I’d bet a lot fewer Americans would enjoy their tasty turkey, holiday ham or Christmas crown roast as much if they’d been to the slaughterhouse to see how it was “processed.” It is a dreadfully distasteful business but it provides a necessary service. The process is designed to be as humane as possible, but I’m sure it still hurts both the processor and the processee to some degree.
I mention that not to ruin your Christmas celebration but rather to explain what’s going on in Washington. While walking Betsy the Boxer Tuesday afternoon, a few of my neighbors shared their opinion of the stimulus/omnibus spending bill and they weren’t favorable. “FOREIGN AID TO THE SUDAN? WHAT’S THAT GOT TO DO WITH CORONAVIRUS?” “MORE MONEY FOR THE BORDER WALL? THAT’S NOT GONNA HELP MY BUSINESS!” I would like to add at this point that I love when my neighbors engage me. I like them; and it gives me a chance to interact face to face with people, albeit socially distanced, to see what they think.
President Trump hopped on the bandwagon as well, incredulously questioning why a stimulus bill would include money for a “…Kennedy Center that isn’t even open.” Unlike my neighbors he knows, or certainly should know, better.
The following is from a CBS News story; but the verbiage was the same in the stories from Fox, CNN, MSNBC, OU812 and whatever outlet you favor:
"Washington — Both chambers of Congress on Monday night passed a $900 billion relief measure designed to provide long-awaited assistance to Americans, small businesses and industries ailing from the coronavirus pandemic. The $900 billion package is paired with a $1.4 trillion omnibus spending bill that funds the federal government through September."
You may want to pay attention to the part that I chose to bold, italicize, and underline because it’s important as it is key to how the sausage making occurs in the nation’s capital.
Bills are often combined to either force one side to vote for something they don’t want while getting something they do want or to provide cover to both sides so neither is blamed for the compromise. If, for example, I don’t want or care about giving Nebraska money for a new tourism office but I want the money for a coastal restoration in Louisiana, both items get combined into one bill in an all or nothing at all gambit.
If you’re cynical, this is a smart play as the Nebraska person can say I had to do approve money for Louisiana to get that tourism office. The Louisiana person can say the same for his coastal restoration project. That way those elected can go home and justify what they did and why.
If you’re optimistic you can say that the system works fine. Each member of the Congress is there for the express purpose of representing the interests of the people that elected them and to get what’s needed/wanted for their state. It’s called compromise.
Sometimes it can turn ugly. A measure to increase military spending can be tagged on to a bill that expands social programs. In this case the conservatives and the liberals have each other in a tight spot. Vote against it, and come election time a conservative opponent can say “you voted to expand social programs” when in fact the official had to in order to get the increase in military spending. Likewise, a liberal challenger can accuse the incumbent of voting for military spending when that was necessary to get the social program funded.
Which brings us back to this:
The $900 billion package is paired with a $1.4 trillion omnibus spending bill that funds the federal government through September.
There is no “stand alone” stimulus bill. It ceased to exist after it left the House of Representatives and was included in the bill to fund the government when it reached the Senate. Soooo….a vote against money for the Kennedy Center Arts Center is a vote against the stimulus bill. See how the game is played, how the sausage is made?
Before getting angry, it may also be a good idea to determine who it is you’re angry at and for why. The separate bills, including the then stand-alone stimulus measure, passed the House by a 359-53 margin. The combined bill passed 92-6 in the Senate. In other words, a whole lot of Republicans voted for the bill that gives money to Pakistan, the Kennedy Center, etc.
Now it's up to the President. He can sign it or veto it. There is a pocket veto option which means if he doesn’t do anything for ten days, excluding Sundays, it’s a passive veto. A two thirds vote in both chamber could override that. We’ll see what happens. What do you WANT to happen? Oh…and if you’re saying to yourself why can’t the President just scratch out what he doesn’t like, that’s called “line item veto. The Supreme Court ruled that to be unconstitutional.
Thanks for visiting the slaughterhouse. I hope you enjoyed your tour.
