The ‘shit-show’ shutdown appears likely

Evil GOP bastard House Speaker Paul Ryan’s plan to avert a government shutdown at midnight on Friday is to hold poor children covered under the CHIP program as hostages, and to attach the long-delayed CHIP program renewal to a short-term continuing resolution (CR) to entice enough votes to pass the short-term spending bill. Poor children are pawns to be used by Paul Ryan in shutdown politics.

This morning our Twitter-troll-in-chief appeared to blow up Ryan’s evil plan. Trump Upsets Republican Strategy to Avoid Shutdown:

President Trump blew up Republican strategies to keep the government open past Friday when on Thursday morning he said a long-term extension of the popular Children’s Health Insurance Program should not be part of a stopgap spending bill pending before the House.

With his tweet, Mr. Trump even inadvertently backed late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel in his fight with House Republicans over their use of CHIP as a lure to win Democratic votes despite the impasse on immigration. Mr. Kimmel responded by saying that Mr. Trump was “absolutely correct.”

Republican leaders had spent Wednesday pressuring Democrats to vote for the spending bill, arguing that opposing it would effectively block a six-year extension of the children’s health program, attached to the spending bill as a sweetener for lawmakers in both parties.

Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin said on Wednesday that it would be “unconscionable” for Democrats to oppose funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program with a “no” vote on the short-term spending bill.

No, what is unconscionable is to hold poor children hostage in order to pass the fourth CR spending bill since September, because this loser Paul Ryan can’t whip enough votes in his own GOP caucus to pass necessary spending bills.

Hours after Mr. Trump’s tweet, the White House tried to walk it back. A White House spokesman, Raj Shah, said that the president supports the House’s stopgap bill.

On Wednesday, the Trump administration released an official statement endorsing the stopgap measure, including the extension of funding for CHIP.

In other words, “Don’t pay attention to that man behind the curtain” because that Twitter troll doesn’t know what the hell he is talking about.  Michael Wolff was right!

The gang that couldn’t shoot straight are in full damage control and are preemptively playing the blame game for their own incompetent failures. Trump tweets create confusion on GOP plan to avert shutdown; Ryan tries to calm Republicans:

GOP lawmakers had tried to make sense of Trump’s early-morning tweets, which seemed to directly contradict the legislative strategy of congressional Republicans by calling for the separation of a long-term extension of the popular Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) from a short-term spending bill to keep the government open through mid-February.

While Republicans like Ryan suggested that the president was endorsing the GOP’s approach, others found the tweets inexplicable and unhelpful ahead of a possible election-year shutdown.

“We don’t have a reliable partner at the White House to negotiate with,” said Graham, entering the Capitol building on Thursday morning.

“This has turned into an s-show for no good reason, and the only way out of this thing is to grow up a little bit — and I think that’s going to happen,” he said.

The back-and-forth was reminiscent of the chaos that erupted last week after Trump tweeted criticism of an intelligence bill that his administration had endorsed the day before.

Captain Chaos!

Republicans’ goal is to force Democrats into the uncomfortable position of choosing between funding CHIP and their effort to win legal protections for hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants known as “dreamers.”

“Bwahahaha!” Evil GOP bastards.

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) warned Thursday morning that “it doesn’t look good” for the version of the stopgap set for a House vote and complained about the confusion resulting from Trump’s tweets.

“We barely know who to negotiate with. … They point at each other and nothing gets done,” he said.

* * *

The GOP was prepared to target Democrats for opposing the short-term spending with the six-year extension of the children’s health program. The attack would involve letters from governors and statistics from individual states, according to a senior aide.

“It’s just confusing. I don’t know what he means. I don’t know why he’s doing that,” this person said about Trump’s tweets.

In several tweets before 9 a.m., Trump blamed Democrats for a possible shutdown and argued CHIP should be “part of a long-term solution, not a 30 Day, or short-term, extension!” Later in the morning, he again raised the specter of a shutdown.

“If the country shuts down, which could very well be … the worst thing is what happens to our military,” Trump told reporters during a visit to the Pentagon.

If the government closes and its employees are furloughed, it will be the first time ever under unified party control of the Congress and the White House. The military would not cease to operate, but troops would not be paid unless Congress specifically provided for it.

