Who’s against the stimulus bill?
Six hundred dollars of stimulus for Americans versus gazillions for pork, over five thousand rushed pages, and Congress has passed the stimulus bill at last. Trump has threatened to veto it if the amount of relief isn’t raised and if a great many extras aren’t removed.
In crisis there is opportunity, and Congress has taken the opportunity to pass this behemoth. When was the last time Congress passed a “clean” bill of this sort? I don’t know, but my guess is that it was a long long time ago.
The number of members of Congress who voted for the bill is more than enough to override any veto. But there would have to be another vote taken to actually do so, and I wonder if more GOP members wouldn’t join in a “no” vote, now that they’ve seen the backlash. Do they care? Would they see voting “no” as being in their own interests? And of course, assuming Biden (or Harris) is inaugurated in January, the bill would almost certainly pass in the next session (even if the GOP manages to hold the Senate, they would probably need every single vote to thwart its passage). It could be even worse at that point, and it would be veto-proof from Biden.
I wonder whether that is part of the calculations of some GOP members for passing it as is; they figure if it’s not passing now, it will pass later in a worse form. Of course, I’m being kind here and probably giving them credit that many of them don’t deserve.
But there are many who do deserve credit. Here are the six GOP senators who voted against it. And they didn’t mince words, either:
Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Ron Johnson, R-Wis., Mike Lee, R-Utah, Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Rick Scott, R-Fla., all stood firmly against the bill, which had been bundled with a $1.4 trillion spending bill to avoid a government shutdown. Their criticisms largely focused on the size of the legislation, both in terms of the dollar amount and the bill’s page count.
“To so-called conservatives who are quick to identify the socialism of Democrats: If you vote for this spending monstrosity, you are no better,” Paul said on the Senate floor.
“When you vote to pass out free money, you lose your soul and you abandon forever any semblance of moral or fiscal integrity,” he said, targeting his fellow Republicans.
Quotes from the other GOP senators at the link.
In the House, fifty Republicans voted against it (as well as two Democrats, Tlaib and Gabbard).
I don’t see a downside for Trump in veto-ing the bill (or letting it expire with a “pocket veto”). The simple-minded won’t blame him for losing them their $600 check since he already asked for $2000.
And let Congress feel some heat.
Smart move by President Trump to up the Christmas present to $2,000 per person. He’s whetted everyone’s appetite. He should veto the bill unless Pelosi ups the payment to $2,000 and takes out everything else. If she refuses, she’s a Grinch.
There is no longer a pretense of representing the American people. Not at any level; except, temporarily, the Presidency.
Bless the few who stood against this latest travesty. A pox on those who support it.
I have to add that since we have learned some details about the corrupt distribution of earlier Covid relief funds, I don’t support any stimulus whatsoever. There are countless examples, but two that resonate with me as a California resident are the millions that went to Gruesome Newsom owned companies and to his favorite restaurant. I simply do not trust those who dispense the goodies to do it honestly.
The huge deficits that are being rung up will not effect me significantly. I would grieve for my children and grandchildren who will have to pay the bill, if it were not for the fact that they all support massive government.
He just vetoed the Military bill. Now do this pork monstrosity. He has nothing to lose. GA will go the way it will go.
Let us not forget that Mike Lee is the one who pushed through the bill that would massively expand foreign H-1B worker visas, which allow a business to outsource white-collar jobs to foreigners at deeply discounted salaries. His bill would increase the number of visas 10-fold. Taken together, these two positions don’t really line up very well, now do they? In any case I think this outrage slithered its way through on Unanimous Consent, in other words, none of the embarrassment associated with casting a vote on record. It took a lot of behind-the-scenes maneuvering to get that accomplished. Perhaps Senator Lee is playing his own long game.
Yes, Mike Lee is an interesting guy. I listened to a riveting podcast where he talked about the failure of our modern Congress. They pass some simple bill saying “we want clean water”, then leave it up to the Executive Branch to flesh it out with thousands of pages of burdensome regulations.
Congress doesn’t declare war, it doesn’t write a budget and it doesn’t pass meaningful laws (as in the example above). They’ve sloughed off everything to the other branches.
Mike Lee also takes political positions which grind my gears.
For me, the man is a mixed blessing.
They are international communists who have taken the world, like an egg, into their nests as they keep redistributing our future to the rest of the world… i said this 15 years ago, i am still saying it…
this props up the worst of the worst around the world and prevents peoples from standing on their own two feet… the damage such money causes under the auspices of goodnicks who dont look at the actual outcome is phenomenal..
as i posted long ago, i would hope someone read James Shikwati, an “African economics expert”
He best describes the mechanics of the harm.. and they know it
why isnt africa a better place? well, its because we help them!!!!!!!!
