Yesterday, Rev. Speaker Mike put a piece of poison on the floor and dared his caucus to vote for it.
For political veterans, however, the most striking absence in the revised bill was the language that would have extended funding for the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Program.
The program, named after a 10-year-old Virginia girl who died from an inoperable brain tumor in 2013, was something of a miracle to begin with. When it passed in 2014, the Obama administration and congressional Republicans had been at a standstill over federal spending. […]
But the funding needed to be extended. And the bill that the current crop of congressional leaders agreed to earlier this week did just that, devoting an estimated $190 million to the program through 2033. [,,,]
By December 19, the provision had been axed from the bill, after Musk went on an X rampage, tweeting that the bill was a Christmas tree that was antithetical to conservative, small-government ambitions and threatening the primary lawmakers who supported it.
Unlike a lot of the press and some posters on BlueSky, this is a political blog where we know what the House Clerk’s website is, and what it says. Let’s look at yesterday’s roll call. First, the part that a lot of folks are missing:
Just a reminder that this bill, like every other bill brought up recently (you can see them on the Clerk’s site), is brought up under suspension of the rules and requires a 2/3 majority. That means the Democrats will have to support it, as they’ve been supporting the other bills that passed recently under suspension of the rules.
Now let’s look at the vote breakdown by party.
Dumbass Mike brought a bill to the floor that 38 of his members wouldn’t vote for. I saw a quote somewhere that he has arrived at the Capitol this morning and promised more votes today. Exciting! This is the Congressional equivalent of reconnaissance by fire.
Those of you who live in Republican districts probably think that calling your Congressperson is a pointless gesture, but this might prove the exception to the rule. The link to the roll call lets you search for your rep and see how they voted. If they voted for the bill, it would be worth asking why they don’t want to support kids with cancer. If they voted against, call to congratulate them on their tough stance, and encourage them to stand firm.
If your rep is Marie Glusenkamp-Perez (D-WA-3) or Kathy Castor (D-FL-14), call them and ask whether there was a malfunction in the vote counting apparatus that caused them to vote for a bill stripped of funding for kids with cancer.
Anyway, my guess was that Elon would go to Mar-a-Lago, Trump would calm him down, and the original bill (or a very close facsimile) that was agreed between Pastor Mike and the Democrats would hit the floor again, pass, and everyone would go home. But it looks to me like Trump is so enfeebled that he’s unable to keep Elon under control, so who the hell knows what’s going to happen next. Meanwhile, ketamine’s favorite little boy who never grew up tweeted out support for the German neo-nazi party overnight.
Also, brief posting note: this will probably be my last post for a couple of days and I have a Christmas trip tomorrow and need to prepare today.
Old Man Shadow
A month away from being official, but government by shitposters is going so very well already.
New Deal democrat
President Musk has already Xit out that the failure of the bill was all Democrats’ fault, which is what I would expect from him and Vice President elect Trump.
I suspect you are ultimately correct that
But there is one interesting kink. Trump has let it be known that he wants the debt ceiling entirely suspended to two years. I can see Democrats going along with that, provided the ceiling isn’t just suspended for a time, but is entirely repealed. *That* is something worth bargaining over.
Omnes Omnibus
Don’t say you are a Democrat, progressive, or liberal. Just say you are in the district or are a constituent.
hrprogressive
President Musk is doing a great job of keeping former businessman Donald Trump in line.
I am sure the public who expected Donald Trump to return to the White House are going to love an illegal immigrant from Africa running the government like 4chan.
Leto
Musk running the US government just like Twitter… is there a BlueSky US government equivalent we don’t know about yet? Asking for a friend…
VFX Lurker
Wishing you stress-free travel and a Merry Christmas.
Scout211
Trump in his Truth Social post today:
It’s always, always about him.
I did read this morning that several GOP reps are saying that Trump should be in Washington to take part in the negotiations. LOL
brendancalling
I’m rooting for injuries. If we have to have a shutdown, let’s make sure the GOP owns it.
frosty
Have a good trip! For all my prep I use an app called Packing List. I added a category Forgot to Pack that gets added to every trip LOL.
