Having been absent from my post for a few days doing stuff and dealing with issues, I failed to post this.  I realize that many have moved on from this topic but I feel the need or have the desire to express a few things regarding the omnibus spending bill and the abdication of responsibility by the GOP leadership…  I pray this will not be the open door which allows the Leftist to regain control of Congress…

Dierks Bentley has a country song “What Was I Thinkin” and the question is applicable to the Republicans in Congress in their recent Spending Bill.  Bentley said in his song, “I know what I was feelin’ but what was I thinkin’?”   The more I review what the Democrat Spending Bill passed by the Republicans includes it causes me ask of the Republicans, “What were you thinking?”  Better yet, “Why weren’t you thinking?”  I could even ask, “Are you Republicans or simply Democrat pawns?” 

The ridiculous argument that CNN and other media outlets have attempted to make is that the Republicans passed this bill, not because they wanted to but because they had to compromise with the Democrats to get things done.  SERIOUSLY?  I thought that the Republicans held a majority in both the House and Senate.  I recall the Democrats, when they were in the majority passing whatever they pleased with no consideration of what the Republicans wanted, demanded, or asked for.  Remember Obamacare?  There are other examples but that is the most glaring one and one that everyone should remember.  They locked the Republicans out of the discussion and Queen Nancy even had the audacity to tell us, “We have to pass it to find out what is in it!”  WHAT A WAY TO GOVERN!  Perfect if you are advancing a tyrannical agenda of fundamental transformation and empowering the federal government to have total control in every aspect of life.  However, it is a horrific way, if your desire is to be a Representative Democracy or the Constitutional Republic, as we are supposed to be.

I am fed up with the current leadership of the Republican Party and their collusion with or cowardice in dealing with the Democrats.  The omnibus spending bill is another example of Big Government Political Elitist entrenched in the Swamp revealing what they are all about.  I am furious with the Republicans for supporting this.  I prayed for the President to have the will have the fortitude and foresight to VETO the bill, but he signed it.  You may think the bill is a good thing, but I do not, and I will attempt to articulate some of my reasons.

The Freedom Caucus opposed the Bill and rightly so, in my view.  Representative Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) called it TERRIBLE and I believe he is correct.  Speaker Paul Ryan said that Representative Jordan is wrong and that the bill does fund the Wall – THAT IS A FABRICATION or an incredible twist of reality.  It funds portions of a “fence” not the wall and does nothing more than what has already passed.  That point caused Nancy Pelosi to gloat with glee as she does an ‘in your face’ to the Republicans and all of us who voted for Trump in the Election of 2016.  The Spending Bill provides funds for Planned Parenthood, the NICS gets money, and the Gateway Project gets money (indirectly funding Chuck Schumer’s tunnel project).  The American taxpayer gets an additional TRILLION DOLLARS in deficit spending.  Although there are a few good things in the bill, as are in most of them, overall it is a BAD PIECE OF LEGISLATION!

It seems that Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) may be the only person in Washington who is actually reading and studying the bill which is so lengthy that it would take an Army of Lawyers to truly interpret.  He tweeted that this bill has the crazy provision of $10 MILLION for disadvantaged Egyptian students.  WHAT?  Where did that come from?  We can find MILLIONS for that?  I understand that the Republicans, holding 51 Senate seats do not have a Super Majority of 60 votes required to break a filibuster under current Senate rules.  Maybe it is time for that to change.  However, for them to concede without a fight is not only cowardly it is cause, to seek their ouster in the coming elections.

What is in this bill?  Obviously, I cannot go into everything because of time, space, and what I know, but let’s consider some of the delectable morsels they have given us.  The bill is 2.232 pages long, that alone should send up red flags.  The Bill provides funds for the Fix NICS “National Instant Criminal Background Check System.”  It does nothing to fix it only spends money supposedly to hold governmental agencies accountable if they do not upload records.  Election Security gets $380 MILLION, again doing virtually nothing to fix any issues but to provide funds to STUDY and PROPOSE fixes.  Infrastructure (where the Gateway Project gets its pork for Chuck Schumer).  Although the infrastructure situation is needed there are so many open doors to fund pork projects it is frightening.  The provision to fix the “grain glitch” in the Tax Bill and to get that the Democrats got a boost in the affordable housing tax credit.  Restaurant Tips?  This bill allows a restaurant owner to pool the tips and redistribute them among the employees.  WHY DO WE NEED MONEY FOR THAT?  There is an increase in Child Care and Development Block Grants, increased daily pay for federal jury duty, an expansion of low-income housing credit, more funds for the national parks, a pay raise for the troops, more money for veteran’s hospitals and veteran’s homes, $2.3 BILLION for school safety.  The bill DOES NOT defund Sanctuary Cities.  There are good things and bad things in the bill, but the size and scope of the bill make it bad, in my view.

Republicans, you do not have to have 60 votes to control the negotiations, but you continue to allow the Democrats to act as though they were in the majority.  I do not expect the Republicans to get everything they want in legislation but to get nothing they want is disgusting.  They have leverage but seem unwilling to use it and that is still a mystery to me.  Maybe it is because the Party Leaders, want much the same thing the Leftist Liberal Democrats want.

There is a way to do this and the Republicans either are too inept or forgetful of history to remember when the Democrats controlled Congress?  There is a way to get this done following the normal process of Congressional Rules.  First, pass a bill in the House, the majority party can get a general consensus enabling them to do just that.  (The Democrats have done it before).  Next, take that bill to the Senate and dare the minority party to filibuster.  (Call their bluff and if they are not bluffing use that against them in the upcoming elections).  Then, if necessary, let the government shut-down, and blame the opposition (Democrats).  Finally, bide your time and wait for them to cave, or make concessions and re-open the government.  That takes courage and would work but the Republican leadership has no stomach for a fight for America and appear to be better suited for being in the minority rather than the majority.  NO!  I am not suggesting that we take that path but that we consider REPLACING the current leadership with Senators and Representatives who will govern in the best interest of America, the Constitution, and the constituents.

If the Republican Leadership is unwilling to govern in a manner in keeping with the promises they have made, the voters will grow weary with them and allow the return of power to the Democrats.  The voters did not elect the Democrats to control the United States Congress, but the Republican Leadership is allowing them to do just that.  I am concerned that actions like this will return control of Congress to the Democrats in November and if that happens this is a drop in the bucket to what we will see in the days to come.  America, we CANNOT AFFORD the government we now have and MUST take steps to Reduce the Size, Scope, and Power of the federal government and STOP the insane spending that politicians have a propensity to engage in.

God bless you and God bless America!