In the midst of all the 9/11 remembrance dominating the news today this IS other stuff going on. Given the fiscal deadline for passing govt. appropriations bills before the end of this month matters are going to quickly turn to the budget and possible government shutdown coverage that will push even Trump legal problems into the background for a while. I saw this story a little while ago and it got me to thinking, again remembering there are matters other than 9/11 that should be on our minds today. (No, contrary to what’s always said everything did NOT change that day)
Let’s take a quick dive into history. In the attempt to make Obama a one term President a plan was hatched and executed – a “grassroots” movement that would wind up being called the Tea Party was whisked into power backed by a carefully planned and funded campaign from GOP donors and strategists. The whole thing only looked grassroots, but a wave of legislators were swept into power in 2010. (Those with good memories will recall how they first went about braying about being “Tea Baggers” but sadly someone clued them in on what the term meant in popular culture resulting in an embarrassing “oops” moment and adopting the term Tea PARTY instead) Over time this group morphed into something else, which we know as the Freedom Caucus. Or Free-Dumb Caucus which I think is a more accurate descriptor.
But completing our look at history, one thing the Tea Party did with great fanfare early on was to eliminate the old-school practice in Congress of Members being able to “earmark” funding for projects back home. It didn’t go over well with everyone on the conservative side but given the GOP fervor over cutting federal spending cutting out earmarks became the norm. Democrats would reinstate the practice after Biden was elected and that leads us to the current fuss that could turn into a nasty inter-GOPer fight. A fight amongst the very Free-Dumb Caucus that McCarthy is beholden to.
This is where the hypocrisy kicks in. Being GOPers, these RWNJs are dead set against govt. spending and especially things like earmarks. Unless an earmark is for something one of THEM wants! Which brings us to Freedom Caucus member Randy Weber who the linked article notes thinks his Caucus might be going too far in their relentless drive (which he mostly agrees with) to cut federal spending. Spending in other places than he wants to earmark money for!
The deeply conservative Friendswood Republican holds a distinction that separates him from several other caucus members: He is Congress’ top requester of earmarks this year at a time when many fellow conservatives have turned their backs on steering funds to local projects in their districts.
His asks include $100 million for the Ike Dike, an ambitious Gulf Coast hurricane protection project, as well as protections for some of the nation’s biggest energy and trade facilities. And as Republicans fight over how to trim federal spending amid a looming government shutdown, Weber fears some projects that Republicans have been vocal to defend could be threatened.
I hate the smell of hypocrisy in the morning. It smells like… Petrochemical spills in “environmental regulations/protections are for cucks” Texas. What matters though is that Weber might break ranks with his fellow Freedom Caucus pals:
Weber is waiting to see what’s in funding legislation before deciding how he will vote, according to his spokesperson, though he continues to be concerned about spending and advocates cutting across federal agencies.
Ok you say, GOP hypocrisy – that’s not news. But this might turn into something quite newsworthy. Freedom Caucus asshats have been furious with McCarthy over the debt ceiling deal and though it includes passing this year’s appropriations bills they have been planning to renege on the deal. They believe shutting down the government is JUST the prescription the country needs. Even more delusional they believe doing so will somehow work out better for them this time than past shutdowns & taking us to the brink have worked out for the GOP. It’s a variation I guess on “supply side” tax cuts, a “THIS time it will actually work the way we say it will” belief ingrained in their DNA.
Except we have one of their own, Randy Weber who just loves him some earmarks making noises about not sticking with his team. There are as we know around 20 House Republicans who got elected in 2022 in districts that were won by Biden and they’re already nervous. Between the Dobbs decision and daily GOPer crazy including and especially from Free-Dumb Caucus members they know how vulnerable they already are. If there’s a shutdown, even a short one they’re toast and they know it. But now we have an actual member of their KKKrazy KKKaucus threatening to break ranks.
It makes me wonder if there’s one or two more in that group who are starting to think maybe, just maybe they should dial things down a notch. Perhaps whittle out a billion from the final appropriations bills and just be done with things so they can get back to their regular performance jackassery/art.
Keep an eye on this. Come tomorrow folks will be over “remembering 9/11” and we’ll be back to current events. We are halfway through Sept. and while the Senate has passed all eleven appropriations bills the House has to date only passed one. There’s little time left to avoid a shutdown. Perhaps a Food-Fight-In-the-Freedom-Caucus will create an opening that will allow saner members of the House to avoid disaster.
I still call them tea baggers. Nothing else fits quite as well.