‘Riverboat’ Thommy explains the DC shell game to the lil’ people

 

Don’t you just love it when one of the honorables on Capitol Hill steps down off his or her pedestal to lecture us on how THEY are right and WE are stupid?

Our soon-to-be senior senator Thom Tilli$$$ took to the in-state airwaves today to lecture those of us who still cling to that *sillly* conservative stuff.

The host quizzed Thommy on his vote for the budget-busting scam known in the drive-by media as “The Infrastructure Bill”:

[…] “If youre upset with me  for doing that, you are with the liberal progressives that came to my yard, camped out and opposed the bill because they understood it preserved the filibuster and ends the opportunity for the Green New Deal.  

First off, its a $550 billion dollar package, what the folks who are opposed to it need to

know is that every 5 years we have to reauthorize the surface transportation plan.

If we dont do that, then our current spending rate every 5 years goes away.

Thats half of it.  The other half of it is $550 billion dollars, that is paid for, that carves out

from the three and a half trillion the Democrats want to pass true infrastructure.

So if you want $9 Billion Dollars of infrastructure flooding in to this state to help us with

roads and bridges, if you want our ports to be upfit, if you want our shorelines to be more resilient for the next storm, then you should like this bill. 

But lets say you dont like that, you should like the fact that we were willing to vote on a

compromise bill to save the filibuster.  If you want us to vote against it, then you

own, what would likely be the nuclear option on the filibuster, federalizations of elections,

the Green New Deal and every other bad policy that Nancy Pelosi would love

Chuck Shumer to pass without a single Republican vote.  This is bigger than the

Infrastructure Bill.  This is about the institution of the Senate and keeping Democrats

on board with respecting the institution of the Senate.”  […]

The long list of scoundrels who have passed through the Senate since its founding have already done quite a number on “respect” for “the institution” of the Senate.  Why not make the other side eat the budget-busting and the pork?  Why give them “bi-partisan” cover to dig us into a deeper hole?

But Thommy wasn’t done:

[…]”You want to take it in pieces, thats fine.  I dont have the luxury of doing that. Thats why I stand by the vote and I think over time, its a vote thats going to age well.

Its this simple.  If I listen to my friends who say you gotta vote no against everything, then the Democratic conference, the people that are standing with us to hold the filibuster, are going to say Guys, youre not working with us at all.Im getting hammered from my left and even my center left over time because you wont demonstrate any willingness to work with a government that is led by the Democrats. ”[…]

Gee, I wonder how many good, honest conservative Republicans are worried about being “hammered” from the left (or even center-left)?  That’s why we send Republicans to DC — to fight tooth and nail against statist nonsense. Not hug up to Monty Hall and play ‘Let’s Make A Deal.’

[…] WE LOST LAST YEAR. THEY OWN THE WHITE HOUSE, THEY OWN THE 

SENATE, THEY OWN THE HOUSE.

At some point, if we dont demonstrate to Democrats that will we settle for something less

than we would ever pass than if we were in the majority, then just think through the logic of

that over the next two years.  Does anybody honestly believe that even those who are

holding firm on the filibuster right now, if we continue to say no to them, those who

are willing to preserve the filibuster, over the next two years, what would you do? […]

It sounds like Thommy is talking about other people when he references defender of the filibuster.  Our founders wanted the filibuster to protect minority rights within Capitol Hill’s upper chamber.  Contrary to Thommy’s delusions,  they never never never wanted it to be easy to “get something done” on The Hill.

More from Susie’s guy:

[…] Weve got people that are willing to preserve the filibuster, willing to do the work

to get 60 votes. If we just go and continue to say NO, theyre ultimately going

to say NO to preserving a 60 vote threshold in the US Senate.

That would be devastating and would do irreparable harm. 

Kinda like expanding the social welfare “safety net” and the national debt, or busting a bigger hole in the federal budget?

MORE:

Thats why, as far as Im concerned, the criticism can come, but it falls on deaf ears.  There are bigger issues at play that are more important in the long term for the American People and people in North Carolina.

Right now, we are trying to do everything we can make that three and a Half Trillion dollar

package half of what it is.  To make the taxes Half or More.  Theyre going to pass

something.  But we think it creates downward pressure on whatever they will do

with 51 votes.   Whatever they do, they can no longer say its a Infrastructure Bill because

we passed an Infrastructure bill.   Remember, they were calling it human infrastructure

and they wanted to weave in roads and bridges?  That ship has sailed.

We actually carved out the segment of what would have been a three and a half trillion dollar spending bill thats really focused on Infrastructure.

Ive said to the press, I understand if youre only thinking about this transaction,

why youd be opposed to it.  If I thought thats all that it was, I would be

opposed to it. But this is about the future of the Senate.

The Senate.  NOT the country.  Got that?

The host asked Thommy about criticism he is getting from Rand Paul and other conservatives about his work with Democrats:

Id ask Rand Paul what his batting average is in the US Senate.  Passing legislation to the Presidents desk, during a Democrat majority, with a Democrat President.  Whats his batting average?

When I was speaker of the House, we overrode a Democrat governor with Democrat votes eleven times.  I would be criticized of going short by my friends in my Party of where they wanted to go, but you go find another Legislature that accomplished that in the same period of time.  It didnt happen.

We dont actually recognize that the numbers are against us.

Look, Rand Paul is a friend of mine.  But you know me, Im a pretty plain spoken person.

Name one major piece of legislation that Rand Paul has gotten passed in his entire tenure in the Congress.  Because hes swinging for the fences.[…]

Thommy also offered up his two cents on the per-mile-driven gas tax contained in the bill:

[…] Its a component of the bill, that would take 4 to 5 years to implement, when hopefully

we recognize, if we dont fix this and figure out a way to capture revenue for

electric vehicles, that the federal government is giving $7500 in tax credits to 

people who on average make $75,000.  Were going to have millions of electric vehicles,

that are 25% heavier than their combustion engine counterpart,

think Mach E versus the Mustang GT, were gonna give a free ride to RICH People

getting tax credits.  Weve gotta figure out a way, its not an immediate.

Everybody should read the bill and at least not spend just 30 minutes trying to

understand the technicalities of the bill.  Its a 2 year process to study how to do it.

Its a 3 to 5 year process to implement it for cars for which the technology would fit.

Its not like youre going to be a truck driver and keep an odometer log.

Thats what I mean.  People are cherry picking things, if they want any details on this,

Call my office and well read out the details.  If you just rely on what you hear on the

Internet, or on the news, youre not getting the full story.

Thats why I think its very important to speak plainly about it.[…]