For those who follow my commentaries, you know that I have been calling on Congress to get its rear in gear and provide necessary funding to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan – with reform of immigration law to end the crisis at the southern border. We need to be all in on all of those problems.
For months, a divided and cantankerous House and a divided and cantankerous Senate have been politically mud wrestling on all of these issues. A lot of it had to do with HOW to package the legislation – and how to placate the extremes of both of the political parties.
The problem on the Republican side stems from an excessive consideration of the small number of legislators on the fringe of the Party with extremist and isolationist views – including ceding Ukraine to Russia. That group is very small, but very vocal. Their one political asset is the nuclear option of unseating a Speaker in midterm because of a totally ridiculous rule. So far, the move to oust Johnson only has two votes. Even if there are more nutcases voting to vacate the chair, Johnson would likely pick up Democrat votes – which McCarthy foolishly rejected.
On the Democrat side, President Biden has a more existential problem. The radical extremists compose a significant portion of the Democrat base – in Congress and back home. While they are mostly all in for Ukraine, they are opposed to Israel military aid – and in some cases, the existence of Israel, itself. They are more than a fringe – as we see in the street protests across the nation.
The fringe in the GOP is not a threat to a Trump reelection prospect. They are part of his base. However, the radical left in the Democratic Party is a serious threat to Biden’s reelection – and potentially any hope of Democrats maintaining control of the Senate and winning control of the House.
Johnson has announced that he will create four free standing bills. Members of the House can vote on what they like without having to support what they do not like. Those on the extreme right in the GOP can vote for aid to Israel, Taiwan and border security, and not vote for aid to Ukraine. The anti-Israel (pro-Hamas?) faction in the House can vote for Ukraine and Taiwan, and vote against aid to Israel and the bill to secure the border.
Most likely, all the bills will be passed in the House by a significant bipartisan majority. They will then be sent to the Senate for consideration – with the same dynamics at play. The bills would pass with a bipartisan majority in the upper chamber IF (ß a big if) Senate Majority Leader does not use his power to block them – as he did the immigration reform bill that the House sent to the Senate almost a year ago.
Johnson’s commonsense plan seems so logical that the only question is what has taken it so long? But no matter. Hopefully Johnson’s bills will be passed with lightning speed.
Unfortunately, there is always a chance someone – or some group – will throw the proverbial monkey wrench into the work. If that happens, Congress should change the dress code to require size 17 shoes and bulbous red noses.
So, there ‘tis.