The shitshow inside a dumpster fire dog’s breakfast Goat Rodeo* will still be here when you get back. Sadly.
* I’m sure I missed one or two of these from a valued commenter yesterday.
frosty
@Scout211: He won’t be in Washington after Jan 20th. A valued commenter suggested in an earlier thread that he got his Get Out Of Jail Free card, that’s all he wanted, so he’ll spend the next four years golfing. Sounds right to me!
John S.
Marie Glusenkamp-Perez is a lost cause. She is determined to show how “independent” she is because her district leans slightly red and she thinks that’s the only way she can keep winning there.
Thankfully I’m in the next district over from her, and I am MUCH happier having Dr. Kim Schrier as my representative.
cmorenc
Meanwhile: Was Neil Cavuto forced to leave Fox for insufficient subservience to Donald Trump? Just asking a question. (Cavuto style).
Omnes Omnibus
@John S.: It’s still worth calling lost causes. They may move on a particular issue if enough people reach out. Alternatively, you can let them know how you feel – a bit of catharsis,
NotMax
@Leto
Ike Tok?
//
matt
Republican strategy right now is to blame Democrats for not voting for their non-negotiated deal. We’ve already seen that this doesn’t work about 10 times in recent years.
JerseyBeard
Every single NJ Congressional Republican is pro-kids-having-cancer.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Omnes Omnibus:
Do the staffers answering the phones ask for your address or anything to verify that you live in the district? I remember that (or zip code) was a thing in the attempt to repeal the ACA
Omnes Omnibus
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): When I call, I say what city I am calling from.
Suzanne
UGHHGHHHHH.
Gluesenkamp-Perez reminds me of Sinema. Not a compliment.
John S.
@Omnes Omnibus:
Yeah, I suppose that’s true. I would be probably be calling her a lot if I lived in her district.
@Suzanne:
She’s not quite as bad as Sinema, and is generally a reliable vote when it matters. I can’t see her pulling the performative bullshit that Sinema does, or taking glee in being the deciding vote to fuck over her fellow Democrats.
Matt McIrvin
@Scout211: I kind of assumed the idea was to shut down the government under Biden and blame it on Biden, then end it when Trump came in so he could create the appearance of having fixed it. But it seems like they’re not exactly chessmasters.
different-church-lady
@Old Man Shadow: Nominated.
different-church-lady
Okay, just hear me out on this: what if they had never passed the Enabling Acts and everyone had just gone ahead and enabled Hitler nonetheless?
Another Scott
Donnie wants to break things, so he blew up the bipartisan agreement. Melon was just a messenger. As I said downstairs, things won’t be less chaotic when Melon is marginalized.
I trust Jeffries to do what makes sense.
Thanks for your contributions here and for interacting with us. It’s appreciated.
Safe travels and have a good time!
Best wishes,
Scott.
catclub
Yeah, repeal yes, two years all under Trump, no.
Doc Sardonic
This is where a quick response, district targeted ad run would be effective. Many years ago these popped up in Florida, 30 second canned ads that could be easily edited to the hot button of the week. Rep or Senator C voted against money for kids with cancer, call his/her office and ask why. These were everywhere late night tv, radio all day, and I firmly believe that with a few other factors helped turn Florida red in just a few election cycles.
Villago Delenda Est
Hakeem Jeffries can do simple, third grade arithmetic.. Mike Johnson cannot. It’s pretty simple.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
The head scratcher are the the 20 Not Voting, a pretty bi-partisan lot.
One was my former, (R) hack back in Central Missouri, good ole Blaine Luetkemeyer, back-bencher par excellence. Me and Ozark were “represented” by him at various times. He didn’t run again so why note vote for it?
Or is having 20 people physically absent the norm?
Another Scott
@Suzanne: She just won re-election 51.9% – 48.1%. Maybe she’s the best we can hope for in that district at the present time.
