The morons in the US Congress just conducted the latest version of the Sky Is Falling budget crisis. It was predictable, boring, and completely avoidable.
Simple the Congress could just do their damn job for a change. Let me explain.
First, the US Congress is the laziest, well paid public institution in the entire country. A US Congressman will work for 112 days during which the Congress is in session. Think about that — a full time job in which you work 112 days.
Conversely, they will be “out of session” for the remaining 253 days.
This is not a hard job. It pays grandly and you get a lot of great perks.
Getting there, dear reader, walk with me.
One of the biggest jobs of the Congress is creating, approving, publishing, and overseeing the expenditure of funds to run the government. The US Constitution is clear that every spending bill must originate in the House of Representatives. This is why the Speaker of the House position is so bloody important.
The Federal government operates on a 1 October fiscal year and the budget process is supposed to be completed by 30 June of each year, three months before the end of the current fiscal year. There is actually a process, adopted in 1974 (Congressional Budget Act of 1974), as follows:
1. In January of each year, the President of the United States outlines his spending priorities and ideas for new programs in his State of the Union speech to a joint session of Congress called specificially to hear his remarks.
Biden did not give his State of the Union speech until 7 March 2024 which set the process off to a lousy start.
2. By the first week in February, the President submits his complete budget proposal to the US Congress. Joe Biden never submitted his budget proposals in a timely manner, thereby creating a crutch for the Congress not to do their job.
Biden did not submit his budget 2025 proposal until 31 March 2024 further retarding the process.
3. The US Congress (the House) then sends the relevant parts of the President’s budget to the appropriate committees and subcommittees for their analysis and recommendations.
When the committee and subcommittee work is finished, the House budget response is then compiled and submitted to the entire body in the form of a proposed Budget Resolution. Thereafter, debate on the budget commences and amendments are made on the floor of the House.
The Republicans were engaged in various forms of nonsense dethroning their Speaker of the House and then electing a weak Speaker. They were totally distracted and it was their own fault.
4. By 15 April, the House is supposed to have completed its work and passes a Budget Resolution subject to an affirmative vote of the majority of the House.
5. As soon as the Budget Resolution is completed, the House Appropriations Committee begins work on twelve appropriations bills — the actual authority necessary to spend money.
This work is actually done by the pertinent committees and subcommittees of the House. Remember these clowns have seen this budget before, so this isn’t heavy lifting.
6. The Appropriations Acts are as follows:
Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration
Commerce, Justice, Science (NASA is here)
Defense (CIA and intelligence community Black Budget is here)
Energy, Water Development (Corps of Engineers domestic work is here)
Financial Services, General Government (Executive office of the President is here)
Homeland Security
Interior, Environment
Labor, Health and Human Services, Education
Legislative Branch
Military Construction, Veterans Affairs
State, Foreign Operations (Dept of State, USAID)
Transportation, Housing and Urban Development
7. These appropriations bills or “Acts” are voted on by the House and, upon approval, sent to the Senate for their approval.
8. When multiple appropriations bills are combined, that is called an Omnibus Bill.
9. When the House and Senate do not agree, they conduct negotiations to “reconcile” their differences and arrive at a compromise that is then again approved by the House and Senate.
10. The finalized Appropriations Acts are submitted to the POTUS for his approval.
What happens, dear reader, is something called a Continuing Resolution wherein the lazy, snivelling Congress proposes to the President that the country continue to run at the most recent budget levels until the Congress can extricate its head from its ass and actually do its work and create a Budget Resolution and the Appropriations Acts.
That however, is not actually how cleanly it works, dear reader.
In reality, when it comes time to consider a Continuing Resolution, the Dems and the Reps hang all kinds of Christmas ornaments on the Continuing Resolution transforming it from a simple budget bill to something altogether different replete with pork, favorite causes, and, sometimes, essential legislation such as disaster relief.
If you are freezing your ass off in Western North Carolina, spring will come before the US Congress does their duty to you. Remember this forever.
This last debacle proposed a 1,547 page bill (longer than War and Peace for comparison) to be voted upon within 72 hours.
It was supposedly “bi-partisan” meaning Schumer/McConnell and Johnson/Jeffries had agreed on it. In reality, it was all done by lobbyists, staffers, the Deep State, and various moneyed denizens of the dark.
How long would it take you to read and understand 1,547 pages of legislative crap? They’re not even pretending this is actually bi-partisan. It was a complete backroom deal intended never to see the light of day and fair scrutiny — even by the Congress itself.
In the most recent debacle, the proposed Continuing Resolution included a pay raise for Congress, an improved Congressional health care program, and a provision that absolved Congressional office holders from responding to lawful requests for records as part of investigations.
Congress should be ashamed of itself for its blatant self-dealing and conflict of interest. Shame on all you bloodsuckers.
We can ask and then demand that the bloody Congress do their bloody job on time and with a degree of professionalism that is appropriate to the importance of the task at hand. Follow the process as outlined in the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, you slobs.
We should dock the pay of every member of the US Congress twenty-five percent whenever the twelve Appropriations Acts are not completed and on the President’s desk by 30 June of each year. Why pay them at all if they don’t do their jobs?
We should elected serious people to represent us and make them commit to timely completion of their duties.
Ahhh, yes, football.
This entire charade was completely avoidable and there was never a chance that the government was going to shutdown. [I would have loved to see a couple of months of government shutdown to aid in identifying what government agencies were “non-essential” and therefore could be shut down permanently. But, that’s just me.]
The Congressional budgeting process is completely broken and hasn’t worked in decades. It is truly Congress’ fault on both sides of the aisle.
There is no penalty for the Congress not to do their job and there should be. They are lazy, self-indulgent, and corrupt and use taxpayer funds to feather their own nests whenever they can, particularly behind the curtain of thousands of pages of legislative clap trap.
Shame on all of them.
But, hey, what the Hell do I really know anyway? I’m just a Big Red Car. The University of Georgia Dawgs (have a bye today) win the National Championship and we have a third Georgia v Texas game. Hook ’em, Dawgs. Sic ’em, Horns.
Merry Christmas. God bless all of you and may 2025 be the best year in your life.
