Rand Paul Is Preventing Vote On Bill To Avert Shutdown

GOP Whip John Cornyn may have spoken too soon...

 

 

With less than ten hours left for both the Senate and House to pass a bill to extend financing for the federal government, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul is - once again - forcing a delay by objecting to certain spending levels.

The Congressional Budget Office just ruled that the spending deal would increase the deficit by $24.3 billion by 2022.

Paul has played the role of antagonist in the past, memorably back in late November when the GOP voted to pass a $4.5 trillion budget as a precursor to unlocking the reconciliation rules allowing Republicans to pass the Trump tax cuts through the senate with a simple majority vote.

 

...Meanwhile, Senate leaders have yet to begin procedural votes that were expected to begin nearly an hour ago...

 

...and they can't say when that vote is expected to take place, because Paul - as Cornyn put it - "has concerns he wants to be able to voice."

 

 

Once again, it appears the bipartisan deal struck between Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell was too much, too soon. As part of the deal, the two agreed to extend funding through March 23 while lifting spending caps that were imposed as part of the Budget Control Act of 2011 (the famous sequestration bill) while tentatively working out a two-year budget deal that would increase both domestic and military spending, provide money for disaster relief, combating the opiate crisis and - oh yeah - raising the debt ceiling. The Treasury's emergency measures are expected to be tapped out early next month.

As we noted earlier, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi is refusing to support the deal struck by her fellow Congressional leader because she wants to force a vote on an immigration bill to preserve DACA protections - the subject of a historic 8-hour-long speech on the House floor yesterday.

In a letter to her Democratic colleagues today, Pelosi accused Speaker Paul Ryan - who says he won't call for a vote on DACA without Trump's approval - of "demeaning the dignity of the House" and defying the will of the American people.

 

 

In the Senate, Democrat Elizabeth Warren is also balking at passing the spending bill without voting on an immigration deal. And the House Freedom Caucus

Without another extension - what would be the fifth since September - funding for the Federal government will run out at 12:01 Friday morning.

Meanwhile, the House Freedom Caucus is still trying to kill the deal struck by the Senate leaders.

Keep in mind, the Senate hasn't started their procedural votes yet. Once the bill passes the Senate, the bill will need to pass through the House Rules Committee before it can be brought to the floor for a vote...

 

With markets spiraling lower again Thursday, the budget process is rapidly transforming into a "damned-if-they-do-damned-if-they-don't" situation, because if it passes and widens the deficit...

 

 

Comments

Bill of Rights Feb 8, 2018 2:39 PM Permalink

Shut it down, ill hardly notice or care. Good bad or indifferent I will say this about Trump , he has these Congress Shit bags actually working for the first time in years!.

JSBach1 Bill of Rights Feb 8, 2018 2:45 PM Permalink

OT (but significant):

Israel Lobby trying to kill the Al Jazeera’s documentary on Israel Lobby in the US (like the one they produced about the Israel Lobby in UK):

https://qatarileaks.com/en/leak/qatar-12

Qatar’s leaders have assured Jewish-American organizations that Al Jazeera’s documentary on the Israel lobby in the United States will not be aired, five sources in pro-Israel circles in Washington told Haaretz.

The sources said the Qatari leaders gave their assurance in late 2017 not to air “The Israel Lobby,” a move that was part of the emirate’s campaign to improve its image in the American Jewish community...

Shortly after Al Jazeera announced that the new documentary would be shown, Jewish-community officials asked Muzin to see if he could use his ties with the Qataris to stop the airing.

 

In reply to by Bill of Rights

JSBach1 JSBach1 Feb 8, 2018 2:45 PM Permalink

https://www.richardsilverstein.com/2018/02/08/israel-lobby-pressures-qatar-kill-al-jazeera-documentary/

“Two extraordinary events have come together to place Al Jazeera in a vise-like squeeze that may result in the death of a major TV documentary expose about the power and operations of the Israel Lobby in the U.S. The same investigative team producing this project created the remarkable four-part film, The Lobby, about the UK Israel Lobby…”

“…The pro-Israel tabloid, Tablet, exposed the identity of the secret operative. Now that the groups know who the mole was they have a pretty good idea of what material he procured that would be in the aired show…”

“…Muzin, who now receives $300,000 per month to lobby on Qatar’s behalf, devised a tried and true strategy from the Aipac playbook: junkets. Get leading figures in the pro-Israel community to accept all expenses paid trips to Qatar. Pull out all the stops; wine them and dine them; offer them facetime with the emir. In this way, Alan Dershowitz, Mort Klein, Mike Huckabee and Malcom Hoenlein have taken up the offer.

