Rants by Mac: Who’s in charge?

Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, is finding out how difficult it is to legislate with the majority.

For the minority party in the House of Representatives, it is easy to say “No” to everything, blame the opposition party for anything that does get done, and then take credit when government money flows into their districts. It happens in both parties.

But now, McCarthy, who promised much to get the Speaker job (he might be wondering why he wanted it now), holds the majority in the House and he has discovered that he actually has to get something done in that position. So, while he fights with his own party to hold onto his job, without a broad funding agreement in Congress, a government shutdown seems imminent at month-end.

No one seemed to see this coming. Really? We have shut down the government 14 times since 1981, and we have gotten remarkably close scores of other times. Come on, folks – this happens all the time and yet, we all act surprised. And when we get here, both parties dig in, pledge not to negotiate, and seem to care more about winning than the pain they cause the American people. On the world stage, America looks like it can’t manage its own business. I guess it can’t.

The longest shutdown, in 2018-2019, lasted 35 days. Most last a day or two. Once the shutdown takes effect, our so-called leaders concede to negotiate, something they seldom seem inclined to do BEFORE the crisis becomes a crisis.

So, where are we with the 2023 shutdown? We are close to shutting down the government. Without agreement in Congress, on Saturday many services we count on will go away. So, what did House members do over the weekend?

On Thursday, lawmakers were told they could go home for the week, and then return on Tuesday or Wednesday to finish all this up before month-end. If you had an important project due at your job, and no indication you could complete it, would your employer tell you, “why not take a long weekend and we’ll do our best next week?”

In fact, Congress is “in session” an average of 146.7 days per year. Maybe if they were there more than 2.8 days a week, they could be more pro-active: maybe not.

What is the impact when we shut down the government?

·        Some government entities are exempt — for example Social Security payments and prosecutions of Donald Trump and Hunter Biden will continue.

·        Military personnel will be required to continue operations but will not be paid. What? Yes, you read that correctly.

·        The president and members of Congress will continue to get paid. That’s right, no pay for military personnel but your congressperson will feel no pain. And their staffs will keep working and getting paid if their bosses decide that those jobs are essential. Congresspeople determine the essentialness of their staffs.

·        Most federal agencies, like national parks, will close, and government services like clinical trials, firearm permits and passports will experience delays.

·        Employees deemed non-essential will be furloughed; however, under a 2019 law, those workers will receive backpay once the shutdown is resolved. So, non-essential employees get time off with pay later – that sounds like government in action, or government inaction.

·        Essential employees, such as air traffic controllers and federal law enforcement must report to work, without pay (what could go wrong there?).

·        Federal contractors and tourist services around national parks will experience disruptions and probably downturns. The travel sector could lose $140 million daily in a shutdown, according to the U.S. Travel Industry Association.

·        Your retirement account may take a hit. Economists predict that a shutdown will reduce economic growth by 0.2% each week. My account dropped 2-3 percent last week, and we are not shut down yet. Congress needs to understand that these things impact real people, real constituents, and their real dollars.

Last week, after Kevin McCarthy was rebuffed by a small collection of his own party again, effectively rejecting any solution, he walked off the House floor, and angrily told reporters, “Look, the one thing you’re going to learn about me: I like a challenge — I don’t like this big a challenge — but we’re just gonna keep doing it until we can make it.”

Wow, I can’t add to that. I guess we’ll see this week when the House gets back from their long weekend. McCarthy is learning how difficult it is to be the majority party. When you are the person or party in control, people notice when you are out of control.

Curt MacRae, lives in Coldwater, MI / publishes rants on rant-able topics.at this site.

All published posts are tweeted (@curtmacrae) — comments to rantsbymac@gmail.com