A few days ago, we had all but worked out a budget deal that included continuing DACA. Trump had said he would sign it, so Dick Durbin and Lindsey Graham went to the White House to confirm the deal. When they arrived, Trump had done an about face and the result was his vicious "shit hole countries" outburst. From what I understand, House Republicans had rejected the deal, so Trump staged the conflict so he would have an excuse to blame the Republican failure on Democrats.
Congress has three days to avert a government shutdown, and House Speaker Paul Ryan is stuck.
On Tuesday, GOP leaders proposed a short-term government spending bill to extend the shutdown deadline for one more month — one that would fund the Children’s Health Insurance Program for six years in an effort to entice Democrats, and delay several Obamacare taxes to throw a bone to conservative Republicans. It would not include a deal on immigration.
Short-term spending isn’t popular on either side of the aisle. The Democratic base has grown increasingly agitated about the looming expiration of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, calling on their lawmakers to use the threat of government shutdown to win legislative protections for the DREAMers. Meanwhile, Republican defense hawks have been frustrated with the lack of permanent defense funding, warning that it hobbles the military’s ability to appropriately plan resources.
GOP leaders’ calculus: The short-term spending bill would pass in the House with only Republican votes, where the majority is big enough to do that, and then jam Senate Democrats, many of whom are in politically vulnerable seats.
But on Tuesday night, this strategy ran into a government shutdown–size problem.
“Based on the number of ‘no’ and undecided votes, there [are] not enough votes for a Republican-only bill,” Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC), the leader of the House’s archconservative Freedom Caucus, told reporters.
Then on Wednesday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), whose bipartisan immigration proposal was nixed by the president last week, said he too would not vote for a short-term spending bill in the Senate… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <Vox>
If I said I wasn’t worried, I’d be lying, as I’m on Social Security, and I believe Republicans would withhold benefits, even though that is illegal, in the event of a shutdown. I don’t like the hits a one month deal makes to Obamacare, but six years of funding for CHIP is hard to pass up for a one month DACA delay, since the courts have ruled that DACA must continue. Nevertheless, I’m inclined to oppose it. Regardless, we need to keep people informed that, if there is a shutdown, which appears more likely than not, it’s a 100% Republican shutdown.
RESIST THE REPUBICAN REICH!!
