“Somewhere Al Gore and Leonardo Di Caprio are parachuting out of a fuel guzzling private jet onto a carbon spewing yacht to celebrate – while Mulvaney and Trump seem to be paddling through the Washington swamp without a compass.”
Now that the “First 100 Days” hoopla is behind us, it’s time to look out for what’s in store for our nation in the next 100. While many Americans have been more concerned with their favorite team’s selections in the NFL draft this week than how their tax dollars will be spent in the future, Congress just released a 1,665-page spending bill to keep the wheels of government turning throughout the dog days of summer and into the fall.
Of course, by then football season will be upon us and those same folks will care more about their team making it to the championship than whether the money spent actually reflected their best interests. That’s just the way it goes. For those of us that do care, this GOP budget is a big deal. Forget what has been promised, this is what we’re getting.
With all this administration’s talk on the campaign trail revolving around a few core issues — draining the swamp, building the wall, repeal and replace, and lots and lots of winning — it’s becoming clear that the rubber isn’t meeting the road when it comes time for the government to actually do what they were elected to do.
With the recent release of the budget, one Breitbart headline reads, Who Needs Resistance When You’ve Got the GOP Writing the Budget? while another for The Washington Post is titled, Democrats Confident They Can Block Trump’s Agenda After Spending Bill Win. As far as I’m concerned, it’s never a good thing for America when these two publications agree.
Let’s take a trip down memory lane to the second week of November. Fresh off his own landslide reelection win over Trump Conservatives Paul Nehlen and Ryan Zimmerman, Speaker Ryan stood in front of a crowd of Republicans riding high on the election of Donald Trump.
“It’s time for the GOP to go big and go bold,” he said. The man grinned his politician’s grin and told the American people that the party was ready and willing to follow their President’s lead in order to “unify Republican government” and “get things done for the people of this country.” Did you believe him? I didn’t. Then again, I was a Nehlen guy.
It appears that while we voted Donald Trump into office to drain the swamp in Washington, we have all been complicit in empowering swamp things at the ballot box by voting the status quo or not showing up to vote in smaller elections at all. If you’re a Trump supporter, looking down the barrel of a budget that gives the DNC win after win is what it feels like to fight with one arm tied behind your back. Despite controlling the House, Senate, and Presidency, Republicans have come up with a 1.07 trillion-dollar spending spree devoid of any quantifiable MAGA that I can see. Let’s break it down.
Sanctuary Cities
What Trump wanted:
Withhold federal funding to any American cities or counties refusing to enforce federal law on immigration. You can’t say #45 didn’t try. Back in March, Trump’s Department of Homeland Security released its first report detailing sanctuary cities who release illegal immigrants back out on American streets with no consequences.
What America got:
There is nothing in the spending bill indicating that a single cent will be withheld from any one of these sanctuary cities based on the proposed budget. The GOP and DNC we have chosen to represent us remain content to allow the sheltering of illegal immigrants going forward. Dems 1, Pubs 0.
The Wall
What Trump Wanted:
To be fair, President Trump has been very clear that it was the Mexican government that should be paying for the wall, but getting them to pay will not be as easy as he made it seem. Realistically, I likened what I thought would happen to the way auto insurance companies dole out money to their own customers on the front end and then seek reimbursement from the at-fault driver’s insurance company on the back end. I thought we’d foot the down payment on the wall and then make adjustments to our trade policies with Mexico in one way or another to offset the cost.
What America got:
The proposed budget will divvy up 1.5 billion of the 1.07 trillion-dollar pot to border security in the form of enhanced technology and improvements to infrastructure already in place at the porous border. That’s great and all, but that four-letter word that starts with a “W” and ends with an “L” is nowhere to be found and is not spoken of in any of the 1,500+ pages of the budget proposal like Voldemort in Harry Potter. Dems 2, Pubs 0.
Planned Parenthood
What Trump Wanted:
Many say Trump really doesn’t actually care about this issue, but that he knew which way the wind was blowing and took the side needed to win the nomination. Here’s the rub. It doesn’t even matter. Back in 2015, 28 Republicans working with Heritage Action threatened to shut down the government over Planned Parenthood spending.
All we ever hear from Republicans is how cruel, evil, and profane “killing babies” is. Surely defunding Planned Parenthood, or at least giving it a severe handcuffing, would be in store on the heels of the GOP assuming control of all three government branches and Kermit Gosnell’s sentencing to life in prison capturing the hearts of the public.
What America got:
Nope. Planned Parenthood is breaking out the champagne tonight as no cuts will be made. DNC co-chair Tom Perez recently announced that the party should essentially exile all Pro-Life Donkeys from its tent and I thought Republicans everywhere owed him a beer for further fracturing support for the already ragged party.
But what did they do instead? Well, they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory – a time honored Republican tradition. It now appears that Perez’s desperate and unhinged attack on his own party is water under the bridge now that Planned Parenthood no longer has its back against the wall.
Back in 2015, everyone’s favorite Rhino, Mitch McConnell, expounded on why the GOP should play nice over Planned Parenthood. If you’re a one issue voter, I hope you haven’t supported ol’ Mitch and Co. in the time since. These Rhinos don’t care about dead babies. The writing was on the wall two years ago. Dems 3, Pubs 0.
The EPA
What Trump Wanted:
Remember all the outrage when Trump scratched Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency agenda from his own list of top priorities on the whitehouse.gov website? How about his executive order to cut the EPA by a third back in March? At the time, Trump’s Director of Management and Budget, Mick Mulvaney, had this to say:
“You can’t drain the swamp and leave all the people in it. So, I guess the first place that comes to mind will be the Environmental Protection Agency.” Should be an easy win for the Trump Administration, right?
What America got:
Under the Republican proposed budget, the EPA will lose 1% of their funding instead of the 2.6 billion-dollar cut Trump proposed. Somewhere Al Gore and Leonardo Di Caprio are parachuting out of a fuel guzzling private jet onto a carbon spewing yacht to celebrate – while Mulvaney and Trump seem to be paddling through the Washington swamp without a compass. Dems 4, Pubs 0.
Cuba, Marijuana, Deportation Forces
That’s it for the ones I really cared about. Despite Trump’s criticism on Obama’s sweetheart deal with Cuba where trade and travel restrictions were lifted, nothing will be changed by this budget. It still would be nice to see Joanne Chesimard extradited for killing a police officer but I’m not holding my breath.
The bill declaws the Justice Department by preventing them from being able to crackdown on the medical marijuana industry in the states where it has been legalized and I’m perfectly fine with that. If there’s one thing I disagree with Sessions on, it’s weed. For those excited about the deportation task force Trump promised to deploy, it’s not happening. You’ll have to settle for ICE.
So, that’s it folks. We’re over 100 days into the Trump Presidency and the first budget is a shutout win for the Democrats. I feel like I just watched Mini-Me from Austin Powers dunk on Shaq. Is Trump draining the swamp or drowning in it?
