do not trust the criminals.

And who in their right mind would trust Trump or McConnell at this point?

They are co-conspirators.

"When you don't like who's in there, vote em out!" -- Willie Nelson

It is the second most republican district in the country that is represented by a Democrat. He gets elected again and again (he was first elected in 1990) because he takes conservative positions on a number of issues (although he votes with the Democrats more often than he votes with Republicans.

Here how his district has voted in Presidential elections (Trump topped Hillary by more than 30 points):

2000 President George W. Bush 54 - Al Gore 40% Republican Party (United States)
2004 President George W. Bush 55 - John Kerry 43% Republican Party (United States)
2008 President John McCain 50 - Barack Obama 47% Republican Party (United States)
2012 President Mitt Romney 53.9 - Barack Obama 44.1% Republican Party (United States)
2016 President Donald Trump 61.8 - Hillary Clinton 31% Republican Party (United States)

I am of the opinion that Democrats in red districts that get elected by acting like moderate republicans or who get into a yelling match about who loves trump more, are politically lazy and lazy thinkers.
There is a lot about Democratic Party planks I think could be pitched to even the reddest republican and get at least some agreement.
Two things are true in politics:
It’s not what you say but how you say it
Know your audience

You don’t have to be a republican alternative, you have to be a good Democrat.

His replacement’s ACU rating will be 77 percent higher. And you think that’s meaningless.

Okee dokee then.

eom

ACU has a partisan agenda, 538 does not. ACU explicitly states they rate on whether or not a given pol voted ACU's position on a bill or not. 538 rates whether a given pol voted with the party's/*resident's position or not. The difference not splitting hair.

According to 538, in the 115th Congress nearly 200 of the 241 house repubs voted with Trump 90+ percent of the time. Only three voted him less than 70 percent of the time. Yes Peterson was one of eight Democrats who voted with Trump between 60 and 67 percent of the time. I guess you wouldn't mind replacing all eight with Repubs that vote with Trump even more often than that. By 538's measure, Peterson should be expected to vote with Trump over 90 percent of the time due to the make up of the district, so he's actually a substantial improvement over what would be elected there if he was gone.

And yes, I would actually. Stop running cowards who pretend to be part of a party they are not. Stop enabling frauds by giving them cover. Stop showing that this behavior is acceptable, fooling voters into voting for you, then voting against their interests. They are poison to the body politic of any party. Can't help Republicans voting more conservative than they already do, fascists gotta fascist, but why do we need a piece of that action on our side? Either we can be a party of principles or we can be craven like they are. DINOs and RINOs are the worst political creatures, opportunistic bloodsuckers. Get with the platform or get the fuck out.

You are a great representation of how Democrats lose elections -- lots of folks thought Hillary didn't meet their standards. And we've all suffered for their stupidity.

How blinkered of you.

in Peterson's district, you're dreaming. Do you know how many Democrats won house seats in districts that Trump won by between 10 and 15 points? Four. How many won house seats in districts that Trump won by between 15 and 30 points? None. And how many won House seats in districts won by Trump by 30 or more points? One -- Collin Peterson.

I think you are the one with "blinkers."

Reliably voting more than half the time as a Democrat is not an unreasonable thing to ask. Voting 40% of the time as a Democrat makes you a not-Democrat (Blue Dogs, gmafb). It's cute that he said Republicans made him mad enough to seek reelection in 2016... and then went on to vote with them ~60% of the time. Methinks he doth stamp his feet too much.

This insistence that having a D behind your name is the only thing that matters is how we reliably get bad governance. Conservative policies and positions hurt us all. Putting blue lipstick on a conservative pig just makes them a blue-lipped pig that votes with other conservatives.

What NEEDS to happen is for the House and Senate to agree on a spending bill with veto-proof margins, but mitch the turtle won't agree to that. He needs to get bombarded with phone calls and emails.

Where will that end?

...doesn't get his way over XYZ, he'll do it again.

Peterson is in the wrong party, IMO.

Who's "we?"

