Congrats to Speaker Johnson for pulling off a plan that will avoid a government shutdown for the time being. Per the NY Times, the House passed legislation on Tuesday to keep federal funding flowing into early 2024, after Democrats stepped in to rescue a plan opposed by many Republicans to avert a government shutdown at the end of the week.
A coalition of Democrats and mainstream Republicans overcame the opposition of G.O.P. conservatives to approve the bill under special expedited procedures that required a supermajority. That approach, hatched by Speaker Mike Johnson, amounted to a gamble that a substantial number of Democrats would rally to help pass a package that Mr. Johnson’s own party was unwilling to back. The vote was 336 to 95, clearing the two-thirds threshold required for passage. In the end, 209 Democrats and 127 Republicans joined to pass the bill. Ninety-three Republicans opposed it, as did two Democrats.
Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader, told reporters that he wanted the Senate to vote on the bill “as soon as possible.”
I am sure the Republican Freedom Caucus is plotting this evening on how to get rid of Johnson, since he just committed the same sin that caused the caucus to get rid of McCarthy in early October.
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Tensions were really running high today in Congress. The threat of a government shutdown must have been getting to them, because the grown men started acting like little boys.
Per the NY Times, it began early Tuesday morning, when former Speaker Kevin McCarthy had a run-in with Representative Tim Burchett of Tennessee, one of the eight Republicans who had voted to oust him from the speakership last month, in the basement of the Capitol. Mr. Burchett said he had been speaking with journalists in a hallway following a party confab when Mr. McCarthy elbowed him in the back, then kept walking.
“It was just a cheap shot by a bully,” Mr. Burchett said later. “And then I chased after him. And we had a few words.”
And then there was this. At a hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Senator Markwayne Mullin, Republican of Oklahoma, challenged a top labor leader to a physical fight. Mr. Mullin and Sean O’Brien, the president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, have been feuding on social media. Mr. Mullin read aloud one of Mr. O’Brien’s posts calling him a “clown” and a “fraud,” and challenging him to a confrontation “Anyplace, Anytime cowboy.”
“Sir, this is a time, this is a place,” Mr. Mullin said to Mr. O’Brien from the dais. “We can do it here.” “OK, perfect,” Mr. O’Brien responded, adding, “I’d love to do it right now.” “Well, stand your butt up then,” Mr. Mullin, a former mixed martial arts fighter, said, rising from his chair and reaching to remove his wedding ring in apparent preparation to throw a punch.
As the two men shouted at each other, Senator Bernie Sanders, independent of Vermont and the chairman of the panel, intervened and repeatedly told Mr. Mullin to return to his chair. “You’re a United States senator! Sit down, please,” he said, wagging his finger as Mr. Mullin and Mr. O’Brien continued to talk over each other from across the hearing room. “Hold it!” Mr. Sanders yelled, banging his gavel.
You cannot make this stuff up.
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In Michigan the old guard of the Republican party has abandoned the current party leadership, and it is creating a major financial burden on the party’s finances.
Per the Detroit News, the Michigan Republican Party is considering how to deal with “imminent default” on its line of credit, according to a resignation letter from a member of the state GOP’s budget committee.
The message, obtained Thursday by The Detroit News, reveals the seriousness of the financial problems facing a party in a battleground state a year before the 2024 presidential general election. Kristina Karamo, the Michigan GOP’s chairwoman, has struggled to raise money after rising to power in February while railing against the party’s “establishment,” including past donors.
By August, six months into Karamo’s time as chairwoman, the party had about $35,000 in its own bank accounts, a small fraction of the estimated $500,000 in debt, according to internal bank records previously obtained by The Detroit News.
Jeff Timmer, a longtime Michigan political consultant who previously served as the state GOP’s executive director, said the situation appeared to represent the “last gasp” before the party became insolvent.
“It really is unprecedented,” Timmer said.
This is what happens when you bite the hand that feeds you. Karamo game to power on the tails of the former president, by bad mouthing the old Republican leadership and donors. She is now reaping what she sowed.
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Hunting season starts Wednesday morning. It is a little different up here. The Women Outdoors on Wednesday (WOW) that Leah is part of is making sure their hike tomorrow does not take place where there will be hunters.
I plan on playing the front nine at Crooked Tree so I need to stay near the cart path and away from the woods. Lots of deer near the course and at least one deer blind. I do not want to be mistaken for a deer.
Good luck if anyone needs to have their car repaired tomorrow.
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A great day in Northern Michigan today. Leah went kayaking and I walked and played the front nine at Crooked Tree today. I was able to get in an hour bike ride yesterday. Wednesday is forecasted to be better than today.
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Quote of the Day: “Great quarterbacks are great erasers of mistakes.” Fox Sports college football announcer talking about U of M’s quarterback J.J McCarthy. It can also apply to the Lions’ QB Jared Goff, who is playing the best football of his career.
Orchid of the Day: Michigan’s men’s basketball team for their overwhelming victory over St. Johns last night on St. Johns home court, the Madison Square Garden. Michigan dominated the Johns for the last 25 minutes of the game. This team is much better than many people expected, and they are fun to watch.
Onion of the Day: The shooting I watched in the first half of the Duke/MSU basketball game tonight. I had to quit watching; it was so bad. Both teams had more turnovers than assists and were 5 of 26 from behind the arc.
Question of the Day: Why is it many men turn to boys so quickly when they are confronted? Whatever happened to self-control?
Image/Video of the Day:
Dan Miller Call of the Game: Lions vs Chargers. I look forward to this every week.
Calls of the Game | Lions at Chargers 2023 Week 10 – YouTube