Best wishes,
Scott.
Suzanne
@John S.: She seems to have the same “maverick” fetish that Sinema has. It’s gross.
Gary K
You guys are telling me I should call Jim Jordan’s office! Thanks a lot, friends.
Suzanne
@Another Scott: Sinema was the best Arizona Dems could expect for a long time. She still sucked. Very much a nose-holding situation.
tobie
Regarding Musk’s tweet about the AfD: I think this will really piss off Germans. As far as they’re concerned ,Musk is a Yankee and they don’t like Yankees telling them how to vote and meddling in their affairs. I’m keeping an eye on this. I checked this morning and of the major dailies only the Süddeutsche Zeitung reported on Musk’s post. Will check later if the FAZ has a report on this.
NotMax
@Gary K
“Silence is consent.”
– Thomas More
.
sentient ai from the future
@John S.: she’s perfectly willing to throw trans kids under the bus too
tobie
@Suzanne: I imagine Gruesenkamp-Perez always hated Democrats. It’s one of the reasons I’ve been skeptical about rebranding the party as a populist left party. Ex-Sanderites Sinema, Gabbard and Gruesenkamp-Perez don’t seem committed to a progressive vision, which requires a stable govt. They’re more interested in the anti part: anti-establishment (whatever that means) , blowing things up.
This tweet is a good summary:
John S.
@sentient ai from the future:
Yes, I called Rep. Schrier’s office the day she voted for the Defense bill. I told them how disappointed I was in her vote and why. They seemed receptive to the feedback.
Gary K
@tobie: See this for an account of Gluesenkamp Perez’s shtick.
NotMax
@Omnes Omnibus
Can’t find the link at the moment but flashing back on the harried station agent looking up the schedule for trains to Goerke’s Corners, Wisconsin in the Doris Day flick It’s a Great Feeling.
Actor playing the agent milked the scene to the last drop.
:)
catclub
@NotMax: or is it ‘silence implies consent’
WhatsMyNym
@John S.: Both of our (WA) republican reps voted NOT VOTING. Perez could have done the same if she wanted to make a point.
John S.
@Another Scott:
Maybe, but those numbers don’t tell the whole story. She got re-elected in a rematch that wasn’t nearly as close as the first time around. Plus, the rest of Washington trended very blue this past election so her tacking to the right doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
That said, I’ll always take a Democrat over a Republican. But there are much better Democrats out there than her.
@WhatsMyNym:
MGP is making a point with her vote. Just not the one we would like her to make.
Suzanne
@tobie:
Agree. They aren’t committed to a vision. They are committed to themselves.
A genuinely progressive vision, in which good governance improves the vast majority of people’s lives and creates a sustainable future….. I hope that would be a broadly popular thing. I don’t know. I have lost a lot of confidence in my countrymen.
Elizabelle
mistermix: wishing you a safe and excellent trip. A few days offline could be minty! Happy holidays.
Elizabelle
@tobie: Yes. Am interested in that; please keep us posted.
tobie
@Gary K: Wow. She straight up lies and talks the populist talk that small-town Americans love to hear about intrusive gubmint limiting their freedom as small biz owners (or job creators!) with stupid regulations. I hate that whole routine.
John S.
@Gary K:
Maybe she is a fan of Sinemaesque performative outrage after all.
That would be a shame.
H.E.Wolf
Joe Kent, the Republican candidate in WA-03 for both 2022 and 2024, is a far-right-wing MAGA creepazoid. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Kent
Rather than vote for Joe Kent, the relatively conservative WA-03 voters have now twice elected a conservative Democrat: Gluesenkamp Perez. I’d call that a positive outcome.
It brings the Democrats one seat nearer to a majority. Hakeem Jeffries, like Nancy Pelosi, knows how to count votes, and knows when to allow Democratic reps in hard-to-win districts a little leeway.