I can understand the idea of approving the 5.4 billion for "border security". And then spend it on beefing up the entrance points. Spending on screeners, personnel, and also on more high tech methods like lasers motion detectors etc... Also better conditions for those held in detention...family quarters built to keep families together.

But to then say "We're going to build that wall anyway"?

WTF?

I said early on, when Trump was still a candidate, that the wall would never be built. Nothing has happened to make me change my mind.

Give Trump the $5B, he'll parcel it out to contractors who will spend years developing prototypes, surveying the land, and changing plans, and the wall will never be built. Of course Trump will keep the bulk of it for himself.

"if he’s going to use the money correctly"...

particularly for a member of the House where unlike the Senate Dems do not to whip votes. It the representative feels threatened by a potential election opponent then they should talk to their constituents in Minnesota instead of using a national forum to contradict the party line. Just my opinion...

Seriously?
With Democrats like Collin Peterson, who needs Republicans.

Why he continues to run as a Democrat has been a mystery to many of us in the DFL for years.

He's a big part of the reason I don't donate to the DCCC.

A district that has voted for Trump over Clinton by more than a 2-1 margin (61.8%- 31.0%)? A district that has voted for the republican presidential nominee in every election going back at least until 2000.

Yeah, he gets a 23 percent rating from the American Conservative Union. Which is 77 percent lower than the rating his replacement will get.

"We might as well just go along with it. Sigh..."

Trump gets $5.7 billion, but he can't spend it until there have been feasibility studies, Congressional testimonies, and proper oversight.

This man is terrorizing the country and nobody has the balls to impeach this madman.

a. whose side he's supposed to be on, and b. that Democrats don't negotiate with terrorists. Peterson is awful, but his district is right next to North Dakota and he's about as "liberal" as that district will elect.

Increased Border Security funding would pass both chambers. Maintenance and strengthening of existing barriers is a given. Erecting new barriers in specific areas would pass. Increased monitoring and manpower (looking for tunnels, etc.) is a no brainer.
Funding specifically dedicated to a 2000 mile continuous unnecessary and not cost effective vanity border wall to honor Trump and score partisan points paid for with taxpayer money is insane.

Someone should ask Mr. Peterson how his constituents might feel if the federal government built a 30-foot wall with 24-hour huge floodlights in the middle of their property, cutting them off from access to the rest of their property or even to the closest town. Would he like to go through a border control checkpoint every time he needed a loaf of bread? That’s what the federal government is already trying to do to homeowners who live along the border in Texas. We do not need a wall!

International Falls

but it doesn't need to be anywhere. Everywhere fencing makes sense has been fenced already.

I will have nightmares if that happens.

Link to tweet

now is NOT the time to cave mr. p!!


https://thehill.com/homenews/house/426467-dem-lawmaker-calls-on-democrats-to-give-trump-the-money-for-border-wall

...............He is one of Congress’s most conservative Democrats and represents Minnesota’s 7th Congressional District, an area Trump won by 30 points during the 2016 presidential election.

The chairman of the House Agriculture Committee said he hasn’t been in contact with the Trump White House about shutdown negotiations, adding “I don’t now how we get [to a deal].”

The partial government shutdown, currently in its 32nd day, has forced roughly a quarter of the government to shutter. Approximately 800,000 federal employees have been furloughed or are working without pay.

Trump offered a proposal Saturday that would fully reopen the government, provide money for the wall and give a three-year extension of legal protections to immigrants who are Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients or Temporary Protected Status holders.

Top Democrats, however, dismissed his proposal as a non-starter..................



https://radiocms-images.us1.eldarioncloud.com/resize/1100/

is wrong with this guy?

Last edited Wed Jan 23, 2019, 12:28 AM - Edit history (1)

Remember the Stones song you ruined? Applies to you too.

We don't have to listen

Link to tweet

a hostage taker, plus he will do it over and over again. He needs to know he's not a fucking dictator.

I just wish he keeps on eating that junk food clogs his arteries and his enormous fat self just collapses.

Step 1 is the Appropriation Bill, that says how much money and for what purposes.

