Here we go again!
The political dance.
Remember just a couple of months ago we were holding our breath waiting to see if the idiots in Congress would allow a shutdown or do the right thing and keep the government working.
And as usual the game came down to the last minute before a deal was announced to keep the government up and running.
Well sports fans if you exhaled at the success then may had better take a deep breath….
Prepare to hear three words a lot this week in regard to DC news: “looming government shutdown.”
- Two deadlines: Around 20% of government funding expires at midnight Friday unless the two sides strike a deal, with services including food stamps and housing assistance at risk, reports the Washington Post. A shutdown involving the remaining 80% could come the following week, with the deadline there on March 9.
- Impasse: It’s “all about House Republicans,” particularly hardliners, who are pressuring Speaker Mike Johnson to “string out this fight as long as possible in order to trigger automatic spending cuts,” in the assessment of Punchbowl News, which digs deep into the nitty gritty of negotiations. House Republicans also are making policy demands on issues including abortion, immigration, and LGBTQ rights, per the Post.
- Busy week: The Senate is back Monday and the House on Wednesday, and hoped-for deals expected over the weekend never materialized, reports the Hill. President Biden will meet with the top four congressional leaders—Johnson, House Minority Leader Hakim Jeffries, and Sens. Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell—at the White House on Tuesday, per the AP.
- One big problem: Biden and Johnson “have virtually no relationship,” as an analysis at Politico explores. They rarely talk and barely know each other, and this chasm is contributing to the DC stalemates, according to the story.
By this time the threat means little of to us peasants….we are numb to these accusations and threats and manure slinging.
Even if it shutdown we will not remember it come September….out attention span is very short.
But if you want to know about these things…..this game that the idiots play (oh BTW Congress still gets paid during a shutdown)….will just be headline fodder and then be gone…but if you want to know then read on….
https://usafacts.org/articles/everything-you-need-to-know-about-a-government-shutdown/
Not to worry the Sun will still come up Tomorrow.
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
I’m sure you knew this was coming, as was I. The GOP has adopted this tactic of using the budget deadlines to force the dems to give them what they want for decades now, threatening to shut down the government if they don’t get their way.
This kind of legalized extortion simply isn’t rational and shouldn’t be allowed. With any rational government, if a new budget isn’t passed in time the old budget simply continues until such time as a new one can be agreed to. There are no threats, no laid off government workers, no panic, no extortion. That’s the way most of the states and just about every country I know of does it.
That we let these whining, cry baby, egotistical jackasses in congress get away with this all the time is ridiculous.
It is all a political game as you say extortion…..a worthless waste of time and more to come. chuq
It makes us look like idiots…how can elected officials shirk their responsibility and let these things happen – bad for everyone and solves nothing…a bunch of idiots!
I totally agree….this is just a game played by idiots. chuq
These constant shutdown merry-go-rounds are so tiresome. The law allowing them needs to be changed, and quick.
Best wishes, Pete.
But it will not….this game is needed by the Congress to make fodder for later use. chuq
Off topic…have you seen this article? https://www.history.co.uk/articles/national-service-in-britain chuq
I grew up expecting to have to do National Service, but by my ninth borthday it had ben scrapped, supposedly for economic reasons. Now the right-wing of the present government is making noises about re-introducing it, because of the ‘threat from Russia’. But it isn’t getting any traction, and the young people in the UK today would likely refuse to do it and take the jail time instead.
Thanx for explaining it Pete….I appreciate your insights. chuq
Just let them shut the damned thing down. The last time they did it it almost cost them their ass.
I say yes to it…..but that would be a fool’s folly and they know…it is more newsworthy to threaten then cave. chuq