MY STANCE ON ANOTHER CONTINUING RESOLUTION - Rep. Ralph Norman, R-5 South Carolina

Quick update this Tuesday morning from Washington. As many of you know, Congress is once again up against a deadline to pass legislation funding the federal government’s discretionary spending.

I know I sound like a broken record, but it is NOT MY JOB to keep the federal government open and running at all costs, no matter what, regardless of how much debt we must take on. I vehemently disagree with that. We’re approaching $34 trillion in national debt, yet most of the media is oblivious to this crisis, and liberals act like we’re insane and trying to starve children by proposing so much as one dollar be cut from the federal budget.

I’m done with it! We’ve got another proposal this week for what’s known as a continuing resolution. I’m not getting into details here, but the bottom line is that this proposal would continue spending at pre-existing levels into January and February, with the idea it’ll buy more time for Congress to properly iron out these annual appropriations bills we should have completed months ago.

So let me be clear: I’m a HARD NO on this effort as it currently stands. This continuing resolution may end up passing today, but it will not be with my support unless changes are made. As I’ve said time and time again, I am NOT voting for any spending measure – whether it’s a continuing resolution or through the regular appropriations bills – that doesn’t at least take some steps to get our country back on solid footing. Show me a bill that even modestly reduces spending. Show me a bill that secures the border. Show me a bill that reigns in the weaponization of government. Heck, just show me a bill that does ANYTHING other than continue down the same broken path we’ve been on!

Some of you may be asking if this changes my position on the new House Speaker, Mike Johnson, who I like both personally and professionally. Friends, this is not the same situation as his predecessor, who had almost nine months to get these appropriations bills through the House. Mike Johnson hasn’t slow walked anything. Mike Johnson didn’t send us home for a six-week vacation in August, then try to jam through unacceptable legislation in September, right before the last spending deadline of Sept. 30th. I realize Speaker Johnson has an incredibly difficult job and deserves some runway and grace, but that does not mean I’ll be voting in lockstep with others to continue the status quo.

One final reminder: these bills are NOT for mandatory spending like Social Security or Medicare, which accounts for roughly two-thirds of all federal spending. Mandatory spending is automatic, and does not need to be renewed by Congress every year. Instead, what we’re talking about is what’s known as discretionary spending, which is spending that’s supposed to be debated and reauthorized each year.

This is exactly what I posted three days ago:

[Fox News Chad Pergram:] A) Note that for all intents and purposes, Johnson unveiled a two-month CR. This is precisely what prompted Republicans to evict former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from the Speaker’s suite.
Not exactly.
McCarthy had months and months to work the funding bills, but he dawdled until the crisis was upon him. That's what prompted his eviction.
Johnson is stuck cleaning up McCarthy's mess. He's trying to minimize the use of CRs by "laddering" the spending into separate "clean" short-term CRs based on budget due dates for departments because there is no time for the back-and-forth of reconciliation committees between the two chambers.
This looks like a stop-gap plan to get past McCarthy's bungled budgets, in order to get to a place where regular order can start.

And then following up:

But we all have to recognize that Schumer is going to use the Rules for Radicals #4: "Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules" against Speaker Johnson.
Schumer is going to reject each and every one of the department-specific budget bills while Jeffries keeps demanding omnibus bills from the minority, until the "government shutdown date" starts looming.
Then the LAAP-dog media like Pergram will dutifully report that Johnson is doing "precisely what prompted Republicans to evict" McCarthy, trying to foment dissent in the Republicans' slim majority. Then the rest of the media will get Capitol hallway interviews with people like Gaetz, Jordan, Donalds, Greene and Boebert pushing them to explain why this is different -- setting up their reporting of a "Republican hypocrisy narrative.
And all of this will have had nothing to do with what Johnson is actually trying to do.

-PJ

An old song goes...”and a handful of Senators don’t pass legislation”.

I applaud his position. But, let’s be realistic. It takes at least 218 Congressmen and 51 Senators in agreement to pass legislation. And, that’s meaningful only if the President will sign it.

This is why there hasn’t been an actual budget in decades. Getting that many ultra high ego individuals to agree on anything is worse than herding cats during a hurricane. That’s the reason for these ridiculous continuing resolutions & mega bills that continue to dodge the issue.

Sorry. I don’t have a solution to offer. I believe we’re screwed and only some catastrophic event is going to change anything.

The interest on the debt is heading north of one trillion per year. It’s far, far too late to rescue us from the debt overhang by any measure of spending reduction or increased taxation.

I don’t see how this doesn’t end in a hyperinflation reset. 34 trillion in national debt won’t be so significant when a loaf of bread costs half a trillion.

I’m endeavoring to convert my remaining dollars into tangible items or home improvements. Other than that, I like silver and Bitcoin - who knows maybe someday both will be worth something.

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