Senate GOP Plays Charlie Brown . . . Again
It's Lucy-and-the-Football Time Again in the US Senate. Who Didn't See This Coming?
Hugh Hewitt, 65, hosts the second-longest-running radio talk show in the United States. With hundreds of affiliates in nearly every state, Hugh is also a former attorney, law professor, former Reagan Administration official, and perhaps the best interviewer in all media. I especially love how Hugh interviews journalists from the mainstream media and expertly schools them, gently, on how to do their jobs. I am a devoted listener for most of the past two decades.
Hugh is also a noted author of many books and a sought-after speaker (disclosure: I hired him once to speak to food company CEOs. He did not disappoint). I consider him both a kindred spirit and acquaintance, once serving as a resource to him on Senate rules.
So I was surprised when Hugh professed surprise over the lack of any Democratic senatorial opposition to a $3.5 trillion budget resolution for fiscal year 2022 (beginning October 1st) authored by Socialist and Independent Senator (and chair of the Budget Committee), Bernie Sanders. Joining him in surprise was the “official economist” of Hugh’s show, Brian Wesbury, arguably America’s finest economic prognosticator from his perch at First Trust Portfolios, based in Chicago, and a friend from our days working in the US Senate.
Frankly, no one, especially Hugh, no stranger to the wilds of Washington politics, should be surprised. He actually professed support for the separate and wasteful $1.2 trillion “infrastructure” bill that enjoyed partisan support, as negotiated by GOP Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Arizona’s Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ). It passed 69-30 with support from the Senate’s Republican Leader, Mitch McConnell. He, and apparently others, thought that Manchin and Sinema, both who professed opposition to the budget resolution’s $3.5 trillion price tag, would have worked to curb Saunders’ ode to socialism via his budget resolution. Nope.
Instead, as Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) professed, “Republicans in the Senate keep finding new ways to lose.” He’s not wrong.
Hugh was surprised that Sinema and Manchin lied and jumped on the Sanders-AOC train. I wasn’t. Neither were most of you, I bet. It reminded me a lot of this.
You know this over-used and long-standing “Lucy and the Football” annual theme from “Peanuts” creator, the late Charles Schulz. Lucy Van Pelt is portrayed as a charming but manipulative female who repeatedly torments Charlie Brown while having her entreaties to pianist Schroder constantly ignored, if not rejected. From the website, Peanuts Fandom:
Lucy was introduced into the strip on March 3, 1952, as a wide-eyed baby who constantly tormented her parents. Very early on, Schulz eliminated the circles around her eyes and allowed her to mature to the age of the other characters. She soon grew into the familiar bossy, crabby, selfish girl known to Peanuts readers today.
Perhaps Lucy's most iconic joke in her long existence as a character is the one in which she pulls the football away from Charlie Brown right as he is about to kick it. The first occasion on which she did this was November 16, 1952, taking over from Violet, who had previously subjected Charlie Brown to this on November 14, 1951, in the worries he would kick her hands. Lucy at first pulled the ball away because she was afraid Charlie Brown's shoes were dirty, and she did not want to get her new ball dirty. When Charlie Brown asked her to hold it still again she held it down so tight Charlie Brown tripped over it. Afterwards, Lucy would always intentionally pull the football away from Charles Brown to trick him.
So, what happens now? First, Sen. Manchin dishonestly professed his vote for the Sanders budget resolution was “procedural.” Umm, the budget resolution was a Senate Concurrent Resolution, which is not “procedural” and is certainly no mere expression of opinion, as with other joint or concurrent resolutions. It unlocks the “reconciliation” process under the Budget and Impoundment Control Act and allows an array of spending and tax provisions to escape the Senate’s filibuster rules. Sinema’s statement was no better than Manchin’s.
It’s worth restating: Despite their protestations, Manchin and Sinema (and every other Democratic Senator) voted to make it easier for Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Chairman Sanders to implement their $3.5 trillion tax and spending plan without a single GOP vote.
While not signed by the President, it is the first step in directing Congressional committees on how to allocate spending and even policy decisions, some of which will fall out of “reconciliation” and could be filibustered. It has to be passed by the Nancy Pelosi-led House, which it almost assuredly will (but watch a few nervous Democrats in swing districts).
For example, the Budget Resolution directs committees to craft a massive immigration amnesty proposal. It will have to fall under strict spending and tax constraints in order to pass muster with Senate rules. They may be able to find a way but will have to clear some hurdles. Watch this space. And don’t forget the $3.5 trillion budget’s creation of a “Climate Corps,” funded by several cabinet agencies, including the Department of Agriculture. It’s pure spending, so it likely passes muster under Senate rules.
The Senate now adjourns for their traditional August break and will return in early September to implement as much of the $3.5 trillion budget plan as possible before the new fiscal year begins. And like Lucy with the football, Manchin and Sinema again are promising to oppose the level of spending - did we mention that it was $3.5 trillion? - that they just voted to authorize. “Trust me,” they’ll say. Uh-huh.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on Senate Republicans.
Final thoughts: There are two wrinkles worth watching.
First, the debt ceiling needs to be raised by sometime this Fall, perhaps even before the new fiscal year begins on October 1. We will see.
Second, who knows what the wily House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, under pressure from “The Squad” and other extreme elements in her caucus will do with a final “reconciliation” bill. She is not above combining both the “bipartisan” infrastructure bill, along with the massive $3.5 trillion socialist wet dream reconciliation act, along with a debt ceiling increase, and then challenge the Senate GOP to oppose it, despite evading filibuster rules.
Would you trust either Manchin or Sinema to join with Republicans in opposition? Me neither.