THE FACT Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell even had to be told this is appalling, but a coalition of senators had to write him a letter urging him to ignore requests by Democrats to pass their massive omnibus spending bill before the new G.O.P.-controlled House is sworn in in January. Sens. Mike Lee (Utah), Ted Cruz (Tex.), Rick Scott (Fla.), and Mike Braun (Ind.) sent the letter on Wednesday. The letter is here.
Essentially, they said that nothing but a short-term Continuing Resolution funding the federal government until Jan. 2023 should be passed so that the new House can weigh in. There should also be no additional spending and no additional “policy priorities” included. If it’s claimed to be urgent, it must be considered on its own merits. Failure to do so, they say, disregards the wishes of the American public.
Not that Republicans are looking out for the taxpayers’ monies: they’re very keen on upping defense spending and aid to Ukraine, which has been nothing but demanding and parasitic since their dispute with Russia. The Dems, on the other hand, are looking to increase discretionary spending to $1.6 trillion. It’s enormous. Where on Earth do they the money is coming from? Never mind, the new I.R.S. agents will stick taxpayers up for the new long-range weapons, and wealth transfers to rebuild Ukraine, its infrastructure and power grid, along with a $400 million package Biden approved from U.S. stockpiles earlier this month. Lucky us.
“I think it makes absolutely no sense for a lame-duck Congress to pass Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer’s appropriations bills,” said Sen. Cruz. “[I]f a handful of Senate Republicans decide their outgoing act is to rubber-stamp Nancy Pelosi’s spending priorities, that would be a gross abdication of responsibility and also an affront to the voters who just voted to give Republicans a majority in the House.”
He’s right. But it’s the second time in a week the G.O.P. has coalesced around Dems in a uni-party fashion, so figure it will happen. The first was the passage, aided by the G.O.P., of the “Respect for Marriage Act,” which codified same-sex marriage into federal law. Regardless of where one may fall on the issue, the fact is, marriage has always been in province of the states — most of which have recognized gay marriage without any ‘help’ from Pelosi or Schumer. And in case that’s not good enough, in Obergefell v. Hodges, decided in 2015, the Supreme Court found same-sex marriage lawful in the decision that applies nationwide.
sua sponte 