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posted by martyb on Friday February 15 2019, @03:52AM   Printer-friendly
from the President's-precedents dept.

"President Trump will sign the border security compromise package on Capitol Hill to avert another government shutdown and will take the extraordinary step of declaring a national emergency to obtain funding for the border wall, the White House announced Thursday."

https://foxnews.com/politics/mcconnell-says-trump-prepared-to-sign-border-security-bill-and-will-declare-national-emergency


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 15 2019, @01:08PM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 15 2019, @01:08PM (#801509)

    How do you measure "Political Fapital"? It sounds made up.

  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Friday February 15 2019, @01:25PM (2 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday February 15 2019, @01:25PM (#801515) Journal

    How do you measure "Political Fapital"?

    Sorry, it's moderately intangible. Look it up [oxforddictionaries.com] in the dictionary. Trump had the power and populist-based leeway to stop some degree of government services for more than a month. He used that power to try to fund a $6(+) billion wall on the border with Mexico. He could have used that power in vastly more constructive ways that I would respect.

    Now, he doesn't have that power anymore. Sure, he could shutdown the government again. But this time, he's unlikely to get any support from his own party (with enough votes, vetos can be overridden). That's what political capital is to me. The power or advantage to do certain things once or a few times, which can be expended.

    There are other examples of political capital such as the period of time after a president gets elected, when implementation of proposed policies and such are relatively easy to push through Congress. Or when Bush was given a pretty big check to do what he wanted after the 9/11 attacks. But those powers/advantages go away.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 15 2019, @03:46PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 15 2019, @03:46PM (#801578)

      So there is no way to measure it, and it may magically appear or disappear based on current events? It doesn't sound like something that can be "used up".

      • (Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday February 16 2019, @12:04AM

        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Saturday February 16 2019, @12:04AM (#801850) Journal

        So there is no way to measure it, and it may magically appear or disappear based on current events?

        Yep.

        It doesn't sound like something that can be "used up".

        And yet, Trump managed it.