Sometimes things are complicated. Sometimes they’re not. In this case, they’re not.
Often when an elected official has to make a decision, he figuratively sticks his finger in the air to check which way the political winds are blowing. For Democrats, this is not one of those times.
This time there’s only one choice: Do the right thing. Don’t worry about GOP/media reaction or what they’re saying about you back home. We’re at a point in history where the only thing that matters is doing what’s right. Our country depends on it. Things are not normal around here, if you haven’t noticed.
Of course, we’re talking about politicians here, so I admit all bets are off on what Democrats in the Senate are going to do about the spending bill that passed the House Tuesday and now awaits their chamber’s vote.
The bill would fund the government through Sept. 30 and avoid the midnight Friday deadline when it would shut down without legislation passed by Congress. Sixty votes are needed in the Senate to get it past the filibuster and onto what would be a simple majority vote, which the Republicans should win.
Republicans control the Senate by a 53-47 count. It’s been reported that GOP Senator Rand Paul is going to vote against the bill. If so, eight Democrats would have to vote for it or it won’t pass.
After a meeting Tuesday, one Democratic senator told The Hill, “The conversation today was divided. I can’t say we have a strategy. There are a lot of people who haven’t made a decision.”
“I can’t say we have a strategy” pretty much sums up today’s Democratic Party in a nutshell.
Then on Wednesday Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told NBC News that there aren’t enough votes from his party to pass the bill, and Democrats were going to propose a one-month continuing resolution during which the two parties can try to negotiate an agreement.
So, we’ll have to see how it all plays out.
The New York Times said Democrats “are facing a political dilemma over whether to support it and hand Mr. Trump wide leeway to continue his assault on federal programs and workers, or oppose it and risk being blamed for a government shutdown.”
It’s no dilemma at all. In this case, shutdown or not, there’s only one answer the Democrats must give Republicans: “Shove your bill up your ass.”
Okay, I guess they could clean that up a little first, but you get the idea.
As the Times reported, temporary spending extensions do not explicitly direct how the federal funding levels that lawmakers set should be allocated, unlike a regular budget bill.
This would give four-time indicted, twice-impeached, sexual assaulter, tax fraudster, insurrection inspirer, wannabe fascist dictator, convicted felon, Russian puppet, President Donald Trump and his co-president Elon Musk broader discretion to continue their slashing away at government programs, canceling of government contracts, and firing of thousands of government workers.
All of this, by the way, is illegal based on the Constitution and the Impoundment Act. Still, Republicans have sat back and watched the two men decimate the government. Musk and Trump have claimed this is about rooting out waste, fraud, and inefficiency. Trust me, it’s not. It’s about shredding the government enroute to consolidating way too much power in the hands of Trump.
Democrats are concerned that this will continue unabated – which it most certainly will. Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts correctly described the bill as “basically a blank check to Trump and Musk that says, ‘Keep doing what you’re doing, we’re all fine with it.’ No way. No way.”
Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio tipped the GOP’s hand when he said, “This is how the president has asked us to fight now, so that they can do what they’re doing with DOGE (the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency).”
Here’s what Democrats should say:
“We’re not passing any funding bill that doesn’t ensure that the money we allocate will be spent, and if we have to come up with a more specific measure then that will have to be done. We want conditions in the bill that call for any government employee not adhering to the spending levels to be terminated, and if the initiative for defying the bill comes from the president, we want him held in contempt of Congress and we want legal steps taken to ensure our wishes are met.”
Maybe you can’t do what I’ve just said. I don’t know. I know the last part about going after the president may have to be excluded, but if Democrats want to continue to be the gutless props in this ongoing tragedy in Washington, then they should roll over, vote for the bill, and let Trump and Musk continue on their merry way.
Look at the Republicans. Do you think they care about negative press or feedback? Even hardliners who would normally be against a continuing resolution went along because, as the Times reported, “Republican fiscal hawks have swallowed their concerns about spending in deference to President Trump.”
If Democrats allow this to pass, they’ll continue to make fools of themselves in this illegal charade. Congress approves spending. Trump and Musk ignore it and do what they want. So, for the Democrats to go along with the bill means they’re just Charlie Brown as Lucy pulls the football away. They’re voting for a bill they know is a lie and isn’t worth the paper it’s written on, but they don’t have the guts to call it out. Clowns and stooges do things like that.
Stand for something, Democrats. We’re in desperate times. Our democracy and rule of law are teetering, and you want to be prim and proper instead of taking someone’s head off.
When Rep. Al Green got thrown out of Trump’s speech last week he was acting like an ass. He should have been thrown out. He was told multiple times to stop, and he wouldn’t.
Green is a showboat, but it was still disgusting to see that 10 Democrats joined Republicans in censoring him, considering what GOP leadership has allowed its members to get away with in terms of improper behavior.
Still, what Democratic message above all others do we remember from last week? It’s Green’s, because he stood up like a man with a spine and a purpose. Are you paying attention House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Chuck Schumer, and Democratic senators wavering on how to vote on the bill?
Probably not.
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