“Shell-shocked”, “blind-sided” and “nightmare” were all words used to describe a life changing event this week. CNN’s John King on Inside Politics said it was a “sell out”, echoing the general sentiment of the mainstream media that something wrong and strange is happening in the nation’s capital. This is FRIGHTENING! Because what really happened was truly a great thing for American Democracy, how could the media get it so wrong?
President Donald Trump meets with Congressional leaders in the Oval Office.
A beam of democracy’s sunlight shined through this week, when Republican President Donald Trump came to a bi-partisan agreement with Senate Minority Leader Democrat Charles Schumer and House Minority Leader Democrat Nancy Pelosi.
President Trump and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer embrace after deal agreement
The agreement packaged nearly $8 billion in Hurricane Harvey relief with a three-month extension of government funding and an increase in the debt ceiling. President Trump agreed to the request by Pelosi and Schumer over the objections of House Speaker Republican Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Republican Mitch McConnell, who had wanted a longer increase in the debt ceiling to prevent Republicans from having to take multiple politically painful votes to raise it in the coming months.
The Atlantic reports that President Trump even held out the possibility of giving Democrats a much bigger prize in future negotiations: a permanent legislative fix for immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children protected from deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which he announced would be winding down. “Chuck and Nancy would like to see something happen, and so do I,” the president said.
Sorry mainstream media maybe you need to hype this breakthrough for American democracy as a bad thing to boost ratings, but that would be true fake news. Compared to the partisan gridlock this country has experienced for the last 8 years, a bi-partisan agreement on such weighty issues as the debt ceiling and hurricane relief bodes well for the future of tax reform. It means there is realistic hope for legislation to upgrade the nation’s infrastructure.
What started with a little noticed committee vote and spread to the formation of a House Caucus, has now bloomed into full blown bi-partisan life affirming policy actions, not speeches but actions!
The media’s constant quest for ratings means they have to make this beam of sunlight for the dream of American democracy, a bolt of lightning for the nightmare of American democracy. Hopefully for the good of the American people the President, Democrats and Republicans won’t fall for the hype.
