Timothy Birdnow

President Trump jumped the shark today, signing the omnibus bill giving the Democrats everything they wanted and more, and largely shafting the base.

The bill funds Planned Parenthood. It funds NPR and PBS, It funds all manner of dark and evil things - to the tune of 1.3 TTrillion dollars!

According to Freedom Works:

"The process for the omnibus that Congress will consider this week has not been open or transparent, and it's highly unlikely that any amendments will be allowed. Members will be given a bill tonight and likely have less than 36 hours to read and absorb it before they vote on it Thursday."

End excerpt.

In fact the bill was over two thousand pages, and no doubt members of Congress just voted the way they were told by leadership.
Pee Wee Ryan, the Squeeker of the House, acted as if it doesn't matter, because they will have to do it all again in six months. Yes, this is only a half year budget! Why does Ryan think they will be able to do better just weeks before the elections:

Why does Trump? This may well cost the GOP the House, and it could lead to Trump's impeachment. It certainly isn't going to give Trump any help politically, either now or when he is up for repelection. For a man who made his reputation as a great deal-maker he sure got rolled here.

Now, Trump did say he signed it for the military, and he may be worried about going to war, but he would still get his military funding if he had just been patient. The fact is, Trump has now broken almost every one of his promises by signing this. He's become part of the swamp.

And he fell into this trap so foolishly. I fear he may not be able to get out of this.

Robert Romano explains how this is such a failure in so many ways. Read it below:


By Robert Romano

A year late, Congress has finally approved the President’s supplemental request to begin construction of the southern border wall at $1.6 billion.

The supplemental was requested in March 2017. It was supposed to be included in the May 2017 omnibus spending bill affecting spending levels for Oct. 1, 2016 through Sept. 30, 2017.

This would have paved the way for the full funding for the wall being included this year.

Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. Because Congress did not get started with the supplemental last year, the odds they were going to get to full funding for the wall for fiscal year 2018, that is, spending levels for Oct. 1, 2017 through Sept. 30, 2018, dropped markedly.

Now those who were warning of precisely this outcome have been vindicated.

This was a broken promise from the get-go. After the election, House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell were promising $12 billion to $15 billion for the wall.

On Jan. 27, 2017, Ryan told the American people that, "This is something, [the wall], we want to get on right away. And so we do believe this is urgent. We believe this is one of the most important promises the President made running for office. It's a promise he's going to keep and it's a promise we're going to help him keep."

Ryan added, "We anticipate a supplemental coming from the administration on defense and the border” and "I’m hoping in the first quarter we can get this done. But again, it’s getting [Mick Mulvaney confirmed as Office of Management and Budget Director and] up and running so they can send us the supplemental.”

Mulvaney was confirmed on Feb. 16 and the supplemental request was proposed on March 14 by Mulvaney and then formally put in on March 16 by President Trump to Speaker Ryan. So far, so good.

Unfortunately for the President and his supporters, by March 30, Ryan had kicked the can down the road, telling CBS News, "The big chunk of money for the wall really is… next fiscal year’s appropriations because they literally can’t start construction even this quickly.” So, the wall, which Ryan had described as "urgent” was now being put off at least a year.

But then that was wrong, too. Instead, the spending bill Congress approved this week only includes the supplemental that was supposed to pass last year. The down payment includes bollard fencing and some levees and some secondary fencing, plus replacing some existing fencing. No concrete walls like the prototypes the President was surveying earlier this month.

Meaning, not only is the wall part of the wall still not fully funded, it’s not even been begun. To be fair, the supplemental request last year was always going to be that fencing. It was thought that the wall portion would be passed this year. That was Congress’ failure.

It was not for a lack of opportunities. Both the supplemental and the fully funded wall could have been included in the September 2017 continuing resolution. Didn’t happen.

Or they have been included in the December 2017 continuing resolution. Didn’t happen.

See a pattern? Because Congress waited a year to approve the President’s initial down payment on the, wall, the American people are still waiting for the "big chunk of money for the wall” Ryan promised a year ago.

Now, there are one, maybe two vehicles left to get the wall funded before the 2018 midterm Congressional elections. The fiscal year ends Sept. 30. So the full funding for the wall could be done there. But it doesn’t seem likely.

Where is the urgency Ryan spoke of? Are Republicans trying to lose the midterms?

Most likely, Congress will just pass a continuing resolution that would put funding into the lame duck period after the election but prior to the swearing in of the next Congress. Assuming Republicans lose the midterms, what will the Democrats’ incentive be to allow funding for the wall then?

Meaning it’s do or die in September, which literally could be President Trump’s last chance to get the wall done. Why? Because come Jan. 2019, he might not be dealing with a Speaker Ryan, but instead, a House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and perhaps even a Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, both of whom are emphatically opposed to any southern border wall.

Optimists might say that Republicans could still get it all done in 2019, because they might not lose either house of Congress this year. Maybe. Unfortunately, the omnibus spending bill also failed to defund sanctuary cities. It did not expand funding for interior enforcement. It passed an expansion of the FBI’s criminal background database but did nothing to advance reciprocity and concealed carry. And it spends so much money it is possible we’ll see a $1 trillion budget deficit this year.

In addressing illegal immigration, protecting gun rights and the $20 trillion national debt, issues Republican voters deeply care about, the record in this Congress is less than stellar. This could make it difficult for Republicans to turn out their voters for the 2018 midterms, which are already tough enough for incumbent parties.

Now, Republicans are less likely to keep the House and Senate in November, making it far less likely that the wall will be ever fully funded. The GOP should be running scared right now. It’s their majorities that are stake.

What does all this mean? Headed into 2020, Trump could be coming back to voters empty-handed on his signature campaign promise of the southern border wall. There is still time to get it done by September, but in reality, the President has a rapidly diminishing window of opportunity to get the wall built. It may be now or never.

Robert Romano is the Vice President of Public Policy at Americans for Limited Government.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 12:42 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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