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You’ve probably been too busy savoring Donald Trump’s multiple indictments, but the Republican-controlled House of Representatives was even more useless than normal over the past week. Eleven far-right Republicans blocked a procedural vote advancing their own damn bills. This was in retaliation against Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s deal with President Joe Biden to raise the debt ceiling and prevent a global economic crisis.
The far-right loons thought the deal benefitted Democrats (and thus the nation as a whole) more than drooling nut job Republicans and they’ve had their phasers set on perpetual pout ever since. It got so bad that Republican leadership just gave up and sent everyone home — the legislative equivalent of turning the car around.
But if you love your gas stove more than your child’s longterm lung health, you’ll be pleased to know that McCarthy has reached a resolution of sorts with the Matt Gaetz/Lauren Boebert-led brain trust. The House floor re-opened for business on Tuesday and debate began on five pieces of crap legislation, including a bill rolling back the ATF’s pistol brace rule.
PREVIOUSLY:
Matt Gaetz And Lauren Boebert Send Congress Home For Unscheduled Vacation
House Republican Debt-Ceiling Bill Revenge, A Dish Best Served Stupid
America’s Long National Debt Ceiling Nightmare Finally Over
House Freedom Idiots Gon’ Frag Speaker Kevin McCarthy? Maaaybe!
The Washington Postadorably suggests that “the standoff stemmed from the hard right’s commitment to dramatically reducing the debt, which is sitting at about $31 trillion.” Far-right Republicans don’t give a damn about the debt, which they only ever seem to remember exists when a Democrat is president. The national debt rose almost $7.8 trillion during Donald Trump’s four-year horror show. Not only did these very same “debt-conscious” Republicans not complain at the time, but they all think he should serve a second term. (Most even attempted to overthrow the government on his behalf.)
From the Post:
Those lawmakers want deeper spending cuts and are angry that the agreement reached late last month with President Biden to lift the debt limit to prevent default would do little to narrow the spending gap and would suspend the limit until 2025, removing an effective pressure point to force Democrats to reduce spending.
This “tax-and-spend liberal” narrative is tiresome. Democrats are a model of fiscal restraint compared to whenever Republicans are in power. Besides, cratering the economy is not how you address the national debt.
Republicans have a narrow House majority, but Democrats hold the Senate and the presidency. Instead of accepting this reality, Republican extremists held the global economy hostage and threw a tantrum when their ransom demands weren’t fully met.
McCarthy and several of the revolting Republicans announced their newly restored but tentative peace Monday evening. The speaker, known for his eloquence, said, “I think everybody’s attitude was, how do we find it when we all work together? And we know [when] we work together, we work on conservative issues, we’re winning, and we get more victories that way. And I think everybody wants to get back to that place.”
The Republican House majority’s accomplishments so far include petty trolling and pointless stunts. However, McCarthy desperately wants to hold on to his gavel, so he’s set on further appeasing the far-right members of his caucus. The upcoming defense and domestic spending bills will receive even deeper cuts, according to a top McCarthy lieutenant.
Rep. Kay Granger from Texas, chair of the House Appropriations Committee, announced that she’d write funding bills at fiscal 2022 levels for both defense and non-defense discretionary spending. This is much lower than the slight increase to fiscal 2023 levels agreed to in the debt limit negotiations. But that’s the price you have to pay when you’re trying to save gas stoves from the commies.
Back to petty trolling: McCarthy had been pushed to allow a vote on freshman nuisance Rep. Anna Paulina Luna’s privileged motion to censure Adam Schiff. Even if it managed to pass, it would’ve just served as a very public in-kind donation to Schiff’s US Senate campaign to replace Dianne Feinstein. However, the censure motion flopped like the Shazam! sequel, with all Democrats and even 20 Republicans voting against the silliness.
When discussing the far-right negotiations with McCarthy, Gaetz said, “We reiterated to Speaker McCarthy that he is our preferred coalition partner. But we want to be his preferred coalition partner, and it cannot abide that we are the coalition partner on the frivolous and [House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.)] is the coalition partner on the substantive.”
But these clowns have nothing substantive to offer. They are exclusively the frivolous caucus.
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