Like the swallows returning to Capistrano, so the Republicans are called to go back to their posture of threatening to wreck the global economy when deciding upon a budget and dealing with the issue of the debt ceiling. This year Mitch McConnell says he won’t be riding to the rescue, he’s just going to sit back and let the others figure it out. Great. Nice to know that the de facto leader of the Republican party has just stepped down and now the biggest authority in the GOP, the person to keep us from going over the economic cliff, is Kevin McCarthy. I wonder if the Republicans tremble as I do? The Hill:
But McConnell says Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) need to work out a deal on the debt limit among themselves, arguing any proposal that originates from the Senate can’t pass the House.
“The president knows how to do this…. Until he and the Speaker of the House reach an agreement, we’ll be at a standoff,” McConnell told reporters. “We have divided government. The president and the Speaker need to come together and solve the problem.”
No argument there. We have a divided government. We have a divided country, split into warring tribes. Isn’t the Senate Minority Leader supposed to do something about that? If the shoe were on the other foot, Chuck Schumer would not be dodging his responsibility. What is the turtle up to?
Republican aides say McConnell’s strategy has the advantage of also keeping Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), whom Republicans see as a tougher negotiator than Biden, out of the talks.
A Senate Republican aide says Schumer also has more “leverage” than House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.), who is in the minority and was recently elected to the House Democrat’s top leadership job.
That’s one school of thought but some people think the answer is simpler. Mitch just wants to be the hero at the end of the day, the elder statesman upon whom they had to call to fix everything.
McConnell is probably just sitting there waiting for it to all fail so he can be asked to come in and be the savior,” said one Republican senator who requested anonymity to comment on what to expect from McConnell in the debt-limit fight.
Other GOP senators say they expect talks between Biden and McCarthy to stall and then for the ball to be in McConnell’s court.
“I think [McConnell’s] position is, ‘Let’s see what the House can do that makes sense.’ But here’s the reality, the likelihood of the House being able to propose something seems to be questionable. Eventually Schumer’s going to bring up a bill to increase the debt ceiling, a clean debt-ceiling increase, and we’re going to have to vote on it” in the Senate, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told The Hill earlier this year.
You knew this issue wasn’t going to get resolved without some theatrics, right? Here it is, Political Theater 101. McConnell walks off stage, only to be called upon when the play reaches a climax.
What would you expect from the “leader” of the republiCLOWNS who got kicked out of the army for sodomizing recruits?
McConnell has gotten to where he is today by being a cagey opponent but also by knowing which battles to stay the f**k out of. There is no gain for him in these negotiations. He sides with Kavin’ Kevie and he looks bad to the public, he sides with President Biden and he looks bad to his campaign contributors and any ‘pube in KY who wants SS/Medicare/Medicaid slashed to the bone. Getting involved is a no-win and he can see those 1000 miles off.
Call him a coward or whatever, he fights only those battles he has a chance at winning and this one ain’t one of those.
He has gotten to where he is by lying, cheating and f4cking people in the @ss. Literally.
🐢 do tend to draw their heads into their shell when there is danger.