It's Dead
The continuing resolution died. Good.
As I said on radio yesterday, I understand Mike Johnson's difficult position. He has a half-dozen Republicans who will not vote for any spending deal ever, and he has a three-seat majority. So he has to work with Democrats, and Democrats get to shape the package.
But it needed to die. It was too much.
Donald Trump wants a clean CR and an increase in the debt ceiling. I suspect the GOP will fight for that. If not, shut down the government. The media spent a year calling you guys Hitler and Hitler’s enablers. Who cares what they say now? There are two years before the next election. It won’t matter.
Meanwhile, while everyone was distracted by the House, the Senate just spent $200 billion in a terrible social security package in a bill the left and right both think is a terrible piece of legislation. But Elon and Vivek were silent.
Fight on all fronts.
On Another Matter
I’m getting ready to do my Christmas Eve show. I was dwelling on how the angels appeared to the shepherds. For the first time, it struck me in a way it had not.
Go back to the beginning. In the garden, at the fall, God announces the gospel for the first time. In Genesis 3:15, he declares to the serpent that Eve will have a son who will crush the serpent’s head, even as the serpent bruises the son’s heel.
When Eve gives birth, it is to a son that Adam names Cain, which is derived from “possession.” Cain was going to possess Eden again. He was going to make it whole. Abel’s name is often misunderstood but essentially means “meaningless.” In other words, Abel was the meaningless, expendable son. Cain was the one who’d retake the garden and crush the serpent’s head. Instead, he crushes Abel’s head.
Cain, being the favored child, got to work the land he would possess. Abel had to tend to the animals because he was worthless. Fast forward thousands and thousands of years, and who does God first declare His return to? The shepherds tending their flocks — the Abels, the meaningless men whose testimony was not even allowed in court.
Christ reverberates through history, from the Garden to now. And he finds meaning and purpose in those who may find no meaning in their lives. He restores souls. Christmas is coming. Get ready.
I’m glad it’s dead. I called my congressman. Why can’t they learn that we are not a credit card with no limits? When you are on a budget you go to the store to buy the necessities. And if Obamacare is so wonderful why isn’t absolutely every federal employee on it already.
But the angel said to them “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people, “ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you, he is Christ the Lord.”
Merry Christmas everyone.
I may be mistaken.
I believe the social security bill provides benifits to individuals not covered by Social Security because they were covered by state and local retirement plans. These individuals earned beneifts from these state and local plans by contributing to them or earning credit for years in service.
These individuals did not pay a penny into the social security system during the time they were covered by these state and local retirment plans. So now we are going to spend $200 billion to give them coverage when everyone else currently earning social security benefits had social security taxes withheld from their paychecks?
Social security will exhaust the accrual account built up after the early 1980 social security refrom legislation (rasied tax rates and extend age limits). This will occur in about 10 years. When this occurs, everyone will receive a 20% reduction in their social security benefit check. Politically this will never happen.
The Republicans, lead by Trump, must make this abundantly clear and that we need a solution.
The only reason I can imagine for passing this bill is simple. Senators, serving 6 year terms, believes that giving state teacher unions and city and county first responders access to social security benefits will earn them a 5% bump in voters, enough to preserve their reelection.
I am mystified by this nations stumbling into fiscal disaster. Trump needs to recognize this train barreling towards his final year in office. JD Vance has to also see this coming. If he gets the next Republican nomination and wins the Presdiency, he will have to lead the nation through the difficult process of replacing/reforming Soicial Security.