Last Call For The House That Ruth Built

The Trump Regime needs a win quite badly right now, and nothing would cause Republicans and Trump's rabid base to forget everything more quickly than should Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg be unable to continue on the Supreme Court.

The White House is reaching out to political allies and conservative activist groups to prepare for an ailing Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s possible death or departure from the Supreme Court — an event that would trigger the second bitter confirmation battle of President Donald Trump’s tenure.

The outreach began after Ginsburg, 85, on Monday missed oral arguments at the courtfor the first time in her 25 years on the bench. The justice, who was nominated to the court by President Bill Clinton in 1993, announced in late December that she underwent a surgical procedure to remove two cancerous growths from her lungs.

The White House "is taking the temperature on possible short-list candidates, reaching out to key stakeholders, and just making sure that people are informed on the process," said a source familiar with those conversations, who spoke on background given the delicate nature of the subject. "They're doing it very quietly, of course, because the idea is not to be opportunistic, but just to be prepared so we aren't caught flat-footed."

Ginsburg had a pulmonary lobectomy, the Supreme Court said in a statement, and her doctors said that post-surgery there was “no evidence of any remaining disease.” She has also recovered from several past health scares. But her departure from the Court would allow Trump to nominate a third Supreme Court justice — the most in one presidential term since President Ronald Reagan placed three judges on the highest court during his second term.

The nine-member court is currently divided 5-4 between its conservative and liberal wings. Ginsburg’s departure would allow Trump to create the Court’s strongest conservative majority in decades, a scenario sure to bring intense opposition from Democrats and liberal activists still furious over the October confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Needless to say, a 6-3 conservative majority would be the utter end of classic liberalism in America and assure the country's descent into theocratic Christian Dominionism, if not full-on white supremacy as a government imperative.

But the ghouls couldn't slaver any harder from their gaping maws.

Sears No Bucks

Sears, one of America's greatest retail legends, most notable for its commitment to serve black customers through the era of Jim Crow with its mail catalog, was facing imminent liquidation this morning, but this afternoon it appears to have been spared heading for history's scrap heap.

Sears was facing the possibility of shutting down, until it reached an 11th-hour deal Tuesday to stay open, at least for now. 

After two long delays at a morning hearing in bankruptcy court, attorneys for Sears announced it had accepted a revised bid from a hedge fund controlled by Eddie Lampert, the chairman and former CEO of Sears. The deal would keep 425 of the stores open. 

Lampert's $4.4 billion offer does not complete the sale, but rather starts an auction that is due to be completed on January 14. It is still possible that those wishing to shutdown the company will bid more for the assets than Lampert is offering. 

Judge Robert Drain still needs to approve the agreement, but called the deal "a good development." 

It gives Sears a chance to survive, which appeared to be slipping way heading into the hearing. 

Lampert submitted a bid on December 28 and Sears had until Friday to accept it, but the company didn't comment before Tuesday's hearing. That's because attorneys were working feverishly to get it done. 

The deal was reached after days of "virtually round-the-clock negotiations," Sears attorney Ray Schrock told the court. 

The talks continued into Tuesday. A hearing planned for 10 a.m. didn't actually get underway until after 1 p.m. because attorneys were huddled to discuss details of the bid. 

In the end, greed wrecked Sears, it will eventually be pillaged, and 50,000 jobs and 125 years of history will sacrificed on the altar of Wall Street.  JC Penney's is almost certainly next.

Shutdown Meltdown, Con't

Trump's primetime speech Tuesday night was supposed to "win" him the shutdown and bring Democrats crawling on their knees to beg him to reopen the government the next morning.  In reality, Trump threw a hissy fit and stormed out of his own office, because he's a tantrum baby.

Democrats came out of the latest government shutdown talks at the White House on Wednesday claiming that President Donald Trump walked out in a "temper tantrum" when they again refused to meet his demand that they agree to fund his border wall.

After the meeting ended, the president tweeted that the negotiations were "a total waste of time."

Standing outside the West Wing, Republican and Democratic leaders described a meeting in the Situation Room that was dysfunctional, frustrating, and brief, lasting just 14 minutes.

"It’s cold out here and the temperature wasn't much warmer inside the Situation Room," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the talks quickly broke down after Trump asked Democrats if they would agree to fund his proposed border wall.

"We saw a temper tantrum because he couldn't get his way and he just walked out of the meeting," Schumer said, calling the president's decision to not reopen the government without border wall funding "cruel" and "callous" as federal workers will not get their first scheduled paycheck of the shutdown on Friday.

"He sort of slammed the table and when Leader Pelosi said she didn't agree with the wall, he just walked out and said, 'We have nothing to discuss.' So he said it was a waste of his time. That is sad and unfortunate," Schumer said, describing the meeting.

America is now reduced to the capricious whims of a whiny-ass septuagenarian buffoon.  Now, House Republicans are beginning to panic along with their Senate colleagues, to the point where they're starting to vote for Democratic bills to reopen the government.

The House passed a bill Wednesday evening that would reopen the Treasury Department and ensure that the IRS would remain funded.

The measure passed on a 240 to 188 vote, with eight Republicans breaking ranks to vote in favor of the bill. A handful of Republicans also joined Democrats last week in voting for the measure as part of a broader package.

The legislation has no current path to passage. Trump has said he will not sign legislation reopening the government unless it includes taxpayer funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border — and both Trump and Vice President Pence have visited the Capitol this week urging GOP lawmakers to vote down any such Democratic proposals. 

Something's got to give, and soon.

StupidiNews!

• House Democrats have passed legislation defending the Affordable Care Act, but the bill has no future in the GOP-controlled Senate.
• California investigators using DNA evidence have cleared the Golden State Killer of a 1975 murder, prosecutors remain confident that the man that was convicted was the correct culprit.
• Senate Finance Committee Chair Republican Chuck Grassley says that Donald Trump will not receive expanded tariff authority as requested by the White House.
• Tech giant Oracle has bought the naming rights to San Francisco's Giants Stadium for more than $200 million as AT&T will not renew its current deal with the baseball team.
• Walmart is testing autonomous delivery van service for customers in Phoenix, the retail chain is partnering with automated driving startup Udelv.