What the Reconciliation Bill Reveals about Senate Republicans
We were recently treated to the so-called vote-o-rama, the whack-a-mole of legislative processes, as the Senate took up the Republican reconciliation bill that had funding for DHS, CBP, and ICE as well as for the ballroom and insurrectionist let’s all be Brown shirts together slush fund. Senators on both sides of the isle shenaned and then shenaned again with it, but none more than the comical stylings of YOLO Caucus member Senator Dr. Bill Cassidy (R-Milquetoast).
As I read about all the voting on all the measures that various senators were trying to shoehorn into the reconciliation bill, it occurred to me that the Senators Trump kicked to the curb doth protest too much, and it got me to wondering why. I also started thinking about t all of the Never Trumpers Republicans making bank off of liberal and progressive media — I’m looking at you MSNOW — and remembering a segment featuring Rick Wilson in which he declared that he could make such an ad using the material that Republicans had given on some issue like Iran or murdering toddlers or whatever the outrage du jour was that day. The cold tight sound of his voice told me that he would happily Max Cleland someone if someone anyone would just pay him to do it.
The Safe Trump Opposition Votes
Any who. I handful of Senators spent their vote-o-rama fair tickets voting for issues that are safe to oppose Trump on because they would never pass, yet they could use them to bolster their street cred as being independent of Trump. Let’s just do a quick review of some of the choicer moments in the kabuki theater performance:
Bill Cassidy switched his no vote to yes after the amendment to block funding for the Epstein Honorary Ballroom and Sleep Over Space had failed. I guess the brave brave Cassidy hadn’t quite gotten the vote count right, couldn’t risk voting against funding the WH sleep overs until he saw it failed. What a profile in courage for the modern age.
Cassidy spent the entire day trying to write an amendment that would strip funding for the 6 January Insurrectionist slush fund with a bare majority — now isn’t that an image? — yet allow the extended funding for ICE to go through. He failed. Just another legislative failure to heap onto the Cassidy legacy right up there with the RFK, Jr.approval vote.
Democrats used the cosplay of bipartisanship to put forward a slew of amendments like blocking Bill “Show me a person, I’ll show you a crime” Pulte’s appointment to DNI, increasing home construction, inspecting the very troubled Delaney torture center, and to prevent Tina Peters from further cashing in on taking a leak on voter data. The only Republicans consistently voting for them weren’t even the YOLO Caucus, they were the tough re-election senators, Susan Collins, R-Pearl Clutching; Jon Husted, R-Not JD Vance; and Dan Sullivan, R-Wishing for the Balls of Lisa Murkowski.
Senate Republicans Still Vote with Trump
YOLO Caucus members Cassidy, Tillis, and McCarthy voted for some measures, but against most of them. In the end only Lisa Murkowski (R-WhyAm I STILL a Republican) was the only R vote against the reconciliation package. When asked why he voted for the package, Cassidy mumbled something about how racism is more important to him than whatever the other thing was.
In the end the dishonest and bad faith Republicans in the Senate got the best of both worlds. They got to supersize the DHS, CPB, and ICE funding through the end of Trump’s term, guaranteeing that its funding is safe from any effort to tie future funding to reforms and take turns cosplaying independence from Trump.
The Anti-Trump Wing of the Republican Party Grift by any other Name
Here’s my point, there are all these Republicans both in and out of office and working for the party and outside of it who are at odds with Trump. Everyone from Michael Steele and Rick Wilson who no longer work in Republican politics to Adam Kinzinger and Liz Chaney who no longer can be elected to office to Joni Earnest and Mitch McConnell who are not running again for reasons of their own to Dr. Bill Cassidy and Thomas Massie who were primaried for not loving Trump right. I don’t have an accurate count — please give one or a link if you’ve got it — but there’s a fair number of them.
They all do various things to oppose Trump, but none of them very effectively, with the exception of Thomas Massie who has made it his mission while in Congress to be a thorn in Trump’s side. Otherwise, the closest you get are the media whores like the Lincoln Project and the Bulwark who are making ads and going on the pundit cable shows and podcasts. What’d Liz Chaney and Adam Kinzinger up to? I haven’t heard from either of them. I know Chaney did some campaigning-related stuff in 2024, but that’s about it. And the folks still in Congress support Trump over 90% of the time. If Murkowski is serious, why isn’t she an independent? Why isn’t Massie?
It seems to me that these folks are all pretty much just grifting off the anti-Trump vibe, hoping to still be viable once Trump dies. They aren’t reformed. They were all there laying the groundwork for Frankenstein’s monster, and once the Orange Oaf blundered into town knocking down the buildings, raping the fathers, and grabbing the mothers by their pussies, they all said, “Yuck! I want to work after this septuagenarian kicks the bucket, what can I do in the meantime to make a buck?” and started to cover their own asses in various ways.
We Need A New Conservative Party
If these folks were really Never Trumpers and really thought conservative values were important, they would be starting a conservative party. Kinda like the Republicans did in the 1850’s when they realized abolition was the main issue and the Whigs were failing to be an effective counterpoint to the Southern Democratic slaver oligarchs.
