While the media focuses on President Biden’s performance, criticizing perceived offenses that are more reactionary than by preference, cleaning up a mess that was left for him, Congress faces a potential government shutdown, a crisis Mitch McConnell is creating.
https://apple.news/Axk–cy4mQQi_rfQ5c_Cm5g
The GOP is trying to destroy the economy. Why? To make President Biden look bad. A Democrat holding the presidency was all it took for Republicans to change their stance on spending. Now they refuse to raise the debt limit to pass Biden’s budget- a budget that is a shadow of what it was when first presented to Congress. Biden has compromised on every line to mollify those who feign concern over the deficit.
CNN: “If the US defaults and the impasse drags on, the ensuing recession would wipe out nearly 6 million jobs and lift the nation’s unemployment rate to nearly 9%, according to Moody’s report.”
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2021/09/22/business/us-default-job-loss-prediction/index.html
Forbes: “Mortgage rates will spike if U.S. Defaults on debt, Moody’s report finds.”
McConnell plays dirty, whether it was by denying President Obama his right to choose a SCOTUS candidate or blocking the Senate from voting on election reform. There isn’t an opening in the Supreme court, but McConnell has threatened in advance that he will block any Biden nominee. When Biden won the presidency, McConnell made it his mission to prevent every bill written by Democrats from passing. He will stand in the way of any progress made by the new president.
I remember when we all whooped and howled, thinking, okay Senate Minority Leader, good luck with that! Democrats have the Senate back— but that majority is smoke (Sinema) and mirrors (Manchin.) It’s not real.
GOP minority or not, McConnell makes good on those declarations. For a member of Congress elected by so few people, he may be the most powerful politician in our government, including the White House. He has unflinching control over Republican Senators, and he has purchased two Democrats who can’t tell an elephant from a donkey. The minority leader is still calling the shots.
https://www.propublica.org/article/national-debt-trump/amp
McConnell’s reasoning for blocking the budget is sheer hypocrisy. He didn’t bat an eye when the deficit skyrocketed from $13.84 trillion in 2017 to $27.75 trillion in 2020. Trump doubled the national debt by wasteful spending and by cutting taxes for those who need it least, billionaires and their corporations.
https://fortune.com/2021/09/21/us-government-shut-down-debt-ceiling/amp/
Now, putting money into the economy to keep the country from self-destructing is asking too much. “It’s over the debt limit,” McConnell says, dismissing accusations of his sabotage, and arguing that Democrats have “plenty of time.”
While House Budget Chairman John Yarmuth disagrees, saying there is insufficient time to go through reconciliation to avoid default,
Both Democratic Senators Manchin and Sinema have been thanked by Republicans for their loyalty. For what? For tossing aside their party affiliation. Sinema is enjoying an influx of cash, $750,000 from lobbyists representing big pharma.
Ahh, the thrill of unearned power.
Senator Joe Manchin said, after meeting at the White House, that he thinks a deal on reconciliation can come together “eventually.” “I do.” Later he contradicted himself saying Democrats are still not close to clinching a deal. And says he has “big problems” with the climate provisions. The budget includes a push for the environment that he doesn’t like.
In 2020, Manchin earned $491,949 in dividends from his stock in a coal brokerage firm, Enersystems Inc., stock estimated worth $1-$5 million. Is he protecting his interests?
https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jul/20/joe-manchin-big-oil-democratic-senator
Manchin moved on to blaming progressives: “truly a shame that House progressives are threatening to sink and hold hostage bipartisan infrastructure bill if reconciliation isn’t done by Monday.”
Then he admitted Biden conceded to him, saying “find a number you’re comfortable with based on the needs that we still have and how we deliver to the American people.”
Biden pushed again — “Please just work on it. Give me a number and tell me what you can live with and what you can’t.”
Joe Manchin demanded severe cuts to the proposed budget, got everything he asked for but still says he won’t vote to pass the budget. “There’s just too much in the reconciliation to do as quickly as you can,” Manchin said.
He’s trying to run out the clock.
This is not your grandma’s Republican party. This is crazy town. The GOP has declared war on democracy, proven by the participation of several members of their party in the attack on the Capitol Building on 1/6, and their refusal to admit it was an attempt to overthrow the government.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer must recognize that the clock is ticking. Stop waiting for Republicans to negotiate in good faith and nuke the filibuster. Push the two wandering idiots to vote with their party, as hard as McConnell pushes the GOP. Do what he does! Work on moderate Republicans who may be willing to put country before party.
Republicans realize their base is shrinking, and they’ve responded, not by listening to the needs of their constituents, but by ramping up gerrymandering, disenfranchising voters, and now by creating a debt crisis with no counter plan. Democrats must use any means available to abolish the filibuster, pass the budget, and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.
A lot from Lydia 
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