A well-known senator appeared on TV recently to discuss the omnibus bill to fund the federal government, and delivered the following remarks: “Republicans are emasculated. They have no power, and they are unwilling to gain that power back. The Republicans do not have the intestinal fortitude. They always collapse, and they fear shutting government down — so no policy objectives ever get added.”
Now the question is: which liberal Senator pointed out that the GOP has completely collapsed as a party since the 2020 election?
The answer: Rand Paul.
A GOP senator was willing to state publicly — on Fox News no less! — that his own party has become a joke.
Fox News host Laura Ingraham even took to Twitter to open fire on McConnell’s chief budget negotiator Richard Shelby.
Rep. Chip Roy took to the House floor to denounce Mitch McConnell and Richard Shelby by name — even pointing out that the retiring Shelby was getting $656 million in earmarks for himself in the omnibus bill.
That’s an obscene retirement gift. Richard Shelby said a tearful goodbye to the Senate, and so the Senate wiped his tears with America’s checkbook.
"I'm looking at Mitch McConnell when I say this:
"DO YOUR JOB, @LeaderMcConnell! Do your job and follow the wishes of the American people who gave a majority to Republicans in the House of Representatives"
Chip Roy was not alone in his condemnation of GOP Senate leadership. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Byron Donalds, Lauren Boebert, and Mike Lee all took to TV (or social media) to denounce the omnibus bill. The conservative pundit class also went ballistic: Lou Dobbs, Mark Levin, and many more were throwing lead at Mitch McConnell last week. Needless to say, this kind of inter-party fighting is quite rare — and a clear sign of the GOP’s ideological crack-up.
If GOP House members have to go public with their disapproval of GOP Senate members, then you know that private discussions did not go well. In other words, McConnell and his gang are going to pass the omnibus anyway — and only the American public’s outrage can stop them.
As for Richard Shelby, he made sure to note that McCarthy was running for House Speaker — which seemed to be a nod to the idea that McCarthy was merely pretending to dislike the omnibus bill.
The civil war between the GOP House and GOP Senate over the omnibus bill follows — by a few days! — the GOP’s not-so-secret attempt to negotiate a mass amnesty bill, which followed the capitulation of the GOP on the gay marriage bill, which followed the capitulation of the GOP on endless aid for Ukraine, which followed the capitulation of the GOP on restricting gun rights a few months ago.
In truth, the term “capitulation” is too kind a word for what the GOP actually did in most of these cases. That word assumes that some sort of fight took place when, in fact, “enthusiastic embrace” might be the more accurate phrase. The GOP has simply abandoned every one of its core principles in the last two years — the entire party platform! — and done so in such a flagrant fashion that even a transparent charlatan like Kevin McCarthy is concerned.
And he should be — most of our Republican senators resemble the weepy buffoon John Boehner at Nancy Pelosi’s portrait unveiling this week.