Sure, it is hard work. Sure, it will split the conservative vote and hand elections to the Democrats. Sure, it might not supplant the Republican Party. Sure, it is a risk and a gamble. Sure, you probably wouldn’t make as much money as you are now grifting off of the anti-Trump vibe. But, you would actually be standing up for political beliefs and strengthening our democracy.
As I pointed out in last week’s post, single-party rule is wrecking both Texas and California. It’s not doing Florida or Louisiana any favors either. Kansas barely survived Sam Brownback’s Republican paradise. We need two viable political parties at a minimum. While the Democrats have their problems, there are people fighting to make it more effective. As far as I can tell, the only people in the Republican Party are those making bank off of the Trump grift either by corrupting right along side Trump or working the anti-Trump sentiment. Both are hoping to be viable Republicans after Trump’s inevitable demise. None of them actually care about American democracy, good governance, or being good-faith governing partners with Democrats.
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I don’t believe, that, even if there are, more and more, Republicans who are, becoming anti-Trump, because of how he started war with Iran, how his tariffs had, f***ed up the, U.S. economy, the Republican voters who feel betrayed by him will, vote for Democrats in the election coming up in, November, because at the end of the day, they stay, FAITHFUL to, the values of patriotism, anti-immigrant policies, etc., etc., etc., because the voters are, deadset Republican-supporter, and, just because Trump’s actions had, damaged the, credibilities of the party, they will still be more than likely, to, vote for the party they had always supported. It will take, more than these “minor” stabs in the Republican voter pools’ backs to, change their minds about, their, party that, they’re, faithful, to, and, the Republican Party’s factions will only, fracture thf U.S. more, internally, and, the country won’t have the mind to spare, when an outside “invasion” (say, Russia or China) comes into the, U.S., as the domestic affairs are a mess, how will the country be able to, pay attention to, what’s, coming, towards, it? The U.S. will lose its status as the, “leader” of the, world, completely, as Trump drives the country, deeper into, isolation, then, it will, fall, too, eaily, without ANY allies, as Europe and Canada are already, becoming, more reliant on their, “local” neighbors more, and less on the, U.S. now, because they realize, the, U.S., can’t be trusted to, protect “us all”.
Howdy Taurus!
Politics is about group identity more than anything else, which leads people to vote for party and individuals over ideals and beliefs. The Republicans have always and are taking full advantage of this and other human tendencies that lead to bad decisions.
My point is that if the Never Trumpers and recently rejected Republicans were really concerned about conservative policy, the good of the country, and the democracy, they would be putting in the hard work of creating a new party that championed those to challenge both Democrats and Republicans. Instead, they are either grifting off of liberal media or are biding their time to jump back into politics. Either way, once Trump is gone, they will return to their old ways of maintaining the conditions that made Trump and MAGA possible.
Huzzah!
Jack
I’m not sure that most Republicans would know a real, constitutional conservative if they saw it, and the Republican Party has long since forgotten, even before Trump showed up. And the vast majority of Democrats don’t have a clue what such a critter would look like.
As long as being a politician is seen as a life long profession, and getting reelected is the most important thing (next to getting rich), and not a hobby or adventure, we will have this problem.
Howdy Bob!
As our friend Chuq pointed out in another comment, the conservative party in the US is the Democratic Party, so a conservative would be Chuck Schumer? Nance Pelosi? Unfortunately, the Republicans are all about the authoritarianism nowadays which is to say corruption because the two go hand in hand. Either way, though, if the Never Trumpers or the spurned Republicans were really conservatives and really concerned about the state of the democracy and country, they would be doing the hard work of starting a new political party instead of either grifting off of liberal media or biding their time to returning to politics to maintain the conditions that brought us Trump.
Huzzah!
Jack
Yes, the fruit of the mobile Overton Window. So, if the real conservatives are Democrats, and those Never (Well, almost never) Trumpers are real conservatives (not just overlooked, sidelined, and pissed off would be oligarchs) who cannot stomach changing parties, to create a new Conservative Party they would have to try to recruit Right Leaning “centrist” Dems. The task is even harder because the definition of “conservative” has been abused, tortured, bullshitted, and gaslighted to meaninglessness except as a vague label to which the voter is invited to attach whatever they would like it to mean.
I cannot help but think that there would be a small but dedicated set of Rockefeller types who would join a new “conservative” party. They could probably attract some centrist Democrats, too. That they aren’t tells me all we need to know about US politics. It isn’t about the policies and ideas. It isn’t about democracy or the Constitution or civil rights or any of that. It is simply about recreating the Confederacy’s oligarchy and social structure. That’s pretty much what conservative US politicians have always wanted with a few New England high brow Rockefeller types thrown in for good measure.
Jack
In the early days of modern political philosophy and analysis, and economic theory (people like Adam Smith), it was called political economy. it still is that, not two separate disciplines. The key question to ask of politicians about their ideology is; “Who is the economy for?” Just don’t expect an honest answer from a lot of them.