“If the industrial nations really want to help the Africans, they should finally terminate this awful aid…. As absurd as it may sound: Development aid is one of the reasons for Africa’s problems. If the West were to cancel these payments, normal Africans wouldn’t even notice. Only the functionaries would be hard hit. Which is why they maintain that the world would stop turning without this development aid.”
see: “For God’s Sake, Please Stop the Aid!” is the article title
IF you can find it… i wont bother working so hard for people who wont read it
and those interested will be willing to look… old links are dead… so happy hunting!
OT notice-Trump pardons Manafort, Roger Stone, Kushner’s dad. More FROM TWEET by OANN reporter:
@JackPosobiec
“NEW: President Trump is seriously considering pardons for Assange, Snowden, and Ulbricht. No decision made yet”
Who is Ulbricht? He ran Silk Road 2011-13, an EBay style Dark Net forum for questionable, sometimes immoral, and possibly illegal trading (not everywhere, perhaps, eg, mercenaries)….He got Double life sentences, his appeals to higher courts twice denied.
LINK to Epoch Times piece on Manafort, Stone, Kushner’s dad
https://outline.com/VHvFCy
Rhetorical question, what will be the entirely predictable result of a series of bills that places an utterly unsustainable burden of debt upon future generations?
Obvious answer; fiscal collapse with a resultant societal structure of an obscenely wealthy elite and an impoverished servant class. The great majority of humanity will be utterly dependent upon the crumbs from the elite’s tables.
None of this is accidental. It’s being done with malice aforethought.
OT – Trump’s 14 minute Christmas speech explaining the Election Steal is an important primer for people to see. Naturally, reports are that it is very difficult to find using Google. Thus, my share here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjLT6hxEXNU&feature=emb_logo
OT – Team Trump has a powerful, new (posted Dec 24th) information video explaining the fraud election very graphically, explaining it heinous consequences and the sources of influence, including the CCP.
EXPECT THIS to spread the ground work for the fight in Congress on January 6th. MORE NEW MEDIA like this! 18m
See it, share it! “THE PLOT TO STEAL AMERICA”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ot-NAmMQ6A4
The message to reconnect the MAGA Patriots posted there is “Text FRAUD to 88022”
TJ – sorry, but Ulbricht deserves to rot. I highly doubt his name has come up for consideration anywhere but the internet, and he is most definitely not the sort of offender Trump would let see the light of day again. The dude was a selfish psychopath, some of us followed the story at the time. Calling that fool a patriot or humanitarian is stretching logic far beyond it’s breaking point, and listing him alongside Assange and Snowden is downright heretical, don’t be fooled, folks. There is plenty to read about it if one is so inclined, and I doubt many if any sane people would be cheering for him.
James – Re Ulbricht, inarguably it’s the most controversial call. But I wondered about Federal sting job? Was that involved?
The Obama DOJ did other risible things along similar lines, shutting down online activity on gambling, prediction markets (which put my mine on an island, literally), and anything to do with guns and sex.
His Pardon ought to be read. I suspect that however deserving of punishment he might have been, I’ll bet prosecutorial abuse is a big part of the Trump push back there.
For example, take Roger Stone. Reading at Gateway pundit, I’m only now learning that the DOJ released redacted text from the Mueller report concerning his case, effectively exonerating Stone. Judge Amy Berman kept his this from being discovered.
And DOJ did this on election night, Nov 3. WTH? Hey, Deep State! Can’t get American “government” double standards Rule without it.
Elsewhere, justthenews has a new 30 second TV ad from Team Trump airing in swing states, telling them that the election was stolen! Protest. Call your Congressmen.
https://justthenews.com/government/white-house/trump-campaign-drops-new-ad-about-alleged-voter-fraud-swing-states
Loren Boebert newly elected from Western Colorado has joined the Posse to object to the Fraud Fest. And she wants to attend Congressional sessions packing arms.
I don’t think that will fly with the Sergeant at Arms ruling, there. But give this petite independent minded MAGA gal ‘A’ for effort.
I now utterly DESPISE
C N N
with a totality of loathing that few have ever been subject to.
>:-(
Trump feels no pressure to be President while Americans suffer at Christmas
https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/25/politics/donald-trump-christmas-election/index.html
Which includes THIS spectacular whopper:
Trump already told everyone what was going on… somehow, the merdia missed that fact:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABYC7ikFIuY