Another Short Term Spending Bill Passes Congress, Buys Time
It upset the Freedom Caucus, but the House overwhelmingly passed the most recent stop-gap spending bill over their objections. We've had several of these kinds of bills now, one of them cost the former Speaker of the House his job, and he left the House as a result. The pressure was on Mike Johnson, threats from Marjorie Taylor Greene, who doesn't care about government protocols or the damage she can do, were loud and obnoxious, as they always are. I can't stand him or his politics, but Johnson may have figured out how to do an end-run around her and make Congress work, at least on some little things like this, by making an alliance to get things done with House Democrats.
Republicans May Be Acknowledging Political Reality
Don't get carried away by giving this group of House Republicans too much credit for good sense but this particular bill, and others like it, that have gotten through the mess that the GOP has made of the legislative branch, are sending a very clear message. Republicans are acknowledging that the Freedom Caucus/Maga agenda is going to cost them control of Congress in the next election, and that the President is in a great position to win re-election.
There are Republicans in the House, more of them than it takes to make a GOP majority, who are feeling intense pressure when it comes to their re-election chances. I'm reading reports of fund-raising difficulties, of opponents riding the wave of anti-Dobbs sentiment, and fallout from Trump's random bombshells, ridiculous claims, and potential convictions. They have clearly recognized that the reality of taking a political stand by shutting down the government would tip the very delicate and precarious balance that currently exists toward the Democratic side of the House and set things up for a potential sweep of objectives in November for the President's party.
How Long Can Johnson Survive?
One of the cues that I am now using to sense exactly where politics is leading popular opinion, since there's no longer any trust in the media to tell the truth, is to watch what certain Republicans do and say when it comes to what's going on in the House and Senate. Marjorie Taylor Green seems to be wearing thin on the side of the GOP that isn't the Freedom Caucus. The knowledge of how government works has not penetrated her thick skull, her "no compromise" and "let the government shut down then, if I don't get what I want" position has run its course.
Continuous threats of moving to vacate the speaker's position have lost their punch. The political damage that was done when McCarthy was ousted and when it took forever to replace him has had its effect. The removal of George Santos, resignation of McCarthy and departure of Ohio Congressman Bill Johnson, who took the president's position at Youngstown State University, has dropped the GOP's thin majority to a dangerously low level. It's hard to stick together when you have seven or eight members, more than enough to overwhelm the current majority, insisting on our way or the highway.
Apparently, Johnson ironically must survive now by making deals and compromising with Democrats. Ouch! That's a tough word there. To go back to the old ways of making government work after decades of trying to dismantle it must hurt pretty deeply. I'm not convinced that Johnson has much in the way of integrity or honesty, he's got a very skewed perspective of his own Christian faith following along the lines of those who have a solid reputation for being more political than they are spiritual.
It's really kind of a unique position we have in the House at this point. I don't think Democrats really want to go through the exercise of futility of finding yet another speaker. This position that the Freedom Caucus has created has given them at least some opportunity to stop the abuses and get some of what they're interested in doing accomplished. As long as it continues to deliver the message that the Republicans are not capable of running the House, and that making government work requires a Democratic party majority, it keeps the door open for a political victory in 2024 that will bring real Democratic control of both houses.
If he gets booted, it's no great loss.
Admitting They're Wrong While Not Wanting to Pay the Consequences
It's a tough political reality for a party that is committed to making sure government doesn't work to come to the conclusion that they're not going to have control over any government if they don't make it work. They sacrificed integrity and values when they made Trump their nominee in 2016, knowing exactly what they were getting and now there are many of them who deeply regret doing so, but they're too cowardly to stand up to him. I'm not sure what they're hoping for, but some of them are lamenting the position they are in, and the very loud silence coming from some of them, like Mitt Romney, Mitch McConnell, even the usually loudmouthed Lindsay Graham, speaks volumes about their knowledge that electoral disaster is right around the corner, if they don't make some immediate changes.
I can't wait to see the reactions that these Republican big shots have when Trump's trial for January 6th starts, and the replays of the attack on the Capitol get played over and over, while people once again watch in horror. They're hoping he goes down, but doesn't take the party with him and that's going to be difficult to do. It may be too late to stop his nomination and if it does get that far, there are more than enough Republicans who won't support him if he goes to prison.
The media, most of them, know this too. That's why they're not spending a whole lot of time covering this. It got through Congress, Biden signed it today, that's it, over and done and on to the next Trump story. They must cash in on his antics and dementia and craziness while they can.
This could not be more well-deserved if it had been orchestrated and manipulated.
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