In addition to finding new ways to dismantle the Second Amendment, the recently reconvened Congress is also “hard at work” looking for a way to avoid a government shutdown on October 1.
Of course, neither party possesses the political will to do their job with the 2020 election on the horizon. So, instead we get to watch our “representatives” kick the can down the road via a number of stopgap spending bills that they hope will keep the heat off until the holidays when Americans will be too distracted to notice Washington’s failure to bring the budget under control.
Following their party playbooks to the letter, the Republican/Democrat duopoly running ruining the government are pointing fingers at each in a vain attempt to avoid their responsibilities.
In a letter yesterday, Senate Democrat leaders urged Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senate Appropriations chairman Richard Shelby (R-AL) to renegotiate their spending proposals to avoid a shutdown. Specifically, Democrats warned Republicans not to pursue “the same path that led to last year’s 35-day government shutdown — funding the President’s controversial, ineffective wall no matter the cost to the American people.”
Democrats argued that the GOP’s spending plans for FY2020 would “steal $5 billion” from the Labor – Health and Human Services – Education bill and would allow Trump to take an additional $7.2 billion from military construction projects to pay for the wall.
In response, McConnell said he’s seeing “troubling signals” from the Democrats. Speaking on the Senate floor yesterday, Mickey said, “Whatever rational my colleagues across the aisle for these new disruptions, let’s get one thing straight: holding defense funding hostage for political gain is a losing strategy.
Ah yes … funding the military. The GOP’s ace-in-the-hole, only this time they’re playing a losing hand.
When Trump tyrannically diverted military funds to pay for a wall he said Mexico would pay for, and when McConnell and crew defended this diversion, all leverage the GOP ever had to demand military funding went out the window.
There’s simply no reason for Democrats to cave on the issue of military funding when Republicans will do whatever the hell they want with the money once it’s been allocated.
Sen. Shelby won’t be deterred, however. In a summary of the GOP strategy, he said a procedural vote will be held to put the Democrats on record as voting against a motion to bring up funding for the military.
Meanwhile . . . government spending is out of control, trillion-dollar budget deficits have become the new normal, and America drifts ever closer to bankruptcy. All in the name of protecting the duopoly, literally bought and paid for by the American taxpayer.
David Leach is the owner of The Strident Conservative.
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