Oh, this is shaking out even better than I dared to dream. In a recent article, I wrote that one of the basic problems for the Freedom Caucus was that any kind of GOP engineered government shutdown would be to adversely disrupt the upcoming Virginia and Kentucky off year state elections in November.
Well, we won’t have a shutdown, at least not right now. But the potential damage, especially in Virginia, is worse than if McCarthy had shut down the House on Saturday and then passed to clean continuing resolution on Monday or Tuesday.
Here’s why. On Saturday, September 30th, the day the government was scheduled to run out of money, they passed a clean 45 day continuing resolution to keep the government open while the GOP tries to get their sh*t together. Which is not good.
Because unless the time/space continuum has changed while I was gambling, there are 31 days in October. Which means that the continuing resolution will expire at midnight on November 14th. Which is far too late for the GOP, but nowhere near far enough. I’ll explain.
IÂ believe that the residents of the Commonwealth of Virginia are set to hit the polls on November 7th. As I’ve already written, the major population centers of northern Virginia are mostly little more than bedroom communities for Washington DC. Now add in Langley, the home of the CIA, Quantico, the home of the FBI training facility, and the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. Now add in all of the military bases and installations scattered all over Virginia, as well as FAA Air Traffic Control centers. Virginia is stuffed with US government employees.
And they’re in for one helluva show. Fratty Matty Gaetz has already promised on a Sunday morning blather fest to bring a motion to Vacate the Chair to the floor of the House this week, putting Speaker McCarthy’s job in danger. And whenever that little kerfuffle irons itself out, the Freedom Caucus will once again begin banging the drum to cut government spending, including programs that Virginia residents rely on, or once again threaten to shut down the government, this time two weeks before Thanksgiving.
Make this clear. Sugar Daddy Matt, Pistol Packin’ Lauren, and Machine Gun Marjie don’t care about the residents of Virginia, their Thanksgivings are already set up. Besides, they’re not serious legislators, they’re performance artists looking to fill up their personal cash registers. That do they care?
Meanwhile, a locust horde of GOP incumbents and candidates are crisscrossing the state of Virginia, begging for votes so that they can either go on, or remain on the public mooch. And in the meantime, up in Washington DC, members of their own party are blustering around threatening to shut down the government, and spoil not only everybody’s Thanksgiving, but everybody’s Christmas if they don’t get their way about turning everybody in Virginia into paupers.
It’s always the Law of Unintended Consequences. These idjits are so obsessed with licking their nuts that they don’t realize they could literally cost their party a state for a decade. Not like they care. No skin off their noses. After all, it’s just a show, right?
It’s just a how and it’s not their State.
Newsflash: 2023 Republican National Committee Year End Wrapup – Post Mortem: perhaps we shouldn’t have scheduled the second (yes, second) threat of a govt shutdown just before the Virginia voting.
The GOP had post-mortems in 2013 and 2023. The GOP needs a new ME. Youngkin hosted mega donors in Charlotte, on his PAC’s dime. The timing of the latest train wreck was undoubtedly a big conversation.
The anti-vax/ CRT warriors may be regretting having voted for Youngkin. Perfect timing.