It’s the most wonderful time of the year. You know, that time when a several thousand page document emerges from a smoke-filled back room with little to no input from anyone other than Washington’s elite. The pork-filled document is then tossed before Congress with about three days for them to decide whether or not to pass it, otherwise… uh oh, the government will shut down.
This may come as a shock to you, but the government has shut down over 20 times in the last few decades, and… that’s right, nobody noticed.
If you’ll recall, under the Obama Administration, the government was shut down for a few days and nobody was noticing then either. His administration took steps to ensure it caused some disruption. Many government employees were furloughed. Others were informed they needed to report for work (or whatever it is they do) without knowing when they would get paid, White House tours were cancelled and war memorials blockaded.
In some cases, they spent more money buying and installing guardrails than it would’ve cost to just allow tourist attractions to remain open. How dare the American people not feel the pain of a government shutdown? What’s next? Will the US mail get even slower?
As is the norm, whatever ridiculous bill offered up would pass in a few short days or weeks and everybody would get their pork.
Things have been a little different this time around. In case you forgot, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are still the sitting President and Vice-President. Meanwhile, President-elect Donald Trump and his team of American-loving patriots are already on the job and influencing much needed reform.
Elon Musk promised to support a candidate to primary any Republican that voted for this year’s huge bill.
Among the troublesome items on the original draft were a nearly $7,000 pay raise for members of Congress, and an exemption for members of Congress to participate in Obamacare. You remember Obamacare, the bill that was shoved down your throat in which Congress wrote in an exemption for themselves knowing full well how horrible it was. They even dared to put censure language in there making it illegal to mock members of Congress or call them names.
We know Americans are hurting. We need to take care of our own and fund disaster relief for those suffering the impact of hurricane Helene. The Francis Scott Key Bridge is a major artery that needs to be rebuilt as well. The debt ceiling needs to be dealt with and Trump wanted it done before he took office.
Ultimately, a much slimmer bill, only 116 pages managed to pass the House and Senate just before the deadline avoiding a shut down, and is on its way to the White House.
President Biden said he supports the bill. When it hits his desk, we can be sure someone will put a pen in his hand and tell him to sign it.President-elect Trump has not said much about the bill indicating to some that he may not necessarily approve but believes it’s a reasonable compromise. One thing is for certain, the influence of the incoming Trump Administration continues to gain momentum as it fills the gaping void of super lame duck Biden. He can’t be gone soon enough.