There are two economies to politicians. The one that is for the mom and pop kitchen table issues and the one for the oligarchs. Who is the economy for to most politicians? The oligarchs. I forget who did the study, but someone analyzed the effects of legislation and policies and concluded that government works for big corporations, not citizens. In that sense, we already are an oligarchy. I guess, the only issue is whether we continue to pretend otherwise or just go full authoritarian oligarchy like the Confederacy.
Jack
I think that the general run of politicians and their propaganda advisers will continue (for a while) to opt for pretending otherwise. The most visible exceptions are the Trump Gang, because he is in such a hurry, and the White Christian Nationalists, because they are the most vocal and in a hurry of the Confederates.
The real Oligarchs will just keep on oligarching. As a case in point, it is reported that after all the IPO shares in SpaceX are sold, Elon Musk will still own 80% of the stock. Nobody can buy enough of the new stock to get any leverage, not even the US Treasury, contrary to what Delusional Donald may imagine. The Oligarch remains the oligarch.
I think our inability to think of and imagine really big numbers is working against us in this regard. And, the ability for that kind of money to completely swamp the rest of the world is frightening. Our oligarchs are dealing in trillions while we’re all hoping to get a million together so we can retire. A trillion is a million more than a million. A million times a million is a trillion. We’re all trying to live on less than a hundred thousand a year and the oligarchs are reaching a trillion. It is crazy. The system cannot sustain that kind of disparity. The kind of economic pain We’re experiencing will create a shockwave that will be felt for years to come.
Again, I’m back to it took the Great Depression to create FDR’s New Deal. We’re headed for the same kind of cataclysm.
Jack
I’m not sure that anything short of a Greater Depression or, perhaps, a generational mass uprising revolt revolution, can really break that system. The predatory oligarchical class/families survived the bank panics of the 19th century, the Great Depression, and the Great Recession. With the New Deal, we got a generation of relief and progress, but only that. The backlash has been going strong since at least 1980. The idea that a few are allowed, or destined, to exploit the many refuses to die. Even official Communism ended up with it in actual practice. It seems to be a feature on Dark Triad personalities, and large social systems provide the opportunities. Then, I wonder whether the invention of money was such a great idea. It may not be the root of all evil, but of quite a lot of it.
So, I come back around to pondering the predicament of humans trying to run large, complex systems mostly populated by strangers with brains still adapted to life in hunter-gatherer bands. Could it be that in spite of the dreams of infinite wealth and power of the “masters of the universe” tech CEOs, AI will be the engine of our evolution out of that trap?
Howdy Bob!
There is the evolution theory that we self selected away from violent males. Literally, the theory is that we ganged up on any male that was too violent and killed them, eliminating their genes from the pool. We didn’t eliminate the Dark Tetrad personality traits in the same way. Maybe it was a missed opportunity since we cannot morally do so now. But, recognizing the traits in someone, especially psychopaths and Machiavellian traits, if they want to cover them up is difficult.
In our ultrasocieties, dark tetrad personalities have an even bigger advantage since we have to deal with strangers constantly and tracking traits and behaviors produces a cognitive load. In some ways our capitalist ultrasociety is a psychopaths playground. We reward psychopathic traits in so many areas of life, and now the Republican Party seems only to have dark tetrad personalities in it.
As we industrialized, the New England colonies had a much smaller wealth gap. In the early years of the country, it was the South that had the biggest wealth discrepancy. Seemingly, the biggest single predictor of social stability is the wealth gap. Peter Turchin believes that large states are on a two hundred year cycles of state stability. According to him, we are currently in about year ten of the disintegration phase of our cycle. Disintegration phases take about five to twenty years to work out. We’re got a bit more time in our immiseration.
I don’t know that there is any getting rid of money, downsizing our ultrasocieties (other than through climate collapse), or ending the influence of wealth on our societies. We can, however, manage our wealth inequality better even though the masters of the universe will howl about how unfair it all is.
Huzzah!
Jack
WE have a Conserv party….the Dems……what we need is a party that puts the people of this country ahead of profit. To me most of this anti-Trump stuff is mostly show…..a political ploy. chuq
Howdy Chuq!
Sad, but true. When your starting point on the right side of the political spectrum is owning people, you’ve got a heavy push to move the Overton window leftward, though. So, a real progressive political party is desperately needed, which we’ve discussed before.
However, I think if these “conservatives” on the outs with Trump and MAGA were really opposed to Trump, concerned about our democracy, and actual conservatives, they would be doing the hard work of starting a party and fielding candidates. Instead, they are making money off of liberals or biding their time to return to business as usual, maintaining the same conditions that led to the election of Trump.
Huzzah!
Jack
Jack I am not convinced that these ‘conservs’ on the outs with MAGA are truly in opposition. chuq
I agree. I think they just don’t like the way Trump rolls. He spoiled their grift and corruption by making it all too obvious and taking too large of a share of the pie.
Jack
Jack I think they will come around when the vote is on….this is just fodder for the MSM. chuq
Oh yes, when it’s crunch time, as Bill Cassidy so amply and clearly demonstrated, they’ll vote with Trump. The grift must continue.