Jimmy Higgins
Contributor
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2001
- Messages
- 50,568
- Basic Beliefs
- Calvinistic Atheist
What is going on?
Currently Congress has utterly failed in passing a budget to fund Government for the last few months. They successfully passed kick the can measures, with the latest one expiring tonight at Midnight.
What happens if Midnight comes and a budget bill isn't passed?
Congress turns into a pumpkin.
Can we eat the pumpkin?
No.
So why is it so hard to pass a budget these days?
Varies with the political season. Currently the GOP Senate leader doesn't want to help the economy of a Democrat President. "Deficit spending" will be the issue next year. Then there are issues of Senators adding poison pills, like Sen. Toomey trying to cut The Fed at the knees to limit options they'll have available to help the economy with a Democrat in the White House. Then there are assholes like Sen. Sanders, Hawley, Paul who threaten everything just because they can, but nothing positive ever results from their interaction!
Can Congress kick the can again with funding?
Yes, but it gets a bit tedious after a while. It isn't exactly known what the threshold of acceptable tedium is for the Senate and House, but there is a threshold!
Anything else?
There is the second Covid-19 relief bill.
Really? Didn't the Democrats vote for one back in May and the GOP did so on a much much smaller version a month or two ago? What's in the latest version?
No one knows. Might have checks, might have extended unemployment relief, might provide corporations with liability waivers, might be too little too late.
What are the chances something passes tonight?
Who knows. It seems possible that this will go well into the weekend without passing anything until the end of day Sunday when Pelosi straps McConnell in to a wicker chair and gets that rope thing from Casino Royale. At best a 48 hour continuing resolution could be passed tonight, but more likely the government will pause over the weekend.
Does it really have to be like this?
You'd think the answer was yes, because it is so screwed up, you'd think if it didn't have to be like this, it'd be better. But the truth is, it can be better, they just don't want it to be.
Currently Congress has utterly failed in passing a budget to fund Government for the last few months. They successfully passed kick the can measures, with the latest one expiring tonight at Midnight.
What happens if Midnight comes and a budget bill isn't passed?
Congress turns into a pumpkin.
Can we eat the pumpkin?
No.
So why is it so hard to pass a budget these days?
Varies with the political season. Currently the GOP Senate leader doesn't want to help the economy of a Democrat President. "Deficit spending" will be the issue next year. Then there are issues of Senators adding poison pills, like Sen. Toomey trying to cut The Fed at the knees to limit options they'll have available to help the economy with a Democrat in the White House. Then there are assholes like Sen. Sanders, Hawley, Paul who threaten everything just because they can, but nothing positive ever results from their interaction!
Can Congress kick the can again with funding?
Yes, but it gets a bit tedious after a while. It isn't exactly known what the threshold of acceptable tedium is for the Senate and House, but there is a threshold!
Anything else?
There is the second Covid-19 relief bill.
Really? Didn't the Democrats vote for one back in May and the GOP did so on a much much smaller version a month or two ago? What's in the latest version?
No one knows. Might have checks, might have extended unemployment relief, might provide corporations with liability waivers, might be too little too late.
What are the chances something passes tonight?
Who knows. It seems possible that this will go well into the weekend without passing anything until the end of day Sunday when Pelosi straps McConnell in to a wicker chair and gets that rope thing from Casino Royale. At best a 48 hour continuing resolution could be passed tonight, but more likely the government will pause over the weekend.
Does it really have to be like this?
You'd think the answer was yes, because it is so screwed up, you'd think if it didn't have to be like this, it'd be better. But the truth is, it can be better, they just don't want it to be.