Betty Cracker
Merry Christmas and safe travels, Mistermix!
counterfactual
Off-topic, wandering past my Dad’s Fox News-blaring TV, they’re on “Joe Biden is OLD!” again. I deduce that Trump’s anti-dementia drugs aren’t working any more.
stinger
“Trump would calm him down”
Five words I never expected to see strung together!
kindness
@counterfactual: Maybe activate the Parental Controls on the tv when Dad is away from it so Fox News is blocked? Dad won’t be able to figure it out and will eventually watch something less toxic.
(Block OAN & Sinclair if you can too)
dm
@Suzanne: I’ve heard her interviewed. She owns a garage. Does she have a college degree? I kind of think having her voice in the caucus is good for Democrats, even though i’m an overeducated liberal elite, myself.
I want more working class members of Congress and fewer lawyers. More scientists and engineers (though not in the Tom Massie mold, saints preserve us), might be okay, too.
pieceofpeace
I’ve read many of your researched and thoughtful writings. Go rest and enjoy the holidays. Will look forward to your future posts. Thank you!
Suzanne
@dm: She pissed me off with her whole “Preserving Woodworking Traditions and Blocking Government-Mandated Monopolies Act“, which is a perfect example of nonpartisan terrible governance that makes workers less safe. Should be called the “Chopping Your Fingers Off — Hold My Beer Act”.
SawStop said they would release their patent, so this “monopoly” would not exist. So it’s just….. bullshit.
Jinchi
Cole lets you all take Christmas off? I thought you fell into the unpaid essential workers category, like the US military.
Starfish (she/her)
What you said is exactly what the Indivisible email said except they dragged Marcy Kaptor for being a coward too.
HinTN
@dm: Sadly, more engineers of my acquaintance are politically reactionary that their alleged problem solving abilities would lead you to expect.
Also too, “President Musk, Vice-President Trump and the coffee boy.” That smirk is infuriating.
different-church-lady
@catclub: Silence is effectively the same as consent, no matter what the motivation.
HinTN
@Betty Cracker: How was the drunken aunties cookie scene?
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@tobie:
One issue is many of the people who bring up “rebranding” are deliberately vague on what that means and not all are promoting that with the goal of that rebrand being “populist left party”, aka our resident “New Liberals” aka Libertarians in Trench Coats want something entirely different but something not unlike what the Party promotes.
Chris Johnson
@New Deal democrat: I don’t trust them removing the debt ceiling in a scenario where Musk might be like ‘and now, everything is bitcoin! yay! that way the debt ceiling can become true fucking value by exploding to hundreds of times its size, for freeeeedom!’
I don’t trust these people around finances. I just don’t. Whatever they want, I suspect.
different-church-lady
@stinger: What’s Trump gonna do, take away his ketamine?
Baud
@different-church-lady:
He’ll get RFK Jr to ban them.
mali muso
I had the distinct honor to meet Gabriella Miller in the last months of her young life. She was an amazingly precocious and inspiring little girl. Despite her own health issues, she was trying to raise awareness of children’s cancer research. Her family turned unbelievable pain into productive activism, getting that first funding included back in the Obama years. It makes me incandescent with rage to see these evil “family focused” bastards fouling her name and legacy in the service of billionaires getting to swim in more dollars.
Harrison Wesley
Musk will soon unveil his own budget proposal: Plan 9.
Another Scott
@Harrison Wesley: [ snort! ]
Best wishes,
Scott.
Lobo
Branding: Rule by billionaires, or rule by us. Billionaires break things, Democrats build things.
Tag: The eight most terrifying words in the English Language(and one), “I’m a billionaire and I’m here to help(myself).”
ascap_scab
If I were Hakeem, I’d say okay to the original bill except that there is now a penalty for their dumbfuckery. Instead of $190 million, the price just went up to $200 million for kids cancer.
Suzanne
@comrade scotts agenda of rage:
Well, if you’ve ever been a part of a rebranding effort, you’d know there’s a few aspects to it. One is doing a lot of work to understand how the organization/person is broadly perceived. There’s also a lot of work to understand what the organization/person genuinely is, at core. It’s only at that point does one think about how best to communicate that to the public, how to distill it into marketing messaging and verbiage in speeches and ads.
