[RECENT ARCHIVES] MIDLIFE CRISIS-19, Sunday, September 24, 2023 - The Greatest Threats to American Freedom.
It's not a government shutdown, that's only the smokescreen.
Buried in a weekend of worthless headlines, lies the death of freedom: more "aid" to Ukraine, and a wide-open U.S. southern border, being reported when most Americans are submersed in their respective weekend plans.
Remember that, Democrats are hanging their hat on continued money laundering through Ukraine, and illegal immigrants being set-up to vote in the 2024 General Election, all the while - along with a complicit media - blaming "hard-right conservatives," (3.).
"By Jordain Carney and Olivia Beavers
"09/23/2023 04:24 PM EDT
"Speaker Kevin McCarthy is backtracking on his plan to remove Ukraine aid from a massive military spending bill as Republicans scramble to find a way forward on funding the government.
"The California Republican’s U-turn comes a day after he told reporters he would remove the roughly $300 million from the Pentagon bill and give it a separate vote as he faced GOP pushback on its inclusion" (1.).
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But wait, there's more.
"But in the Capitol on Saturday, McCarthy said the bill will move forward with the Ukraine aid included, arguing it would be too complicated to remove because of the Republicans’ funding strategy of bringing the Defense bill to the floor with other measures. The decision injects fresh doubt into whether the Pentagon spending bill will come up for debate at all after failing twice in recent weeks.
"'It became too difficult to do that, so we’re leaving it in,' McCarthy told reporters about the Ukraine funds" (1.).
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But wait, there's more.
"Republicans are preparing to vote Tuesday to start debate on four government funding bills: Defense, State, Homeland Security and an agriculture bill. It would mark the latest attempt for McCarthy to get his party’s funding bills off the ground" (1.).
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But wait, there's more.
"But it is far from clear, despite the latest maneuvering on Ukraine aid, whether they have the votes. And even if Republicans are able to start debate — or pass any of the four bills — it would not avert a shutdown scheduled to start Oct. 1.
"Underscoring the uncertainty, Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), during a conference call with fellow Republicans, urged members to inform leadership if they intend to vote against bringing the bills to the floor, noting that they don’t do a formal vote check for procedural steps.
"'We’ll see if we get there,' Rep. Erin Houchin (R-Ind.), a member of the Rules Committee, said about the vote Tuesday to start debate.
"The yo-yo-ing on the Ukraine funding underscores the day-to-day fluidity of the House GOP’s funding strategy, with its narrow majority and a spate of lawmaker absences leaving them with almost no room to navigate."
So help me out here, with the looming sky-is-falling threat of a quasi-faux government shutdown on October 1, "[...] a spate of lawmaker absences leaving them with almost no room to navigate" (1.).
I'd say, if you're not present to do your job regarding one of your core obligations as a congressperson, appropriations, you're fired, censured at minimum.
***
But wait, there's more.
"Instead of stripping the Ukraine aid out of the Defense bill and giving it a separate vote, Republicans will now allow a vote on the floor to remove the Ukraine-related funds from both the Defense and State bills — all but guaranteeing the funding will stay in with help from Democrats" (1.).
That's McCarthy's passive-aggressive chess move, leave it in, thus putting it on fellow Republicans to take the blame for both delay, and the percieved risk of shutdown.
***
But wait, there's more.
"McCarthy has pitched a monthlong funding bill that would be paired with a GOP border bill and creation of a debt commission. During the call Saturday with his members, he floated extending that funding patch to 45 days, which would give the House more time to pass full-year funding bills and negotiate with the White House and Senate" (1.).
McCarthy's "continuing resolution" funds both grift ... cough, cough ... I mean, money laundering ... cough, cough ... I mean, aid to Ukraine ... cough, cough ... and the invasion taking place at the U.S. southern border ... cough, cough ... I mean, the patriotic future Americans calmly seeking legal asylum claims only at legal ports of entry.
***
But wait, there's more.
"By Haley Talbot and Kristin Wilson, CNN
Updated 9:24 AM EDT, Sun September 24, 2023
"(CNN) — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Saturday he still lacks support from a handful of GOP hardliners to put a Republican stopgap measure on the floor next week, making a government shutdown likely with just one week until the deadline.
"'I’ve been trying to put (a continuing resolution) on for quite some time,” McCarthy said. “I appreciate all the members who’ve worked so hard on that. There are still a few members that won’t vote for funding the government while we finish all the 12 bills. I don’t understand'" (2.).
