
<p>The American people have a very low regard for Congress. ; In various polls runs around an abysmal 12 percent – and that runs across party lines.  ; Of course, that is higher than it should be. ; One wonders who that 12 percent are. ; Even half the members of Congress think the institution is broken.</p>



<p>We are about to see the Senate again prove its disfunction – with establishmentarian Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell joining in a bipartisan vote to pass a $6 trillion measure to fund the government until October 2023. ; This is the same can that congressional Democrats and Republicans have been kicking down the road for years.</p>



<p>First, you need to understand that it is the Constitutional duty of the House to prepare the federal budget to be considered by the Senate and ultimately sent on to the President. ; A budget is a list of all the proposed expenditures (appropriations) and the means to pay for them (taxes and borrowing). ; It is a big job – with a lot of differing opinions as to how much Americans should spend … on what programs … and specifically how it will all be paid for. ;</p>



<p>It is such a big job – with a lot of transparency rising out of the debate over specific items – that Congress simply refuses to do its job. ; Congressional leadership is, however, very clever in avoiding the budget process while keeping the folks back home from knowing what they are paying for.</p>



<p>They manage the financing of the entire national government by “Continuing Resolutions” and “Omnibus” legislation. ; The Continuing Resolution means that they simply push forward the old expenditures – with an inflationary increase &#8212; without offering a new budget. ; An Omnibus bill means that everything gets put into one bill without much consideration as to what is in it.</p>



<p>Oh .. we can know the size of the bill &#8212; in this case, $6 trillion dollars of your and my money. ; But even your own member of Congress may not know much more than we do. ; The Omnibus Bill is put together by the leadership and the leadership staff. The membership will be asked to vote on it without an opportunity to read it.  ; Remember Speaker Pelosi saying that they would have to pass the Obamacare legislation to see what is in it? ; That sounds absurd, but it is the way Congress does things.</p>



<p>The bill is always up for consideration at the last moment – just before Uncle Sam would start defaulting on the National Debt – creating a huge economic disaster for America.</p>



<p>Typically, all the Democrats are willing to vote for the legislation – and they dare the Republicans – who do not like doing business in this manner – to vote for it or take the blame for shutting down the government and putting America into default. ; And every time, the Republicans fold.</p>



<p>In the current situation, Republican Minority Leader McConnell may be folding too far or too fast. ; A better strategy would be to pass the extension legislation for a month or two &#8212; not the next ten months proposed by Democrats. ; That way, the Republicans would have control of the House – and they would be in charge of putting forward budget measures the next time there was a deadline. ; You can bet that what would come out of the future House would be more fiscally responsible.</p>



<p>Why McConnell would rather work with Senate President Chuck Schumer than his own colleagues in the House makes no sense at all. ; It is just another example of the Washington insider game.</p>



<p>Once again, we, the people, will be flimflammed by our own representatives in the nation’s capital. ; And they wonder why we hold Congress in such low regard. ; Hmmm. ; Actually, it should be obvious to all of us that they just do not give a damn what we think.</p>



<p>So, there ‘tis.</p>

Senate to continue fiscal irresponsibility
