Let's talk about how Trump wants you to pay for the ballroom now.... - Belle of the Ranch

[TexasTowelie]

Well, howdy there Internet people. It's Belle again. So, today we're going to talk about how Trump wants you to pay for the ballroom now.

Remember when the $400 million ballroom was proposed and Trump told the country that he or donors would pay for it? That was one of the big justifications for his ballroom for billionaires. At the end of March, he said, “All of the money paid is paid by myself and donors." Just in case that was unclear, he further said, "There's not one dime of government money going into the ballroom."

Now, we've repeatedly pointed out that even if this was true on the surface, it's not really accurate because construction isn't the only cost. Staff, electricity, security, and so on aren't paid by the donors. They're paid by you. They'll cut grandma's health care or Social Security if necessary to pay for the billionaires to have a place to have massive amounts of social access to the president.

But now there's a new wrinkle that surely nobody saw coming. Senator Lindsey Graham is pushing to have the construction funded by you. He said, “By funding these necessary upgrades to the ballroom and the White House's security infrastructure, President Trump and future presidents will be able to host large events without having to leave the White House grounds."

Republican Representative Chip Roy of Texas got in on it, saying that the funding and approval should be attached to the budget reconciliation package. The Senate is working on. Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania is the only Democrat surprise who has expressed support for building the project. So here's the fun part. Nope, not happening.

They're not using the budget reconciliation package to fund and approve this for two reasons.

First, as we talked about before, that budget resolution they passed is really better described as instructions for budget reconciliation. It has to be specific. It doesn't include it. Beyond that, it doesn't even include instructions for the right committees. So, there's no way to draft the language.

Second, even if they tried to say, "Oh, there's security upgrades and therefore the DHS committee could do it, which is wrong, but they might try." This would constitute a change in policy and not a budget item. Therefore, the Byrd rule would be applied by the Senate Parliamentarian and it would be yanked. It's sad that Congress people don't understand their own procedures.

Well, Senate Majority Leader Thune seems to. He was reluctant to embrace the idea. He said, "We'll see what's achievable. Not this. There are other ways to do it, but this one isn't flying."

Trump's statements about this all being paid for by donors was not true. As we said months ago, now let's also be clear about this. Billionaires shouldn't be funding this. It's a huge conflict. If it's necessary, the government should pay for it, but I don't think this thing should be built.

I'd prefer the money go to make sure people get fed and people get health care instead of paying for rich people to work out deals with the executive branch and turning the White House into a palace.

Anyway, it's just a thought. Y'all have a good day.

[WmChris]

1. Bait & switch

Just like Mexico is paying for the wall.

[pansypoo53219]

2. grifter wants to pocket the 2%'s donations(bribes).