Senators John Thune and Mike Rounds and Representative Kristi Noem voted not to shut down the government yesterday.
The good news is that it looks like the Republicans will just barely avoid shutting down the government for the second time in two years. That’s a somewhat low bar but we should celebrate where we can…. The bad news is that it looks like Republicans will just barely avoid shutting down the government again for the second time in two years [President Barack Obama, quoted in Peter Weber, “Obama Wasn’t Overly Impressed with Republicans Not Shutting Down the Government,” The Week, 2015.09.30].
Senator Thune and Republican company have brought us ten whole weeks of uninterrupted government funding. Ten weeks—that’s not leadership; that’s dink-around-ership.
Senator Thune tries to spin his feckless time-buying as a firm stand against big-government liberals:
“The negotiations tend to favor people who want to expand and grow government,” said Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.). “And the Democrats clearly are trying to use leverage. They know we want funding for national security; they’re trying to use that to get funding for their domestic programs” [Mike DeBonis and Kelsey Snell, “On Eve of Shutdown, Congress Buys More Time,” Washington Post, 2015.09.30].
Note Senator Thune’s errors of language:
- Republicans want to expand government at least as much as Democrats. Senator Thune and friends just want to spend money on guns and bombs.
- He dismisses domestic programs as “their” plans, as if domestic programs somehow don’t belong to and benefit all of us.
- “Expand” and “grow” are redundant.
Evidently not having gotten the memo from Senator Thune, Rep. Noem is out and about talking about “her” domestic programs that she wants to expand, like highway funding and impact aid for schools.
Whatever size you think the government should be, and whatever parts you think should grow or shrink, you must agree that government should get things done. Senator John Thune and Rep. Kristi Noem do not get things done. 2016 offers us the chance to replace these do-nothings with public servants who believe in effective government.
The majority of jobs dumbass dubya created were public sector jobs. The nation’s debts and deficits exploded under dumbass dubya. Talk of growing gubmint. Hypocrites all.
I thought the same yesterday. While I was glad that the gov’t did not shut down, my goodness, is this not a perfect display of a term they just love to use? “Kicking the can down the road”??
As much as this way of governing is a top qualifier for Mike Rounds “stupid file” that he brags about, I doubt that this will find its way to that file.
Sigh
“We want spending for national security.” How much more spending on defense is enuf? Would we be more “secure” buy starting a war with Iran? More secure by fighting Syria? Perhaps there are some countries closer to home in South America or maybe another war in Grenada? Bomb Cuba? What the hell do they have in mind? As in most cases, they won’t say, just that whatever the Democrats are doing is wrong! Some policy, eh?
Sensible selfishness …
… or was it selfish sensibility? GOP is split open like a rotten jack-o-lantern. Time for assault.
All three of these idiots do not belong in or near Washington Dc. They are there because where in SD can you make over$175,000 for 164 days sitting at a desk. Plus have thousands to redecorate your office, and thousands to set up offices (none of the three share office space)in home state so we people they are suppose to represent can go there and talk to some young punk that is representing the CONgress people?) where in SD can they get a job that pays life time health care and wages and when the public servant dies the spouse continues to receive the paycheck until they die. Where in SD can you find a job that allows you to hobnob with all the polictical garbage they have in DC? Where in SD can they vote to still receive their high paying check if the business goes broke? They have all theat in Dc plus they get to keep any extra money left after the campaign is over. SOOOO folks what we have here is an instant road to becoming a billionaire. Glory be and we vote those money mongers into office every time we go to the polls so nothing ever changes. Isn’t it time to get someone in there that will destroy the money hungry appetites and make these public service people live like the rest of South Dakota people? The majority of us on a two income family of three children in a 200 thousand dollar house, working a third job to pay for utilities and Insurance working a forth job to be able to buy Christmas gifts and maybe go on a vacation every 4-5 years then pay off those credit card debts until the next vacation. It is a vicious circle and we can vote them out.We can not contribute to their campaigns, we can , we can , we can change it all. United we stand divided we have fallen.