The Daily Escape:
Autumn, Rocky Mountain Front, MT – October 2023 photo by Jack Bell Photography
Weâre all trying NOT to follow whatâs going on in the House. Since Matt Gaetz and friends fired Kevin McCarthy, pretty much every newscast and paper are covering it. Wrongo will add his few words to the hot steaming pile of wordsmith.
McCarthyâs downfall is proof that no good deed goes unpunished. His decision to shake hands with Democrats on a short-term budget deal, kept the government open, but drew a challenge to his Speakership from a small group of chaos caucus Republicans. These eight mutinying members of his Party felt that McCarthy committed the unforgivable sin of compromise with Democrats.
Itâs useful to remember that 91 Republicans voted against McCarthyâs bill to keep the government open.
That, along with McCarthyâs unwillingness to make any concessions to the Dems for future funding requirements like Ukraine, made it clear that there was no good reason for them to do anything to help McCarthy and the GOP caucus to resolve their internal differences.
At the highest level, America is now looking at an uncertain period of being (un) governed, in fact, held hostage by a tiny group of eight âchaos Republicansâ. If the Republican House members select a new Speaker from the current two front runners, Steve Scalise (LA) and Jim Jordan (OH), their Party will tip further to the Right than it was under McCarthy, and there doesnât seem to be a middle ground.
Just eight Republicans were in love enough with chaos to vote against Mr. McCarthy; more than 200 other Republicans understood that chaos isnât conducive to sound policymaking. And 32 of those who supported McCarthy are members of the Problem Solvers Caucus, which is in theory dedicated to bipartisan solutions.
The WaPo has a great chart that lays out just how small the chaos caucus is vs. Republicans who voted for McCarthy:
Those Republican Problem Solvers are very angry at the caucusâ Democratic members for not supporting McCarthy when he was dethroned. All the House Dems who voted, voted against McCarthy (208), while four Dems werenât present.
So now, a government shut-down seems assured. But the reality is that despite the best wishes of the chaos caucus, the government cannot remain unfunded forever. And their demands for capitulation by Biden to the GOPâs fever dreams for cutting spending will never happen.
The House canât do anything without a Speaker, so the pressure is massive to choose one. And the Republicans will probably find a way to choose one without requiring any Democratic votes to support their choice. But when government funding runs out in mid-November, weâll get to the real logical driver of partisan politics, the absolute necessity to fund the government.
When the new Speaker canât pass a funding bill that is supported by the Senate, the new Speaker will eventually see the value in again seeking Democratic support.
The math drives this. The functional majority in the House will be that group who are willing to pay our bills on time by funding the government. Of the 221 Republican House members, 130 of them voted to avoid the shutdown, and 91 voted for it. The new Speaker needs to wrangle 218 votes to pass a bill on to the Senate. So if only 130 Republicans are willing to govern, Democrats will have to supply the difference.
Roll Call reports that the Republican vote for the next Speaker will take place next Wednesday morning, so weâll soon see if the impasse can be resolved.
Another interesting turnabout this week was the Biden administration deciding to waive two dozen environmental laws in order to resume building the wall on the southern border. Trump demanded an apology because Biden had promised in 2020 there would ânot be another footâ of wall if he won.
The White House now claims the administrationâs hands were tied by appropriations bills that required them to spend the money. Said Biden:
âThe money was appropriated for the border wall…I tried to get them to reappropriate it, to redirect that money. They didnât, they wouldnât.â
Biden added he still doesnât believe walls are an effective solution, but Republicans are crowing âI TOLD YOU SOâ with this announcement. But since it was FY2019 money that couldnât be reprogrammed, we should be asking why it wasnât spent while Trump was still in office.
Wrongo is applying for a patent on his new invention. Itâs called âthe magic buttonâ. You press it and any intractable problem simply disappears without a trace. It will be ready for use sometime after the 12th. The 12th of never.
On to the Saturday Soother, where we spend this Saturday of a three-day weekend attempting to escape from the news cycle. Wrongo and Ms. Right are on Cape Cod for our annual fall getaway that dovetails with the various Oysterfests on the Cape.
This means that columns may be light and variable for the next 10 days.
Itâs raining in the Northeast, so, itâs mostly indoor sports today. To help you let go of the weekâs news, grab a comfy chair by a window and brew up a cup of Kick Ass coffee from Canadaâs Kicking Horse Coffee.
Now watch and listen to âMy One And Only Loveâ, the old standard performed here by legendary saxophonist John Coltrane and singer Johnny Hartman. This was recorded in 1963 and features McCoy Tyner on piano. If you want to take your mind off a few things today, this will surely help:
Have a great time at the Cape! Thanks again for the perspicatious thoughts. Time for he politicians to put on their big boy (or girl) pants and do what’s best for the country, not their self-serving political aspirations.
Wife and I have travelled in New England often, Maine 3 times and once a few days at Cape Cod (in October) . We stayed at Chatham Bars Inn – in a cottage. Best room service in the world.
Re the problem solvers – Kevin did nothing to curry favor with Dems. No flattery etc. So the best idea for Dems is to force the GOP to come to them. It may not work. But chicken is a hard game to play.
@Terry: The main restaurant at the Chatham Bars Inn is top notch. We usually eat there every year.