We have a functioning federal government for another couple months, no thanks to South Dakota’s Congressional deelgation. President Joe Bien signed an interim funding bill yesterday that puts off a government shutdown until mid-December. Contrary to his professed commitment practical problem-solving, South Dakota’s lone Representative voted yesterday with most House Republicans to let the new fiscal year began with no approved appropriations and thus no government to solve problems. Also supporting a government shutdown were Senators John Thune and Mike Rounds, who bucked Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and joined 23 other Senate Republicans in not giving a good gosh darn about maintaining public services for 320 million Americans.
Johnson, Thune, and Rounds voted against continuing appropriations for the USDA, Homeland Security, and everything else under the federal sun, as well as additional funding for numerous important and helpful programs:
- $18.8 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to deal with, among other things, hurricane season;
- $12.3 billion to help the Ukrainians push the Russians into the Sea of Azov;
- $2.5 billion to rebuild communities destroyed by wildfire in New Mexico;
- $1.8 billion to provide emergency food and shelter for folks coming to America;
- $1 billion in home heating assistance;
- $20 million to help rebuild water infrastructure in Jackson, Mississippi.
The House of Representatives is now out for the entire month of October for a District Work Period. The Senate has State Work Periods next week and October 24 through November 8. Both chambers have a week of work under the dome from November 14 through November 18 before another week off for Turkey Day.
Those three indifferent reps who claim they care about their constituents would cause the closure all the the NPS sites in western South Dakota, including Rushmore, the Badlands, Wind Cave, Jewel Cave and Devil’s Tower in WY. This happened when our callous then-U.S. Rep Noem voted for a similar shutdown in 2013. The effect, our Fall tourist season went kaput, causing thousands of private sector employees, mine included, to virtual close up shop. These are paycheck-to-paycheck, hard working people who were effectively laid off just in time for the holiday season. I had staffers fighting over the few available hours that we had. Fie on these heartless creeps.
Congress never seems to do its work on time, which is why we get these shutdown votes. They’ve perfected quiet quitting. It doesn’t matter which party controls Congress, they seem to find a way not to do the bare minimum every fiscal year. They take so many vacations through the year, pretending to work in their districts, but mostly its on their campaigns or public relations of some kind. Congress is broken. We ought to fire the whole lot of them and get new people who want to actually, you know, work. They are the biggest welfare cheats around.
The way I tend to see it-
Patriot: scared
Republican: hateful
Liberty: inconsiderate
Traditional Values: racist
Christian: above the law tax evaders
American: exclusive entitlement
Freedom: right to be an @sshole with a gun
Conservative: only rich lives matter
Rural: white
Immigrant: rapists and fentanyl pushers
Family: secrets and shame behind facade
Tax payer: ignorant pawn
Public education: waste of funds
Campaign: traveling prostitution
Agenda: hypocrisy
Truth: not getting caught
Constitution: tool for inequality
Justice: lawyer racket
Community: shaming people who are different
Media: the enemy of treason
Veteran: too broke to actually care about
Voter: self important pains in the @ss
Politician: slave wannabe master
Do not forget about the Missile Museum, Mr. Tsitrian, or the Fossil Cycad joint. Maybe they are both closed now, grudznick can’t remember.
Why are these 3 stooges getting paid for doing NOTHING? They have the best insurance vs our Medicare. They don’t have to worry about Social Security. Yet they go to work every day and vote no, no and no and receive very excellent compensation.
They did NOTHING even when they were in control of both houses. Why are they earning a paycheck for sitting on their haunches and spitting on the rest of us? Yes John, there are real life consequences that these so-called men don’t care about. How do they keep getting elected?
Facing a strong Democratic contender the Trumpian US Representative from New Mexico’s Second District voted against the package after prescribed burns escaped the Forest Service. Yes, federal land managers have climate change guns to their heads so it’s usually damned if you do and damned if you don’t conduct prescribed fires. But it’s a straight line from the previous administration’s Secretary of Agriculture and crashes in morale within the US Forest Service to current wildfires and conditions on the entire National Forest System including in the Black Hills.
