As of Sunday evening, when the Senate finally reached the 60-vote threshold to end debate and vote to end the government shutdown, the length of the closure had reached biblical proportions — 40 days and 40 nights.
During that time the only federal workers being paid weren’t working — Congress. Conversely, the only federal workers who were working weren’t being paid — including military, ICE agents, and air traffic controllers.
It had to have been galling for unpaid U.S. Capitol Police officers to protect the lives of members of Congress who were AWOL but still receiving a nice 6-figure salary.
The Constitution provides that Congress has to be paid. However, we should at least expect them to do their job.
Daily Caller editor Vince Coglianese observed that the meaning of the term “filibuster” has been corrupted over the last half-century.
“Restore the filibuster,” he said. “The modern silent filibuster was an invention of the 1970s.”
Anyone who has seen the classic1939 Frank Capra film “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” knows exactly what Coglianese was talking about.
In a climactic scene, Sen. Jefferson Smith, portrayed by the legendary Jimmy Stewart, launches into a 25-hour filibuster to oppose a graft-filled appropriations bill and clear his name. That’s what a true filibuster looks like.
The purpose of the 200-plus-year-old Senate filibuster rule is to force senators into lively debate before voting on a bill, which is why it’s called the deliberative body of Congress.
“Force senators to take the floor and make an actual argument, with words,” Coglianese continued. “The open secret in Washington is that the majority like the silent filibuster, too — because then they have an excuse for ignoring the voters.”
Showing up on the Senate floor once every couple of days to cast a vote isn’t actual debate. That’s what Coglianese, who also hosts a nationwide radio show, is opposed to, and he’s right.
And Sen. Cory Booker’s 25-hour rant to an empty Senate chamber did not amount to a filibuster — it was performative art, designed to boost his image.
The Senate has to do its job and actually debate and deliberate — in the open where we can see it.
That takes care of the Senate, but the House has also been AWOL.
The U.S. House of Representatives holds the government purse strings, which means that all taxing and spending bills originate there. However, the House hasn’t passed an actual budget since 1997.
Since then, Congress has relied on temporary measures to fund the government.
Each fiscal year, the 12 House appropriations subcommittees are supposed to approve a budget that covers the discretionary spending for their particular area of government.
Those subcommittees are:
- Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies
- Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
- Defense
- Energy and Water Development
- Financial Services and General Government
- Homeland Security
- Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
- Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies
- Legislative Branch
- Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies
- State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
- Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies
But for the last quarter-century, rather than put in the hard work we pay them to do, the House has been sending to the Senate multi-thousand-page “omnibus” spending bills and “continuing resolutions,” often containing numerous expensive add-ons.
It’s no wonder we’re nearly $40 trillion in debt. In 1996, the last year Congress passed a true budget, the national debt was $5.2 trillion.
The Babylon Bee, a satirical humor-based “news” site with the motto “Fake News You Can Trust,” probably explained it best with this headline: “Congress Prepares To Pivot From Doing Nothing Because Of The Shutdown To Doing Nothing Because They’re Congress.”
It’s funny because it’s true, but Congress has to make it untrue.
If we’re going to pay members of Congress $174,000 a year and upwards, plus a huge array of benefits, we should expect them to do their job without taking any shortcuts.
We should expect House members to pass an actual budget, beginning with the dozen mini-budgets that are easy to read and understand.
When the budget reaches the Senate, we should expect open debate so that the public knows the pros and cons of each item, and if a member has a serious issue, we should see an actual filibuster — one that would make the late Jimmy Stewart proud.
If they can’t do that, they should make room for those who can. After all, it’s our money they’re playing with, and it’s our money that supports their cushy lifestyle.
Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and is a frequent contributor to Newsmax. He’s also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and a Second Amendment supporter. Read Michael Dorstewitz’s Reports — More Here.
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