What are the values and strengths Democrats stand for, at core? I would be willing to bet that, if you asked 100 random people, 75 of them couldn’t tell you any affirmative thing that Dems stand for. (And yeah, most of that 75% clueless would be white people.) Parties are pretty weak constructs these days; most people have never been to a meeting or met a candidate.
When we get into endless — and very important — opposition of the bullshit the Republicans do…. it is usually not clear to normies why we oppose something. Most people don’t have ideology at all! There’s no conceptual through-line for them. They just see arguing. They think it’s all corrupt and nonsensical and self-serving. They genuinely think both parties are the same.
So, there’s got to be an overarching narrative of a better world, and why Democratic policies will get us closer to it. That’s the brand. Then the individual campaigns come in, and hopefully underscore that brand.
rikyrah
Also the 9 Republicans who didn’t vote at all.
AM in NC
I called my Democratic Rep yesterday and left a message asking her not to vote for anything coughed up by the GOP unless it’s exactly what was negotiated before Musk/Trump weighed in.
Just called back today and thanked her for her NO vote. Staffer sounded so thankful for a positive call and said he’ll pass along the message. Positive reinforcement always helps, and they don’t get enough of it, I don’t think.
Captain C
@different-church-lady: If TCFG was a 10th as slick and savvy as his cultists think he is, he’d have the DEA nail Skum within a week of taking the oath of office, just to get rid of him (getting busted by the DEA would probably make at least some of the captured boards of his companies think twice about having him associated with their brand).
JaySinWA
That’s going to leave a mark.
Geminid
@dm: Marie Gluesenkamp Perez has a degree from Reed College in Portland. She and her husband own a garage in Portland but they live on the Washington side of the Columbia River, in a rural cabin with their young son. The family looks like they stepped out of a granola ad.
I was glad to see Mary Gluesenkamp Perez win WA03 in 2022, and I’ve got no problems with how she’s handled her job since. If district Democrats don’t like it they can push a Democrat they like more in the 2026 primary.
The Oregon 5th CD across the Columbia River from Perez’s has a lot of similarities to WA03. Both are anchored in the suburbs of Portland and also cover some exurban/rural counties. There are a lot of counties like that in the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain states.
The two districts’ recent political histories show some striking parallels. Going into 2022, the Washington 3rd District was held by veteran Republican Rep. Jaime Herrera Butler, and the Oregon 5th District was held by veteran Democratic Rep. Curt “Fucking” Schrader.
Both Hererra Butler and Schader might be considered “Centrists,” and they were both eliminated in primaries that year which is a fairly rare event these days.
Herrera Butler had been one of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach, and she finished behind Mary Gluesenkamp Perez and Joe Kent in a “jungle” primary. Schrader had voted with the pharmaceutical industry too often for 5th District Democrats, and liberal activist Jamie(?) McLeod-Skinner knocked him out in a close primary.
McLeod-Skinner went on to lose a very close race to Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer, while Gluesnkamp Perez beat Joe Kent in an even closer race.
It’s like the two districts were mirror imsges of each other that year. The symmetry broke down in this last cycle, though. State Rep. Janelle Bynum won the Democratic primay against the more liberal McLeod-Skinner and then went on to beat Rep. Chavez-DeRemer by about 49 to 47%. An Independent and a Libertarian came away with 4% of the vote.
Both districts will be heavily contested in the next cycle. There are not that many “battleground” districts anymore, and I think the Midterms will resemble trench warfare.
Janelle Bynum seems like a capable, hardworking politician who should be able to hold on onto the Oregon 5th through this decade. I think Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez can hold onto her seat too, but I keep in mind that Trump carried the district this year and a better candidate than Joe Kent might have beaten her.
I look forward to learning more about these Democrats over the next two years, and I’m keeping an open mind about them both.