I would have supported the shut down if it included stopping funding the US imperialistic wars all around the globe and stopping support/funding of the Ukrainian nazi war to prevent the Russians from selling fossil fuels to Europe. It is obvious the Politicians representing South Dakota are against this vote for political reasons. Republicans and Democrats are the problem as they are owned by Wall Street, Military Industrial Complex, Big Pharma, Insurance companies, etc. So one can only expect the worst until we fight back against all the crooked politician (Republicans & Democrats) and corporations.
Readers who know the ag mags and media can see where South Dakota’s Republicans tout their brand of corporate socialism while voting against any money for blue states. The Farm Bills pork is just waiting to be diced and sliced.
Mammal : You have it right.
More:
Citizens United: Corporate power unlimited
Conservative: Selfish, I got mine eff you
Right Wing : criminal fascist wing of the criminal republican party
Prolife: I want control of your body, I don’t want to control mine
Federalist Society : Fascist/Nazi judges and lawyers who want to destroy the constitution through the courts
There are more, but I have work to do.
Money, money, money! So who are Thune, Rounds, and Johnson serving with their NO votes
to fund the federal government? Surely not taxpaying citizens.
But Thune and Rounds served their campaign contributors well the prior week.
Thune and Rounds joined Senate Republicans to block action on S.4822 The Disclose Act of 2022—
a bill requiring disclosure of the names of large donors to PACs. They followed Johnson’s and House Republicans’ vote
against HR1 For the People Act, a related bill.
https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/4822?r=57
https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1
What passes for governance in a U.S. democracy awash in billions of dollars of secret campaign contributions?
Service to campaign donors. Congressmen Thune, Rounds, Johnson and Gov. Noem are all for that.
https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2022/09/with-deadlocked-vote-on-dark-money-disclose-act-fails-to-clear-senate/
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/att/republicans-block-bill-requiring-dark-163044857.html
Florida highlights the hypocrisy this week as their Senators ask for FEMA to step up its funding to their state — funding they voted against. When pressed on this Sen Rubio said that he was in favor of the FEMA relief that he was asking for, but against other aspects of the package, such as a line item that gave a new roof to a building in DC (I believe). It turns out that building was also being repaired due to storm damage — so it is just funding the “other guy’s” needs the GOP is against. Just like the Infrastructure Act, I’m sure the SD delegation will be sure to get their cut of the spoils. It’s always easy to act as the petulant child when the adults make sure the needs are met.
O, Rick Scott will drink a fifth to that one.
Speaking of Marlboro Barbie, Thune is named in person as one of a number of magats decrying socialist infrastructure bill while, at the same time, lobbying for their fair share of the trillion plus.
https://www.rawstory.com/republican-2658409933/
Exactly Mike.
https://www.newscenter1.tv/thune-lujan-propose-bill-to-help-drought-stricken-farmers/
Candidate Dennis Daugaard drew gasps from a State Fair audience in 2010 when he said: “I am skeptical about the science that suggests global warming is man-caused or can be corrected by man-made efforts” but got on the phone anyway in 2013 and groveled before President Obama for several disaster declarations. Disaster declaration results from the Christmas 2016 storms that hit much of South Dakota enriched Black Hills Energy, Butte Electric, Grand Electric and others…again.
South Dakota’s current Republican governor isn’t about self-reliance because she’s wedded to moral hazard. Recall US Representative Kristi Noem voted against federal disaster assistance when acts of god ravaged blue states. A tornado hit her home town of Castlewood and Noem praised her god for sparing her campaign war chest because science karma chickens come home to roost where the governor is a climate change denier. In 2019 she was quick to ask the Trump Organization for disaster cash but when she asks a Democratic president for help, especially after blaming him for an infant formula shortage, she’s admitting she’s dependent on federal aid. And if she doesn’t she risks looking like a miserable partisan.
Ice storms routinely knock out electric power on reservations sometimes resulting in lost lives even as microgrid technologies enhance tribal sovereignty and free communities from electric monopolies. So, this is how red states finance infrastructure improvements while bitching about Big Government.