"So once again we find ourselves in 'kick the can down the street' land. The Wall will not be funded, and the government will limp along on continuing resolutions. Just the kind of crap we all hate - especially Donald Trump."
It you listen very closely, some very typical Washington Speak slipped out yesterday. It was uttered by one of the best purveyor of Washington Speak himself - Senate Leader Mitch McConnell. It had to do with the subject of funding for the Wall. Mitch said, "Don't worry, we are not going to shut the government down. We will address the Wall funding at the same time we address the DHS funding, and we hope to have that done before the election."
There it was. Subtle, but there. The Washington Speak was simply this - we ain't going to have the GFY 19 budget done by October 1st, so it looks like another CR is in the offing. How do I know? If the DHS funding is not going to be done until the election (early November), the current budget runs out at 11:59 pm on September 30th. If my memory serves me correctly, the President also said he would NEVER, EVER sign another CR to keep the government open.
This fall is going to be very interesting to say the least. Not only are we going to have a midterm which could have seismic consequences, we are also going to be without a finished budget on October 1st. The concern by the establishment Republicans is simply this - if we shut down the government right before the election, it could morph the "Red Tsunami" into the "Blue Wave".
Without knowing the President, I do know enough about him that this issue drives him nuts. A five week vacation for the House? Are you kidding me (he must be thinking)? Then when the House returns to work after Labor Day (all tanned and rested), they have only a handful of days until the current year's budget runs out. I know the Senate Leader is keeping the Senate in session for most of the summer, but the real action right now is in the House. The only advantage of having the Senate in session, is it ups the chances of an early confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh.
So once again we find ourselves in "kick the can down the street" land. The Wall will not be funded, and the government will limp along on continuing resolutions. Just the kind of crap we all hate - especially Donald Trump.
As much as the President respects our Democratic process, I do think he would like to be King for one day, and one day only. Why? As King, he could utter those two words he often used while on The Apprentice - "YOU'RE FIRED!"
If the GOP has any sense at all (they are not sometimes called "the stupid party" for no reason) they will get most of the budget bills done "in regular order," leaving the only shutdown possibility as a fight over DHS. Dems would leave the country defenseless just to prevent what most of the public wants, which is border security. That could work very well, politically, for the GOP. I certainly hope so.
ReplyDeleteDefenseless seems like such an absolute......
ReplyDeleteOver the past 24 years, the amount of money spent on border security has increased 14 times; the number of border patrol agents have increased 500 percent; the amount of border wall has grown from 77 miles to 700 miles since 2000; and the number of people being apprehended trying to cross the border have decreased by four-fifths.
ICE is today testifying in Senate hearings and they sound like they are spending all their resources fixing the child separation screw up and closing down Tyson Chicken plants and can no longer spend resources stopping the bad guys and drug mules. SAD
PS The GOP will do just fine, DJT will fire up the base and get them out to mindlessly vote. Don't worry, you'll still stay in control of Congress. The question will still be, what will they accomplish?
The question is ALWAYS what will the GOP do with power. Apprehensions are up but we still have huge numbers crossing the border-- about 1 million a year, apparently. Yes, defenseless is too strong, but "less defended" is simply not acceptable. I think if Trump holds out for a wall while the rest of the government hums along, he will get what he wants, and the Democrats will suffer for opposing what the people want. I hope.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny (or not) that the Dems are so predictable about what they will do/try, but the GOP can't do much besides approve Federal appointments. Leadership of both parties needs to change.
DeleteSince we already have laws on the books since 1988 preventing all plastic weapons, the guy who is posting the plans on the internet is also selling a small metal milling machine to produce untraceable metal weapons. He also has a goal to provide plans for all known weapons available. Entrepreneurship at its best.
ReplyDeleteAt the turn of the 21st century, we were on track to actually pay off the debt. Then there was a massive terror attack, two wars, tax cuts and new spending programs, a Great Recession and multiple natural disasters.
ReplyDeleteDuring a strong economy, we should be preparing for future events such as those, not pushing the credit card to the limit.
One thing is for sure -- Washington needs to grow up. Stop the demagoguery. Make some adult decisions.
These numbers are so large that the solution cannot be solely spending cuts or tax increases. Both parties will need to compromise to find a path forward.
Remember that Reagan passed tax cuts through Congress with the promise that there would be spending cuts to "pay for them"? Federal revenues increased greatly, but Congress INCREASED spending and the deficit grew.
ReplyDeleteThanks to Trump's tax cuts, the economy and federal revenues are growing again, so all that is needed is to get federal spending under control, but nobody wants to stop being Santa Claus. I am told that if we simply cut REAL federal spending by 1% per year for five years, the budget would be balanced. This is not that hard, it's just that nobody wants to do it and they are publicly attacked, unmercifully, if they suggest such prudence.