Geminid
@Suzanne: That would explain the last-minute infusion of cash into Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez’s campaign by the mysterious “Digital Renewal PAC.” An Irish analytical outfit, O’pen Secrets, believes half of the $10 million was raised by a syndicate of hand surgeons.
JUST KIDDING, SUSANNE!
The other half was ponied up by a wealthy techbro who’s got a company developing artificial fingers and thumbs.
Trivia Man
@frosty: he will show up for SOTU. He loves the pomp and ceremony. Remember the shut down he finally ended when nancy told him that meant no in person SOTU address?
cmorenc
@kindness: My seat on a 3 1/2 hr flight was next to a guy watching OAN on the seat back monitor. Though there was no sound except for via his headphones, the visual far-right prop-agit was far too unsubtle to not be able to immediately pick up on which hate-porn topic and meme was being pushed whenever I happened to glance at it. I managed to stay focused most of the time on a book I was reading, but whenever my glance caught his screen, it gave me the vibe of sharing the seat row with someone living in an alternative fictional dystopian universe.
John S.
@Geminid:
I realize that WA-08 is quite different than WA-03, but this isn’t exactly a Democratic stronghold. It’s a D+1 district compared to MGP’s R+4 district.
Rep. Schrier also makes it a point to tout her willingness to work with sensible Republicans (at least locally), and that has been a mainstay in all her ads since she’s been in office. But she is a very different politician than MGP and her votes are usually a reflection of that.
ETA: After Schrier flipped this district in 2018 — no Democrat had ever been elected to represent the district before — she didn’t make a run to the right. And she has been re-elected pretty comfortably ever since.
Suzanne
@Geminid: I have very little doubt that Big Workplace Injury has the checkbooks out! ;)
apocalipstick
@H.E.Wolf:
No, no! We must have purity of essence!
John S.
@apocalipstick:
What a bunch of bullshit.
Nobody is talking about having “pure” candidates. When Democrats don’t act like Democrats, we have every right to call them out for it and demand better.
Geminid
@John S.: It sounds like Rep. Schrier and Rep-elect Bynum both fit into the more conventional mold of elected Democrats. Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez does not, but as long as she votes with Schrier and Bynum she’s not a problem for me.
And I’m not talking about inconsequential votes on secondary issues here; I’m talking about critical votes on vital legislation like we saw in the Congress that met from January, 2021 to January 2023. None of Gluesenkamp Perez’s Class of 2022 has faced that kind of vote yet. Last night’s vote wasn’t one.
I look at Mary Gluesenkamp as a young woman Democrat whose career has just begun. The highest office she had held before Congresswoman was commissioner on her local Soil and Water Conservation board.
I realize a lot of people who had never heard of her two years ago seem certain now they know all there is to know about Rep. Perez. “I’ve seen enough! And it’s bad!” seems to the attitude. Speaking only for myself, this strikes me as a somewhat unserious approach to politics.
But I’m curious: have you read any of the reporting by the Northwest Progressive Policy Institute? They call their media site the Cascadia Advocate, and they report political and other news from Washinton state and some news out of Oregon. An interesting outfit..
Geminid
@Geminid:
@John S.: The Northwest Progressive Policy Institute was founded about 20 years ago by Anthony Villaneuve. He writes some of their articles, including a long and interesting one on Rep. Perez in October.
The NPPI says they cover Oregon, Washington and Idaho. They’re also reporting on political developments in British Columbia.
H.E.Wolf
Thank you for the recommendation. Glad to have it on my radar!
Geminid
@H.E.Wolf: Please let me know what you think of NPPI as a news source. I never heard of them until October, when I looked up an article of theirs on the Perez/Kent race. Reporter Anthony Villeneuve provided a lot of background and depth.
H.E.Wolf
@Geminid:
I’ll let you know if/when I form an opinion. :)
I usually read a new source for a while, to evaluate their strengths and blind spots – we all have ’em, after all.
Again, many thanks for the tip; much appreciated.