Did The 3 Stooges, Scott, Johnson and Pence Just Bury The GOP In 2024? At Least The Senate?

Sweet Jesus, this is getting ridiculous! For 58 years now Social Security and Medicare have rightfully been called The 3rd rail of politics. Because if you touch it, you die. Which hasn’t stopped the GOP from making entitlements a fundraising cause celebre, but the GOP only peddled legislation that they knew was doomed to fail. Let their sheeple figure it out for themselves.

And once again last year, the GOP gruesome twosome, Rick Scott of Florida, and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin resurrected the moldy old Medicare-Social Security zombie. scott wanted tu sunset Medicare and Social Security after five years if congress didn’t renew it, and Johnson was even more bone stupid, wanting the entitlements renewed every single year by congressional vote. Meanwhile, former Vice President Mike Pence is running around trying to resurrect Bush’s old pipe dream of privatizing social security.

Of course Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell reacted like a scalded cat. Johnson, the GOP Village Idiot didn’t really concern him, but Scott actually put it on paper, and McConnell reacted forcibly. He labeled the plan misguided, and promised that it would never pass even the GOP Senate caucus. Nuff said, right?

Not this time. Because this time, the the GOP won a squeaker of a majority, with about 20 batshit crazy Freedom Caucus members who just might be stupid enough to drive the US economy over the debt ceiling cliff over cuts to, or the dismantlement of social Security and Medicare. At first it didn’t seem like much of a problem, since a dozen or less sane GOP members could join the Democrats in passing a clean extension.

But it’s just stopped being funny on a whole new level. It’s almost like, through some rare form of political osmosis, the Freedom Caucus has tipped to the fact that 90% of the American population considers them a national joke. In extremely bad taste. And if you’re a professional performance artist, nothing stings more than being considered a street performer.

And so, today the Freedom Caucus, at least a couple of them so far, have decided to show the country that they aren’t drooling mental defectives, they’re actually serious legislators. And that carries with it the pervasive stink of an impending GOP Waterloo.

Earlier today, in separate interviews, both Sugar Daddy Matt Gaetz, and Pistol Packin’ Mama Boebert both pronounced that they were fully on board with either the Scott or Pence plans. And both promised that when they staggered back to Washington a week from Monday, and God knows Machine Gun Marjie doesn’t get enough down time, they were going to start to craft actual legislation along the lines of the ideas.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. If this keeps up, then Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell may just end up rooming with John Fetterman at Walter Reed for clinical depression. McConnell sees a favorable Senate map for 2024, and the last thing he wants is for the 3rd rail of politics hanging around like a bunch of trip wires for his candidates to blow a leg off over.

But it looks like that’s how it’s going to be. The Gaetz, MTG, Jordan wing is desperate to show the world that they can actually legislate, and since entitlements are the most toxic things in congress, of course those are the things that a bunch of flaming nihilists will latch on to.

Here’s how I see it. Depending on the estimate, we’ll go over the debt ceiling cliff somewhere between mid June and the 2nd week of July. When they come back, the Teabaggers will begin crafting proposals that include cuts to Medicare and Social Security as a prerequisite for raising the debt ceiling. Fuck their applause at the SOTU, this is politics. Biden, as well as McConnell have already taken those off the table. A clean debt ceiling limit increase will pass, one way or the other.

But the nightmare won’t be over for McConnell, not by a long shot. Because the federal budget is set to expire at midnight on September 30th. And while they may have lost on the debt ceiling, the Teabaggers are nothing if not one-trick-ponies, they don’t have that many ideas to spare. So they’ll resurrect their entitlement cuts as a cudgel to use in the budget negotiations. And that’s when thing really get messy.

Because, unlike the debt ceiling, failing to pass either a new federal budget or a continuing resolution won’t automatically tank the global economy. The worst that could happen is a government shutdown. And for a caucus already licking its wounds over their debt ceiling failure, shutting down the government is a perfect way to show that they’re serious. And no party that has shut down the government has won the next election. But they don’t care. They’re safer in their gerrymandered districts, and they’re rock stars on FUX News.

Which is McConnell’s worst nightmare. Because no matter what Trump does in 2024, McConnell is totally committed to recruiting and fielding a crop of sane, moderate Senate candidates that can put him back in power. And McConnell has the operation and Leadership PAC funds to outspend Trump in the primaries.

But if you’re a sane, lifelong moderate GOP candidate with national aspirations, why would you want to muddy yourself by climbing into not just a primary, but a general election when a topic as toxic as entitlements are going to be in the debate? If you’re young enough, better to wait for 2026 or 2028, when some of the stupid has been washed away?

This is why Mitch McConnell is in the hurt locker. He had at least reasonable chances of controlling his own caucus as far as Social Security and Medicare are concerned. But the one thing that he can’t control is the US House. And if they’re going to single-handedly turn the 2024 election into a referendum on entitlements, McConnell is screwed.