The U.S. narrowly avoided another economic shutdown at the last minute Saturday midnight. The U.S. Senate approved a 45-day extension on the budget to continue running the government. The House led by the Republican majority received bipartisan support 335-91 for the stopgap bill. The Senate voted on the bill and passed the resolution 88-9 which keeps the government operating through November 17, 2023. There was a temporary holdout in the Senate by Senator Bennet (D-CO) who wanted to get assurance from party leaders that Ukraine aid would be approved as a separate aid package very shortly.
Republicans have known the conditions and the budget itself since early February when Speaker McCarthy (R-CA) negotiated with President Biden and the Democrats. Once, again politics, insensitivity, and just plain ridiculousness on behalf of what seems to be the Republican party brings us very close to an American catastrophe. As a result, the Speaker working with the Democrats to gain support may cause him to vacate or lose the position he had so earnestly negotiated before with the extreme members of his caucus – the House Freedom caucus. Over the past week, you were hearing interviews and statements released by some of those members as if it was no big deal to default! Not a problem for the military or government workers to go unpaid for a week or two! Ask them if they will receive their paycheck and the answer is Yes. What is so nerve-racking about the situation is that All of a Sudden, the Republicans have found budget principles. Yet, when Trump was President, and they were the majority in both houses they managed to shut down government once and gave the top 1% a tax break which never materialized as a benefit for the working class. The two trillion dollars tax cut essentially amounted to approximately 83% of a tax break for the rich while the middle class gained only about 22% and less. The rich gained from the tax break in the ways of lower corporate taxes, estate tax, and capital tax gains so that individuals vested on Wall Street would hardly have to pay any tax on the sale of their investments. While the medium-income working family had their itemized deductions narrowed for items such as mortgage interest and medical deductions. Some of these same debates continue with the Republican Congress to deny middle-income families a sincere and beneficial tax break. Their outlook is that if you give the tax cut to the rich and rich those monies will trickle down in ways such as higher salaries and more jobs. The Trump tax breaks have not demonstrated that. It was President Biden who managed to lower the unemployment rate and created millions more jobs that were lost during the pandemic and beyond.
When it comes to another of America’s commitments such as support for the country of Ukraine the Republicans are again casting doubt and losing allies around the world. Putin on the other hand is pleased with the American discourse and anticipates Americans will tire of the Ukrainian War. Consistent with what Americans are known as around the world. I remember when the French were the butt of these jokes. Due to our partisan politics and misleading information led primarily by Trump and his followers America has lost much of its prestige and steadfast fervor for democracy. Frankly, we are nothing but hypocrites when it comes to diplomacy and our support for freedom. Ukraine has withstood the wrath of the Russians and continues to make progress on the battlefront. President Zelenski has been making some adjustments in his administration where corruption was identified. There is much they have done to warrant our support for them as a democratic nation. There should be no waning when it comes to supporting Ukraine and its fight for freedom. The Republican party who was once supportive of these principles seems to have taken a narrow path on how to achieve the war against aggression. Accountability is necessary and that can be achieved in numerous ways. During the war in Iraq and Afghanistan billions of dollars were misappropriated and hardly a whisper from the Bush Administration or the Republicans. Vice President Cheney had his own companies providing services on both fronts and never a whisper of improprieties! There is no debate there or committees meeting to find out what happened with those billions that were lost during the Bush or Trump years.