He is obligated to do so without them, but “Still As A Representative” of the Democrat Party, For ALL Americans and Our Country!
– “If somebody is shocked or I’m for everyone,” Fetterman said in an interview. After all, he said, “Most Pennsylvanians chose Donald Trump as our next president.”
> Now that’s a “Based Individual” from a generally “Non-Based” Party, Stating what “He Believes” the Democrat Electorate” NOT Politicians” Wish to See.
– On Thursday alone, Fetterman had a sit-down with Bondi, Fetterman said he found common ground with the former Florida attorney general over the idea that federal prosecutions had targeted political opponents, an idea other Democrats have long portrayed as baseless Republican spin to defend Trump.
> The Man has obviously strongly recovered from his setbacks of a mild stroke awhile ago. He also looks to be giving a “Deaf Ear” to the Democrat Establishment, which is of no great surprise, based on how he has been treated by His Party in the past…
– In the new Congress, Fetterman was the first of two Democrats to co-sponsor the immigration bill known as the Laken Riley Act – “There was a blinding flash of common sense,” Fetterman told reporters when asked to account for the shift among Democrats, drawing a cheer of support from a nearby Senate Republican.
> Loving the Independence of “This Man” and against all odds. He’s like a mini-Trump but against His Own Party!!! Maybe He will rub off on one of them, and hey 1+1=2 so let’s hope so!!!
I’m warming up to Fetterman. If I were a Senator, I would feel comfortable approaching him.
Firefighters from Mexico will help fight Eaton blazewhat a mess https://www.foxla.com/news/eaton-fire-mexico-firefighters-newson-tweet
1. This is very good news. Also I think trump has already signaled he can support a deal on dreamers.
2. If the democrats had nominated someone more like Fetterman or Joe Manchin I think it is very likely they would have won the election.
I was waiting for Joe Manchin to enter the race…..
My sense is the “Democrats” are already fracturing/fractured and it is puerile to continue to think of them as a single bloc to be blamed for every MAGA misstep or overstep. Fetterman is in the same lane as Ocasio Cortez, namely, the lane that sees the “us v them’ mentality just continues to distract from both identifying creative solutions and further cements the appeal of overbroad conservative policies. AOC like Fetterman recognizes her constituency is not uniform and like Fetterman has at least one eye on her future. The longer both of them serve and learn “how the sausage is made” the better chance the “non MAGA” coalition has to find their way to leading from the center. MAGA has depended on the ill informed and uneducated to positively respond to ‘appeals to the gut’, when, as Mish repeatedly points out, what is needed is greater economic awareness of just what a pile of shit we are in and just how hard it will be to climb out. (Cf. his piece on the flagrantly idiotic claim by DOGE/Musk to cut 2Trillion from a budget with 1Trillion (only) in discretionary spending.) I watch with interest to see if the MTG wing of the RINO reps turns on teh Donald once it is clear that the PT Barnum promises were deft electioneering and nothing more.
Interesting take … I’ll say Fetterman, like any pol in a swing state/district, is just aligning with the wind.
He’s seen the PA voting results and knows he’ll be voted out if he remains Blue. Manchin was the same …just trying to survive (although not anymore).
Guy had a terrible stroke. Maybe his intentions are positive.
Agree with this 💯. Fetterman will do and say whatever he needs to do or say to survive reelection. He has no principles other than getting reelected. In this case, it works out for the MAGA crowd, but should political sentiment shift back to the progressive left or some other non-MAGA direction, rest assured Fetterman will shift with it.
I’m too undereducated to read all that.
Dumb and proud of it.
Just to point out that many MAGA people are educated.
Also, I don’t think MTG would call herself a “RINO”.
Educated to the 5th grade?
Hmmm. So what’s up with this very recent article? Why is CBP suddenly cracking down on undocumented immigrants in CA? Why didn’t Biden order this prior to the election?
Some of Trump’s moves have been far more mature than his first run … but then he reverts back to name-calling and bloviating. I applaud Fetterman for being the new Joe Manchin. He is in a purple state and being moderate could work well for him. I do hope that Trump is truly creating his extreme stances (ie: deport them all or 100% tariffs) purely as a negotiation starting point. He could do great things if, in the end, we closed the border, deported those who have committed crimes here, opened markets currently closed, did something (anything) about our run-away debt and deficits. We shall see. But even if these huge absurd claims are purely for negotiation … I would love to see the name-calling stop.
Great post mish, you are on a roll. All Americans should want the President to succeed. How could anyone feel otherwise? I hoped Biden would be successful.
The electorate has many definitions of success.
Did you really want Biden to be successful?
That definition of success means unlimited immigration/asylum, massive green subsidies and regulations without measurable benefit, one-party rule via expanded statehood and supreme court., etc.
Of course I did. I didn’t vote for him but so what….that he ended up the worst President in history was a shock
Fetterman wants a long tenure in the Senate. By taking the mantle as moderate Democrat, he will gain lots of support in his next election. His only concern is a challenge in his own party from the far left. Sinema was ousted in AZ because she went against Democrat party doctrine.
Trump proposed a reasonably broad amnesty in 2017 with a focus on Dreamers. Democrats blocked this bill. Dreamers have Democrats to blame for their uncertain immigration status. I think that Trump has a much better chance to pass immigration reform this time.
Some Democrats have seen the perils of the open borders policy of Biden/Harris. I think that the open borders policy cost Democrats the Presidential election, perhaps also the Senate. Some Democrats (perhaps not Fetterman) will offer some support for immigration enforcement. However, when Democrats return to power, they will undue the reform if possible.
He talks BS. He should be ignored until he learns how to dress like a professional.
He likes to show his connection to the common-WFH-Gen X’er.
However, if Nadler can find a suit so can Mr. F.
Never trust anyone in a suit.
Or over 30?