The Best Case Scenario
I am writing and recording this on Wednesday afternoon, at the end of the work day.
As of this point, there is still no text provided to members of Congress of a bill concerning a budget deal that would prevent a partial government shutdown Friday night.
There was hope that the text would be in members hands before the end of business on Wednesday, but that did not happen.
The House has a so-called 72-hour rule, meaning no bill is voted on until members have had 72 hours to review it…and so we in the public have time to review it and offer reaction. Those who solemnly proclaimed that such a rule was vital to the national interest and took bows and applause for encouraging transparency in government did not mention that the 72-hour rule could be waived if two-thirds of the House votes to do so.
So in typical uni-party, swamp monster fashion, the text of the bill will arrive late, they’ll waive the 72-hour rule because to not waive it means the vote to prevent a shutdown will come after the shutdown starts, and the Senate will then have very little time to handle it themselves before the shutdown deadline.
And that’s the best case scenario on a situation they caused through their own inaction, malfeasance, and general poor work behavior.
I’ve never been a “throw the baby out with the bath water” sort of guy. But honestly, can we simply start over, with no incumbents and a clean slate? Sure, we’d lose some good people, but they are far outnumbered these days by a D.C. institution that craves securing, growing, and maintaining their own power at all costs to good governance and the people they are supposed to represent.
That’s not very optimistic, is it? Even worse, it’s accurate.