What McCarthy's saying, is that he's trying to ram through more "aid" to Ukraine, and more "aid" to further enable criminal cartels running the U.S. southern border. So, in exchange for giving Republicans time to "debate" bills that will fail, Democrats get more grift, all under the propaganda and threat of another quasi-faux government shutdown.
***
But wait, there's more.
The U.S. President?
"President Joe Biden weighed in on the quickly approaching shutdown deadline over the weekend, calling on House Republicans to 'start doing the job.'
"Speaking at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Phoenix Awards Dinner on Saturday, Biden said, 'Funding the government is one of the most basic responsibilities of Congress, and it’s time for Republicans to start doing the job America elected them to do'" (2.).
Note that as long as Biden can be associated with the word "Black," Democrats feel that's he's check the bl[a]ck.
Classic projection, Democrats, and RINOs, want status-quo grift, of which Conservatives are trying to stop, while the former blanket blame "Republicans."
***
But wait, there's more.
Read closely.
"During a call with the Republican conference Saturday afternoon, McCarthy pushed members to rally around a short-term spending bill that includes funds for border security. That would give House Republicans a position from which to begin negotiations with the Senate" (2.).
Note, there is no "border security" taking place at the border, it is all the facilitation of illegal entry.
***
But wait there's more.
This is where McCarthy shows the establishment his RINO colors. Read carefully, he's basically throwing fellow Republicans in the fire, while signaling that he supports "Democrats," the Monolith State fostering turn-and-burn spending for everything but American interests.
"McCarthy said earlier Saturday he is betting the pressure from the calendar softens the opposition, a potentially risky strategy when every vote counts and he faces several absences.
"'I think now some members feeling the pressure of the time line coming up,' McCarthy said.
"'I think when it gets to crunch time, people … that have been holding off all this time, blaming everybody else, will finally hopefully move off because shutting down and having border agents not be paid, your Coast Guard not get paid; I don’t see how that’s a victory,' he said" (2.).
Enter, fallacy, the appeal to emotion.
A "victory" is being a public servant within a representative government, while your service results in actions that support American's interests, i.e., your constituents, not Ukraine money laundering, nor criminal cartels running our U.S. southern border, including the push north deep into the U.S. interior.
***
A little framework for government shutdowns:
- "Millions of federal workers face delayed paychecks when the government shuts down, including many of the roughly 2 million military personnel and more than 2 million civilian workers across the nation.
"Nearly 60 percent of federal workers are stationed in the Defense, Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security departments.
"Federal workers are stationed in all 50 states and have direct interaction with taxpayers — from Transportation Security Administration agents who operate security at airports to Postal Service workers who deliver mail" (3.).
- "The judiciary will be able to continue to operate for a limited time using funds derived from court filings and other fees, as well as other approved funding.
"Notably, funding for the three special counsels appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland would not be affected by a government shutdown because they are paid for through a permanent, indefinite appropriation, an area that’s been exempted from shutdowns in the past" (3.).
Catch that last part, "[...] paid for through a permanent, indefinite appropriation, an area that’s been exempted from shutdowns in the past" (3.)? Meaning, lawfare over funding national defense and American service members, because pay could just as well be permanent.
Summary, a "government shutdown" is a political construct, a sh--show by design. Enter again, the 2023 "continuing resolution," the "CR," basically, the politician's strong-arm scam of grift.
- "Congress often relies on a so-called continuing resolution, or CR, to provide stopgap money to open government offices at current levels as budget talks are underway. Money for pressing national priorities, such as emergency assistance for victims of natural disasters, is often attached to a short-term bill.
"But hardline Republicans say any temporary bill is a non-starter for them. They are pushing to keep the government shut down until Congress negotiates all 12 bills that fund the government, which is historically a laborious undertaking that isn’t resolved until December, at the earliest.
"Trump, who is Biden’s top rival heading into the 2024 election, is urging on the Republican hardliners.
"If they are successful, the shutdown could last weeks, perhaps even longer" (3.).
***
Note to Self: Shut it down, shut it all down.
***
The greatest threats to American freedom.
- Matfucius
1.) https://www.politico.com/news/2023/09/23/mccarthy-ukraine-aid-00117801
2.) https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/23/politics/mccarthy-government-shutdown-progress/index.html
3.) https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/the-government-is-headed-for-a-shutdown-whos-affected-and-what-happens-next
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