Eating their own! top kek

Progressives, centrists in open warfare after House caves on Trump border bill

Tensions between progressive and centrist lawmakers spilled into open view Thursday after House Democratic leaders caved on legislation to provide resources for agencies handling migrants at the southern border, with both sides angrily pointing fingers over who was to blame.

But House Democrats across the spectrum agreed on one thing: They lost their leverage in pursuing stricter health standards for migrant holding facilities when fellow Democrats on the other side of the Capitol effectively sided with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in voting overwhelmingly for a bipartisan bill providing $4.5 billion in resources for agencies responding to the influx of migrants.

After members of the centrist Problem Solvers Caucus threatened to tank an attempt by progressives to make changes to the Senate-passed bill, the two factions began trading barbs that included references to child abuse.

"Since when did the Problem Solvers Caucus become the Child Abuse Caucus?" tweeted Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), a co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC).

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the other CPC co-chair, offered a pejorative nickname of her own.

"The Problem Makers Caucus?" Jayapal said dismissively when The Hill asked about the Problem Solvers Caucus.

Rep. Max Rose (D-N.Y.), a Problem Solvers Caucus member, confronted Pocan over the tweet on the House floor.

"He's just trying to get retweets. That's all he cares about," Rose told reporters.

Rep. Jeff Van Drew (D-N.J.), a Problem Solvers member who represents a swing district, called Pocan’s remark “nonsense” and argued that delaying passage of the border aid amounted to child abuse.

“Child abuse is taking a bill that you know is not going to reach the finish line, is never going to be signed by the president,” Van Drew said.

“What we did was a practical, good move to ensure that kids were going to be taken care of. That bill's going to be signed into law. Those kids within a day are going to start getting some of the relief they need. That's what I call good government. I don't call that child abuse,” he added.

Pocan only doubled down.

"I think if you facilitate taking out the language that takes away the ability to pull a contract from a bad firm that's doing child abuse, I think that's a pretty fair characterization," Pocan told reporters, referring to an amendment sought by House progressives to end government contracts for shelters run by entities that don’t adhere to health standards within six months.

Centrists defended their push to take up the bipartisan Senate bill, pointing to the upper chamber’s 84-8 vote on Wednesday and time running out before lawmakers were set to leave for the July 4 recess.

Congress faced another time crunch: The Trump administration said the Office of Refugee Resettlement will start running out of money by early July.

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https://thehill.com/homenews/house/450769-progressives-moderates-in-open-warfare-after-house-caves-on-trump-border-bill

G20: Trump Holds URGENT Press Conference with Abe and Modi over Tensions on Trade

Putin praises Trump as 'talented,' says liberalism has 'become obsolete'

Russian President Vladimir Putin in a new interview praised President Trump as a "talented" person, saying that despite not being a career politician Trump knew how to relate to voters.

“Mr. Trump is not a career politician," Putin told The Financial Times. "I do not accept many of his methods when it comes to addressing problems. But do you know what I think? I think that he is a talented person. He knows very well what his voters expect from him.”

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The comments from Putin came in an interview with The Financial Times ahead of the Group of 20 (G-20) summit in Osaka, Japan — an event where the Russian president is expected to meet with Trump. The newspaper noted that Putin was polite when discussing Trump, despite being critical of the United States as a whole. Putin reportedly referred to Trump as "Donald" several times in the interview.

He also praised Trump's initiative to enforce stricter immigration policies along the U.S.-Mexico border while arguing that the "liberal idea" had "outlived its purpose."

“This liberal idea presupposes that nothing needs to be done. That migrants can kill, plunder and rape with impunity because their rights as migrants have to be protected," he said. “Every crime must have its punishment. The liberal idea has become obsolete."

Putin also weighed in on former special counsel Robert Mueller's report, dismissing conclusions by the U.S. intelligence community that Moscow interfered in the 2016 presidential election.

“Russia has been accused, and, strange as it may seem, it is still being accused … of alleged interference in the U.S. election," he said. "What happened in reality? Mr. Trump looked into his opponents’ attitude to him and saw changes in American society, and he took advantage of this."

Mueller's report found that Russia engaged in an effort to interfere in the presidential election. It did not find sufficient evidence to conclude a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Moscow took place.

Trump and Putin's meeting at the G-20 summit later this week will mark the first time the leaders have met face-to-face since Mueller's report was released. Trump would not commit to confronting Putin about election interference during an interview with NBC on Sunday.

He told reporters Wednesday that he expects to "have a very good conversation with him," adding, "what I say to him is none of your business."

https://thehill.com/policy/international/450756-putin-praises-trump-as-a-talented-because-he-know-what-voters-expect