This is a good one. Mikey Johnson is called out and put on notice that his tendency to blame everyone but himself for the shutdown has been noticed. Sure, he’s been called out a couple of times on TV, but this one is in writing and will be spread far and wide. He’s not looking good. He’s looking pretty bad, actually. Let’s hear from Michael Steel, former RNC chair, via Raw Story:
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) continues to blame Democrats for the government shutdown, but former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele called him out for his “baloney” around the shutdown. “People say, ‘Why aren’t you negotiating with Democrats?’ I literally don’t have anything to negotiate,” said Johnson when speaking to MSNBC. “I didn’t put any of my Republican priorities on the [continuing resolution]. So, I can’t pull those off and say, ‘Gee, is it better now? Can you vote for it?’ I sent over to the Senate exactly what they voted on the last time, and now suddenly they want to have a political fight.’ Steele, an MSNBC host, called it false, noting that it also proves that Republicans “aren’t serious” about ending the shutdown.
We’ve figured that out already, true. But now he’s been called out by someone who *is* a Republican and told he’s full of shizzle. Michael is in a position with better knowledge of how they work. It’s quite something to have him speaking up because there’s a good chance Mikey Johnson can’t dodge out of this one. It’s pretty certain that they know each other, which would probably make Mr. Steel’s words sting harder than the “here today, gone tomorrow” television appearances and demands. Gotta love social media, right?
The other thing is that Mikey refuses to swear in the new Arizona lawmaker. What would any of us bet that’s because she would be the vote needed to force a mandate on the Epstein files? Can’t have that, oh, no, can’t have that because Trump would be pissed. Too damn bad. Well, it would still have to make it through the Senate, which is pretty dubious, but there is *nothing* wrong with trying. And Republicans are joining in, too!
He explained that the shutdown has “nothing to do with partisanship or anything like that. You run the damn House. You’re the ones who sent the members home early in August because you didn’t want to deal with the Epstein situation. Then, when they came back, you sent them home again!” “Now you’re saying that, ‘Oh, I’m sorry. Unless you give me everything that was in the package before,’ knowing that what was in the package before undoes or just, you know, just breaks apart the whole health care construct for the American people,” said Steele.
THAT is the crux of the shutdown problem. Republicans do NOT want to restore healthcare. They’re the ones who cut it in the first place. What they refuse to realize is that Republicans *also* need their healthcare. It’s not just Democrats. It’s the *people* of the USA. THAT is who we are fighting for.
“So, this whole sort of, ‘Oh my God! I have no control over any of this! The Democrats are the bad actors here,” mocked Steele of Johnson’s comments. “It’s just a lot of baloney because you’re the Speaker. You control the schedule. You control whether the doors of the House are locked or open. And if you want to negotiate, bring everybody back and sit in the room and negotiate.”
Bingo! You see, that’s the kicker. Mikey Johnson doesn’t want to, and it’s bloody damn obvious. They don’t want to because they would have to admit they were wrong on the Big Ugly Bill. They can’t do that. Everyone wants their health care, no matter if they are Democrats, Republicans, or Independents. They were wrong on the BUB. Well, at least from our perspective. Hardliners wanted those cuts. Hardliners are ridiculously stupid. There’s already a backlash building. It’s going to hit hard. Too bad, so sad. They need to get over themselves!
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