The video below is from the 1932 Groucho Marx movie “Horse Feathers.” It perfectly illustrates the situation described below the video.
On Wednesday, The Daily Caller posted an article about discussions currently going on in Congress about passing a Continuing Resolution (CR) to keep the government funded until November 21.
The article reports:
Democrats are pledging to vote against a GOP stopgap funding bill and plunge the country into a partial government shutdown, but have struggled to express what they dislike within the spending measure they are lining up to oppose.
The Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF) spoke to 10 Democrats on Wednesday who railed against the seven-week funding bill — despite a majority of their caucus voting to extend government funding levels through short-term continuing resolutions (CRs) more than a dozen times when former President Joe Biden was in office. None could point to a specific provision within the 91-page bill they oppose.
“I’m not supporting the partisan CR,” Democratic California Sen. Adam Schiff told the DCNF on Wednesday as he made his way to an elevator following a Senate vote.
The DCNF then asked Schiff which provisions he opposed within the CR.
Schiff replied “Uh —” before letting the elevator doors close.
Speaker Mike Johnson unveiled a short-term CR on Tuesday to fund the government through Nov. 21. The measure would fund the government at current levels while providing for additional security assistance for all three branches of government in the aftermath of TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk’s assassination. The speaker could put the bill on the floor as early as Friday morning.
The article notes:
GOP leaders have argued they see no reason to negotiate on a “clean” short-term funding measure that has no partisan policy riders attached. They have also made clear that the CR will not be held hostage to Democrats’ demands for a healthcare policy bill.
“Republicans have deliberately chosen to keep this CR clean to ensure that there can be no possible reason for Democrats to object to funding the government,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on the Senate floor Wednesday. “There really is no possible way to call this a partisan CR with a straight face.”
Some Democrats have appeared to boil down their opposition to the CR to their animosity toward the president. Trump said Republicans should not work with Democrats to fund the government during a “Fox & Friends” interview on Monday.
“Donald Trump said he doesn’t want to work with us,” Democratic Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz told reporters in the Capitol on Wednesday. “And so if he doesn’t want to work with us then I wish him the best.”
The above statement can be translated as “Donald Trump is not doing things our way!”
Were the Democrats willing to work with the Republicans when the Republicans were in the minority? Elections have consequences. If this shutdown happens, it will be on the backs of the Democrats despite the media’s efforts to portray it otherwise.