The House Reaches A Budget Agreement
New Speaker Johnson deserves credit for the House passage of his double tiered continuing resolution. Everyone can go home for Thanksgiving dinner, and we will be spared the MSM stories of starving young children because of the mean Republicans.
Why did it happen?
Republicans well know that the fiasco of removing Speaker McCarthy cannot be repeated. They embarrassed the party and themselves. They have to be in line now and not shut the government down.
The Democrats had no alternative. What were they going to do? They couldn’t shut down the government because they don’t like a two-pronged deadline.
Thus, Speaker Johnson rides both to an agreement for a few months.
Congress may well need a break if you heard or read about these three events yesterday.
Rep. Tim Burchett (Tenn.), one of eight GOP members who voted to strip Kevin McCarthy of the Speakership last month, claimed McCarthy elbowed him in the back — “a clean shot to the kidneys” — in a Capitol hallway.
“I guess our elbows hit as I walked by,” McCarthy later told reporters. “If I would hit somebody, they would know I hit them.”
Talking to CNN later Tuesday, Burchett accused McCarthy of being “a bully with $17 million in security.”
Ever ready, McCarthy hater Rep. Matt Gaetz filed a formal ethics complaint over the incident.
Also, on the House side we had a Democrat Representative (Moskowitz) attack Republican Congressman Comer (who is leading the Biden family investigation) of doing the same actions as the President — loaning money to his brother.
Rep. Comer stopped the clock of the hearing to go after Rep. Moskowitz to “correct the record” in a clear, direct format that you usually don’t see on the House floor.
Then on the Senate side:
At a hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma challenged International Brotherhood of Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien to a fight.
The senator read a past tweet from O’Brien in which the union leader appeared to challenge Mullin, writing, “You know where to find me. You want to run your mouth, we can be two consenting adults, we can finish it here,” Mullin challenged. O’Brien accepted Mullin’s challenge, with Mullin saying, “Stand your butt up then.”
It took committee chairperson, Senator Bernie Sanders to call order on the committee.
While on Congress:
As reported yesterday, eight Republicans joined a united Democratic party to not impeach Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas. He of the “border is closed” remarks.
Well, not long after the vote that saved him comes this report.
Illegal immigration in October was the second-worst month on record, with Homeland Security recording 309,221 encounters with unauthorized migrants.
The Border Patrol also detected 12 terrorism suspects at the southern border and one caught trying to sneak in across the northern border in October.
Fentanyl seizures rose, with Border Patrol agents recording massive amounts flowing between the ports of entry.
Yup, the border is closed, and we voted to allow him to continue in his role.
The Story Out Of Iowa
With the nation’s first official read of the candidates now closing in, in fact Iowa is two months from today, the pieces are falling into place.
Ron Desantis seems to have bet it all on Iowa and is pushing hard now. He is visiting all 99 counties in the state and throwing his resources and funds behind it.
The endorsement he won from the state’s popular governor helps him.
Meanwhile, Gov. Nikki Haley, sensing an opening to run ahead of DeSantis, will spend $10 million on campaign ads across Iowa and New Hampshire beginning in the first week of December. She has a three state strategy, Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. She does seem to have some momentum.
Looming over it all, of course, is former President Trump.
Iowa and then New Hampshire are shaping up as vital – once again – this Presidential Year.
One more positive story emerging for Haley was this one and involved the respected JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon. The story:
He has been talking privately with GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley about the global economy, and believes she has the potential to bring the country together, a top banking source said.
Why it matters: Dimon’s informal phone conversations are a vivid sign of the growing establishment enthusiasm for Haley, the former UN ambassador and South Carolina governor. Haley’s strong performance in debates has led many establishment figures to speculate that if only she could get past former President Trump for the nomination, she’d give President Biden a run for his money. Dimon admires Haley’s grasp of the economy, and her recognition of the role that business and government can play in driving growth by working together, the source said.
One thing on the general election and all the polls you are seeing about Trump versus Biden. You better understand they mean nothing. In the primary, no one is attacking the former President. If he gets the nomination the barriers will be down. The attacks from the left, the Democrats and Media will be relentless and endless. Already we hear the trial in Georgia will “likely” run through the 2024 election. Just think about that and all the other cases before then.
Here’s a story out of Politico today on a related thought:
Former Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Tim Scott (R., S.C.) had bet that there was a silent majority of Republican presidential primary voters who wanted a return to sunny, Reaganesque Republican politics, but they were proven wrong.
They better think outside the primary.
The President Meets With China
We expect some real news and agreements to come out of this meeting today. The administration has sent no less than four top members to China in preparation to plan and negotiate. We better get real results.
I expect China to promise to take some action on fentanyl. After 150,000 of our citizens have died the past two years from the drug and China has allowed it, we need more than a promise to do something. Let’s see.
I know the MSM will do all they can to hype anything like this that emerges. I ask, why was it allowed at all?
Which also is a question for the continued attacks from Iran proxies on our troops in the Middle East. We are up to 59 now.