Given that these very same individuals have spoken some of the harshest language regarding the Arab states and their ongoing hostility to Israel, it’s remarkable that they’re singing such a different tune. I wondered how a few 1st class plane tickets, a luxury hotel suite and a few hours with the emir could make these leopards change their spots…”

“… Today, Haaretz published a story acknowledging that almost all of these American Jewish supplicants came to Qatar for one very special reason (there may have been others, but this one was key). They wanted the Al Jazeera documentary killed. They knew if it was aired it would make them look as shabby, venal, and crude as the UK series did. These Lobby leaders also knew they were in a tricky position. Given that they liked to think of themselves as liberal, and supporters of free speech and press, they couldn’t be seen to take an ax to the production in an overt fashion. They needed to work behind the scenes.

That’s where Qatar’s need for new friends in its war with Saudi Arabia came in. In the Haaretz article, a number of the junket participants admitted that they brought up the documentary when they met the emir. The attendees claim that they were told privately that the program would not air. Nick Muzin, confirmed this after consulting with his Qatari collaborators…”

“…However, AJ threw them all a curve-ball this week when it sent letters to a dozen Israel Lobby groups asking for their response to the material in the production. The high-paid executives thought they had it in the bag, when all of a sudden it looked like the cat had escaped. Matters appear to remain in limbo. All Muzin would say was that the documentary would not air “soon.”

I know one of the key members of the team producing the documentary. I’ve asked him if he can speak about it and he’s observing total radio silence. That tells me that: either the documentary is dead and the producers have been told to clam up about it; or the documentary is on track and the AJ powers-that-be do not want anyone on the production team making any statements that might complicate the already knotty situation; or that no decision has been made and the producers have been told that anything they say could derail their project…”

“…We should prepare for the possibility that the Lobby, powerful as it is, will find the right buttons to push with the Qataris and get the documentary cancelled. If that happens, it’s important that blame be nailed on the wall for all to see, like Martin Luther’s theses. This could be yet another lesson in the suffocating political power of the Lobby in national politics. It should provide an example of how Israel’s interests trump American values of freedom and fairness. When Israel or the Lobby come under attack nothing must stand in the way: not free speech, free press, political debate.”

In reply to by JSBach1

karenm Bill of Rights Feb 8, 2018 2:49 PM Permalink

They sure love their theater. To all the low level Cointel agents who troll these sites and read comments:

 

 These games are no longer working for you, because many people like me are onto you and know exactly what the agenda is, and guess what?

 

I'm telling others and once the message is understood by a critical mass, the entire narrative will be blown, including the one where we get a "Savior" from these "evil bankers."

 

Yes, I know the whole plan. Thank you for taking many years to do what should've been done much quicker. 

In reply to by Bill of Rights

Joe Trader Pew Pew Pew Feb 8, 2018 2:46 PM Permalink

Ron's ONE stumbling block, is thinking all you have to do is ask islamists why they want to attack us, and being oblivious to islamic taqiya - which means lying for the sake of islam. Troops do need to come home - but regardless of whether we're there or not - their ideology's structured around conversion by the sword and territorial conquest, and islamic foreign intervention.

In reply to by Pew Pew Pew

bshirley1968 Yen Cross Feb 8, 2018 2:50 PM Permalink

Damn right!  About time somebody at least try and stop this shit show.

Trump, Ryan, and McConnell are in a race to with Schumer to see who can spend the most......and the Republicans are winning.

Part of me hopes they get their spending bill and crash the whole damn system.  I am tired of their welfare asses spending money that is not theirs on the backs of future generations that will never exist.

Now Trump wants a military parade?  Why? So he can be like his hero Kim or Xi?  What an arrogant dipshit!

In reply to by Yen Cross

TheWholeYearInn Feb 8, 2018 2:42 PM Permalink

Yeah ~ SHUT IT DOWN! ~ So the FBI, CONgress, & the DOJ can go on paid holiday for a few months (at the taxpayers expense), for all the hard work they do! After all... Every person needs a holiday after a 2 decades long PIZZA ORGY... Don'y worry... OBAMACARE will cover your stint at the FAT FARM...

Roger Ramjet Feb 8, 2018 2:46 PM Permalink

"The Congressional Budget Office just ruled that the spending deal would increase the deficit by $24.3 billion by 2022."

I think the CBO has the decimal point one digit to far to the left.  Not sure how you increase military spending by $80 billion and domestic spending by $65 billion, annually and only increase the deficit by $24 billion.  I realize that the budget deal is for only 2 years, but really do they honestly believe that congress would let the military budget decrease by $85 billion in 2022?