Early Thursday, some Republicans signaled that their patience with the president was wearing thin.

Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) said that the level of support in the House for the short-term bill is unclear and that extending CHIP would help avoid a shutdown.

“A lot of House Republicans want a six-year extension. It’s important to us,” he said. “That’s just another one of those inexplicable tweets that’s not very helpful.”

Another Republican, Rep. Mark Sanford of South Carolina, said he was uncertain how he would vote on the bill.

“It seems to be a work in progress. No one has completely pinned down what’s coming next,” he said.

Told of Trump’s tweets, Sanford said: “It’s fluid, topsy-turvy, whichever you prefer.”

Even if the House manages to pass the bill, the Senate would still need to give its approval in order to avert a shutdown early Saturday morning, and Democrats will be needed to overcome an expected filibuster. Its fate in the Senate is uncertain.

Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Angus King (I-Maine), all of whom voted for the last short-term spending bill, said they would oppose the current GOP proposal. Republican Sen. Mike Rounds (S.D.) joined Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) in saying he would vote no.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who blamed Democrats on Thursday for working to “manufacture a crisis” —no, that was Donald J. Trump — said colleagues should plan to work through the weekend if circumstances do not change. He urged Republicans to hold firm in their support for the bill.

“Joining Democrats to shut down the government plays right into the Democrats’ hand. We are strongest when we stick together – that will produce the best spending deal and the best DACA deal – one that has a chance of being enacted into law,” he wrote in a note to Republicans.

Evil GOP bastard Mitch McConnell is making contingency plans for the growing possibility of a government shutdown. McConnell plans for shutdown:

The Senate majority leader intends to keep the chamber in session through the weekend and stage a series of votes designed to put Democrats from conservative states on defense, according to two Republican sources familiar with his plans and an email sent by McConnell on Thursday and obtained by POLITICO.

The goal would be to place the blame for a shutdown squarely on 10 Democratic senators up for reelection this fall in states won by Donald Trump in 2016, and make them the face of a government closure.

The strategy is risky for Republicans, considering that they control the White House and Congress. Should funding lapse at midnight Friday, McConnell would keep the Senate in session and try to force Democrats to repeatedly vote against funding for children’s health care money and government spending.

A total asshole.

“We should all plan to stay through this weekend if Senate Democrats follow through and are willing to shut down the government and the Children’s Health Insurance Program because they have yet to conclude a deal on DACA. This is an irresponsible position to take as everything from pay for our military to processing social security checks will be affected. I hope not a single Republican is inclined to join them,” McConnell said in the email.

Liberal Democrats scoffed at the Republican strategy to blame their more moderate colleagues.

“Only In Washington when the Republicans control the House of Representatives, the United States Senate and the White House would they seek to blame Democrats,” said Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.). “You should be concerned less about the politics and more about getting the job done.”

Only West Virginia Democrat [squish] Joe Manchin has said he will support the House’s short-term funding bill. The other Trump-state Democrats are not saying how they would vote. They’re under pressure from liberal activists demanding that they vote against any bill that does not include protections for hundreds of thousands of young immigrants facing potential deportation.

* * *

A national Republican strategist said the GOP’s campaign arm is likely to use Democrats’ words opposing the 2013 shutdown against them. The aim will be to damage incumbent Democrats caught between voters in conservative states and liberal activists pushing those senators to block the funding bill. Campaign officials are planning to hammer Democrats for voting against a bill with funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

“You will also see something similar to the messaging [Democrats] used in 2013 on funding for troops, seniors and again children,” the strategist said.

A historical note, the GOP did not suffer any consequences in the 2014 midterm election for their government shutdown. So not a serious threat.

Senate Democrats are laying their own plans to blame Trump and GOP leaders for a potential impasse, including an aggressive media campaign slamming Republicans.

“Senate Republicans have a herculean task ahead of them to blame anyone but the president for this shutdown,” said Matt House, a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. “The American people will know exactly where to place the blame for the first-ever shutdown under total Republican control in Washington.”

Let’s use Sen. Lindsey Graham’s characterization of what is happening in Congress and just call this the “shit-show” shutdown, brought to you by the racist Twitter-troll-in-chief and the equally incompetent gang that couldn’t shoot straight in the GOP leadership.