Holiday Spirits

The ghosts of Christmas Past were roaming the Capitol this past week. Rumors persisted that the House Republicans did not want to pass the massive 1.7 trillion dollar omnibus spending bill and wished to let the government run out of money or pass only short-term funding instead. They wanted to let this Congress expire and start anew when they were in charge of the House and could have better luck killing measures they did not support. There have been other Christmases where they succeeded with this maneuver, but not this year.

Since 1976 in the modern budget era, there have been 21 times when Congress did not enact a budget, or lift the debt ceiling because of disagreements, and shut the Federal government down. The most recent holiday shutdown occurred in 2018 as Congress would not fund the border wall wanted by then-President Trump, so he shut down the government for 35 days furloughing almost half a million federal employees for the longest ever shut-down. (This pause was for about one-quarter of the federal workforce as portions of the budget were passed previously.) Congress was then, as it is now, in a lame-duck session. The new Congress would usher in a Democratically controlled House after massive wins in the mid-terms for Democrats that year.

In 1995 there was also a Christmas shut-down where Democratic President Clinton and Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich could not get a consensus on domestic spending and other issues, so Gingrich refused to pass a budget. That shutdown lasted for 21 days. When President Obama was in office in 2013, there was a 16-day shut-down at the beginning of the fiscal year over issues with the Affordable Care Act with a divided Congress. (Most times when furloughs happened of any length, the employees retroactively were paid, although it sometimes took a while.)

So, we can all be thankful that this year, despite protestations from the right, the Senate passed the appropriations bill and extended the debt ceiling with a bipartisan vote. It is important to note that electoral count certification was strengthened, so schemes such as the former president tried can no longer have any effect. Since the Democrats and Nancy Pelosi are still in charge of the House side, the House agreed and also passed these necessary measures with bipartisan support. Federal employees can then enjoy their holidays without worrying about losing a paycheck. So, we too, as members of the general voting public, can applaud our Congress for actually stepping forward and getting this important job done. We can now relax a bit and be confident that our country will continue to function as it should. But as we head into a divided Congress in the new year, such unanimity will be a rare thing if Kevin McCarthy is to be believed. But, then, he still hasn’t nailed down the job as speaker, so who knows who will be in charge? Sadly, it could be someone worse.

One major portion of the spending bill was military spending, up ten percent this year. A portion of the spending was to support the efforts in Ukraine militarily and financially for infrastructure. Not only has the country been fighting a war with exchanges of warfare, but they have also targeted the civilian infrastructure as the Russians continue to use missiles and armed drones to damage or destroy power plants, apartment buildings, and hospitals. Many civilians who have remained in the cities and towns were tolerating the loss of services, but now as the country heads into winter, families face continued losses of heat and safe water. Commercial enterprises have been diminished, and people have lost jobs or left them to fight in the war, so families are living with minimal resources.

Stressing the need for continued support for his country, President Zelensky came in person to Washington to meet with President Biden and speak to a joint meeting of Congress. The trip out of his country and his return were extraordinarily risky, as they had to be conducted in total secrecy to ensure his safety. A bipartisan group of senators and House leaders escorted Zelensky onto the House floor before his speech. Mostly, his remarks were graciously received, and many lines received warm applause and standing ovations. However, some Republican members, mostly from the House, boycotted the speech, as others who attended, sat on their hands, so to speak, or perused their phones in postures of studied boredom.

Zelensky, who seldom gives major speeches in English, read his remarks in accented, but understandable, English. He reminded the American audience of major battles in their country’s history when it was fighting the British during the revolution or during pivotal battles in World War ll when their troops were victorious. While thanking the Americans for all they have done for his country, he again asked for more weapons and armaments. He wants planes and missiles which might not be supplied. America is concerned that too many offensive weapons could widen the war and take it into Russia, which could then vastly expand the conflict. He continued, noting that Putin attacked his country without provocation; his people have died from war crimes, but the citizens remaining have not capitulated. He asserted that money given to support his country was not a bad loan but was an investment, critical to the survival of this beleaguered nation. He told the assembly that Ukraine was alive and kicking and that their support would speed up his victory.

The timing of his visit was critical. The funding and spending bills had not yet been passed; Republicans in the House were less supportive of continued aid and weapons support. Yet, he stressed this lifeline was not only for Ukraine, if Putin was not stopped in Ukraine, other areas in Europe would also be vulnerable as well. At the end of his speech, he presented to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and VP Kamala Harris, serving as President of the Senate, a flag that flew over a battlefield in Ukraine that day and was signed by all the members of the battalion in service there. As I write, little has changed. I hope that his brave countrymen and women can survive this winter and defeat the Russians with our continued financial and moral support.

Finally, also in the news this week, was the report from the January 6th Committee. There were few surprises in the release; they faulted the former president as expected. Instead of three areas for DOJ criminal referrals, there were four. According to the Washington Post, the referrals were for:

“Members of the committee urged federal prosecutors to charge Trump with four crimes: inciting or assisting an insurrection, obstruction of an official proceeding of Congress, conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to make a false statement.”

“The panel also referred conservative lawyer John Eastman and “certain other Trump associates" to the Justice Department. Eastman has been cited as the legal architect for Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election.”

They referred four Republican Congressmen who did not respond to the committee subpoenas to the House Ethics committee. According to CBS News,  “Those four members are House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Rep. Andy Biggs, Rep. Jim Jordan and Rep. Scott Perry, all close allies of Trump.”

Once the final report was issued, it comprised over 800 pages plus several appendices. As always happens, the devil is in the details. Concerns about the security of the Capitol, faulty interagency communications about right-wing militias, the lack of faith in some secret service testimony, the staff with poor memories, or those who took the fifth in their depositions were all mentioned as issues to be further investigated. All the depositions are being shared with the Department of Justice. Many expect the new Special Counsel, Jack Smith, to take an intense look at the information as he receives it. Many have voiced concerns about MAGA-supplied attorneys to White House staff testifying. Cassidy Hutchinson reported being told to have a faulty memory for activities in the Oval Office that she overheard or took part in. She testified they promised her a good job if she testified properly. Eventually, she got another attorney, one not supplied by the former White House, and corrected some of her earlier remarks. I wonder how many of the former White House employees had the same situation. It also appears that few were as brave as Ms. Hutchinson.

Issues relating to the classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and about the calls to the Georgia election officials remain. The house committee released some of the former Presidents’ tax returns this week. The records received by the House Finance Committee seemed to indicate that very little in taxes were paid by the former president or his wife, even though they had earnings; several offset losses were carried across many years that made it difficult to clarify the legality of the losses. The tax returns provided by the IRS included no supporting documentation for deductions claimed to the committee. Some said that there were over 400 allied businesses associated with the finances in the returns. Surprisingly, the committee also learned that the IRS did not audit the presidents’ returns annually as required by law. The returns of Presidents Biden and Obama were duly audited by the IRS while they were in office. Did this man corrupt every governmental department? I assume someday we will learn the truth. There must be some reason he lied about his taxes for years and spent thousands in legal fees trying to keep even these few years from being released. The saga continues.

A few words about the extraordinary weather the US has experienced this week. It is related to global climate change. As I understand it, the arctic is warming and air currents change. When that happens, things such as the polar vortex (usually content to stay far north) that drove these extreme temperatures dropped lower to the continental states and blasted heavy snows and severe frigid temperatures across much of the country. Records for snowfall, high winds, and low temperatures were set across the country. Maybe now people might believe that global climate change is a thing and modify behaviors. We don’t have much time left to fix this, folks!

Just a word – COVID hasn’t left and cases are rising – stay safe out there!

Happy New Year!

“Til next week-Peace!