Congressman Dusty Johnson had the luxury of voting against the Pelosi-Trump debt-ceiling deal; both parties had votes to spare in passing the plan to take the national debt, the federal budget, and another Trump shutdown off the table until well after the 2020 election.
Senators John Thune and Mike Rounds don’t have to support this liberal spending bill, either. Republicans from other states with principles and guts are sounding off against this grand abandonment of long-professed Republican fiscal responsibility. There doesn’t appear to be any real risk of a revolt that would sink the budget deal and send us careening to political and economic chaos (though isn’t chaos what we have already with the occupant of the White House spending more time watching TV and tweeting insults than minding the American store?). The only suspense over tomorrow’s vote is the somewhat artificial insider concern over whether a majority of GOP Senators will support Trump’s pleas for votes:
Roughly a dozen GOP senators, including Sens. Mitt Romney (Utah), Marco Rubio (Fla.) and Rand Paul (Ky.), have said they would oppose the budget deal despite Trump’s blessing for the agreement. Several other Republican senators, including Sens. Thom Tillis (N.C.) and Tim Scott (S.C.), remain on the fence [Jordain Carney, “Senate Kicks Budget Vote to Thursday amid Questions over GOP Support,” MSN.com, 2019.07.31].
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) said he thought the budget deal would pass but warned there would be “chaos” if it didn’t.
Asked if it would be politically embarrassing for Trump if a majority of Republicans opposed a deal he had endorsed, Shelby demurred.
“Politically embarrassing? That’s a strong word,” he said. “I would wish all the Republicans would join in and all the Democrats, but that never happens. Would it be politically embarrassing? As long as we win it won’t be embarrassing. If they fail to pass that bill, it would be a huge setback for everybody” [Jordain Carney, “GOP Trying to Shore up Support on Budget Deal,” The Hill, 2019.07.31].
Democrats aren’t going to block the deal, because Democrats are interested in a smoothly, reliably operating government and economy:
On Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters that Democrats were ready to pass the deal as soon as possible, given the warnings about default..
“Treasury Secretary Mnuchin has said there is a danger to the debt defaulting. Let’s get this done and get it done now. I asked Speaker McConnell, Leader McConnell on the floor today, ‘Let’s get it done today.’ There would be no Democratic hold up,” he offered [Emily Tillett, “As Republicans Balk at Nation’s Debt, Senate Holds Final Vote on Trump-Backed Budget Deal,” CBS News, 2019.07.31].
45 Democrats all voting aye—that means, John and Mike, that all you need are five of your colleagues to do the same. You and the rest of your pals could make a stand for Republican principles, let VP Pence break the tie, and go home with clean consciences like Dusty.
But no, you can’t do that… because you are more beholden to Donald Trump than you are to all the rhetoric you’ve shoveled at us for years about the ills of the national debate and unrestrained spending.
But hey, thanks for keeping the country running, John and Mike… and for showing us what you’re really about.
Republicans will begin to care about the budget deficits and see the accumulated debt as a crisis as soon as a Democrat becomes President. Then Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and a host of programs that make up the social safety net will be targets.
They will also, unironically, insist that supply side economics and the Laffer curve show that they must cut taxes for those in the upper tax bracket.
Kal, you’re probably right. No one is as talented at speaking out of different sides of his mouth With a forked tongue than a GOPer.
I used to know a lot of republicans who had the intestinal fortitude to vote for what was right and let the chips fall where they might. I don’t know where they went. Now it’s spend , never mind debt-forget the people ,who for one reason or another are not able to get adequate insurance (if any at all) and give to the “haves” .
They treat Social Security as if it is a piggy bank to tap at random without repayment , not accumulating interest,and keep it at a minimum for those who have worked their tails off to have a reasonable life style .
When we get a Democrat President I believe there will be a day of reckoning. How I hope to live that long.
Surveillance over South Dakota? Damn right. Here is trump/republican big brother watching you. No big deal right? We have fallen into the looking glass.
The US military is conducting wide-area surveillance tests across six midwest states using experimental high-altitude balloons, documents filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reveal.
Up to 25 unmanned solar-powered balloons are being launched from rural South Dakota and drifting 250 miles through an area spanning portions of Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and Missouri, before concluding in central Illinois.
Travelling in the stratosphere at altitudes of up to 65,000ft, the balloons are intended to “provide a persistent surveillance system to locate and deter narcotic trafficking and homeland security threats”, according to a filing made on behalf of the Sierra Nevada Corporation, an aerospace and defence company.”https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/02/pentagon-balloons-surveillance-midwest
Hey, remember when they were all talking about Clinton and the FEMA, camps? Turns out that was not Clinton, but republicans. Republicans are the only ones who will come for your guns boys and girls. Democrats could not get organized to do that un American crap, republicans can though, fear is a driving message.
Like many of us have been saying, we have witnessed the death of the Republican Party. It’ll take awhile for the news to get out here, and our congressional delegation, perhaps except dusty, will keep digging in. And Sckyller whatev will likely get elected by Republican voters who still think a Republican Party is relevant. I don’t generally try to hard to spell their names. Geo Will just called Trump a low IQ idiot and said these Republican Trumpist times can’t be unrung. Jerry Nadler believes an impeachment vote should come by the new year.