CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – If you listened yesterday, I expect Republicans will have working majorities in both the House and Senate come January.
Now, how to use it.
First, a message needs to be sent to the White House. In the immortal words of Joe Biden’s former boss, Barak Obama: “Elections have consequences. And I won.” (Obama uttered that truth as both Democrats and Republicans from Congress were at a round table on health care that he was hosting, in front of reporters and TV cameras.)
So, since all spending bills must originate in Congress, Republicans should tell the White House immediately that they will leverage the power of the purse to advance their agenda. Why? Because voters will have rejected the status quo.
How?
Every time the Biden Administration needs a spending bill to keep the government running, it will include three provisions: border wall funding, new leases for energy production, and rescinding the massive hiring of new IRS agents. Spending bills originate in the House, where all three items will easily be approved. I’m under no illusions that there won’t be 60 votes in the Senate. These are Republican initiatives. Let Democrats block them if they wish. The GOP has always allowed itself to be tagged as the bad guys in government shutdowns. They’re wrong. The GOP base welcomes a government that does less and spends less. The overwhelming majority of us have learned from past shutdowns that our lives go on just fine without the government. Let the Biden Administration put up barricades around national park entrances and monuments.
Some will call this “political hostage taking” or using “poison pills”. It is nothing of the sort. The legislature is a co-equal branch of government. It will now be controlled by republicans. Lets see what they do with it.
Chris Conley
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