Step 2 is the Authorization Bill that says HOW the money is to be spent, i.e., what can and cannot be done.

What Peterson is saying is do step 1, appropriate the money, but in the step 2 authorization require than any money only be spent on upgrades to existing structures.

I think Peterson should shut up and let Nancy deal with Trump. Tell you about them democrats, they love to cave, don't know how to play hardball.

NO!

It's not like they'll kidnap or hijack anyone else.

No one in the House gives a damn what he thinks or says. He's just catering to his right wing district voters who he once got describing as "a bunch of conspiracy theorists". His only use is to keep a Republican out of office and with a large enough majority no one cares.

only a wall will satisfy him and so he and Mitch (the Coward) McConnell need to be the ones that end the shutdown.

Never compromise with a dictator!

Sounds more like something Jordan would say!

Elect even more Dems so this guy will be a critical vote on NOTHING.

Blank checks have a tendency to stick to Donnie's wallet.

he'll close the government again next month with a new demand. Maybe a new constitutional amendment revoking the 22nd Amendment and which will abolish the presidency and let him remain our Fearless Leader indefinitely.

If you look at the comments section you can see he's in Trump-land. He's saying it to save himself in the next election. I can't say I blame him. It's not like his one voice in Fargo makes a hell of a lot of difference.

Which is in the western part of the state & runs from the Canadian border almost, but not quite, to the state's souther border. Fargo, ND media would give some coverage to that part of the state.

I should have paid closer attention.

Not a big deal, I wish he did belong to North Dakota.

...we don't need.

C'mon. A wall? Really? Please explain how a wall could feasibly be built. And how effective could it be against a problem you can't prove? Geez.

No Democrat represents a district that was as one sided for Trump as Peterson. And yes, he is one of three Democrats that vote with Trump between 60 and 70 percent of the time. But if you want him replaced, recognize that his replacement will vote with Trump 95 percent of the time.

How many Democrats are you prepared to sacrifice in the name of "purity"? Care to toss Conor Lamb overboard? He also votes with Trump more than 60 percent of the time. Yet his victory was celebrated here big time.

orangecrush, you posted without comment. Let me comment for you. This guy's telephone lines should be JAMMED tomorrow. There is absolutely NO reason whatever to cave to Trump. This isn't on Dems. It is on Trump. Let him wear it.

where has this guy been, and who from the Dems side did he hear that from? No wall, no way!!

Next he'll be shutting down gov to end Mueller probe...oh wait

I just wonder how many responders are government workers, with deferred wages.

I can go with a shut-down government for quite a while, as (so far) Medicare and Social Security payments are not affected. Good for me. Still, it's tough on those who have their income "on pause" while expenses continue.

Something has to break this logjam of stopped salaries, before there are mass evictions, health crises, etc.

Sometimes, in a game of "chicken", you have to veer.

It will be an enabling act to give the president the dictatorial authority to shut down the government whenever he doesn't get whatever he wants. Pelosi finally got it yesterday: "We cannot have the president, every time he has an objection. say, ‘I’ll shut down the Government until you come to my way of thinking.’" What's at stake is much bigger than bragging rights over a trophy wall.

Do not negotiate with the terrorist and start holding hearings and making it public what has been happening and make the crimes heard that have and are being committed by Trump, his family and friends.

I know everyone talks about “well the Senate” won’t remove him - OK! And if they don’t remove him after all is revealed then let the American voter and the world see who protects criminals. And then in 2020 we have a BLUER than BLUE wave that takes back the Senate and White House.

I think at this point that is the only chance - we can’t wait for Mueller....

Democrats, patriots must do their job....

Do not give up our democracy to this criminal traitor



PS: Petersen - say goodbye in the next election

Good patriots of Minnesota let him know Not to negotiate with terorists

I think he's bigoted like the majority of people in his district, though he has had few votes I've wished Democrats had supported too. Unfortunately, I think he's the best we can do. Fortunately, being just one house member, we should have a strong enough majority to make his stance irrelevant.

because he will continue these tantrums if we don't!