Surrender

Last week, he expressed optimism. He was refusing to give up. And really, it's hard for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D) to surrender a fight he's sure he can win.



But late last week, he came up one vote short. Even though Senator Dean Heller (R) and a few other Senate Republicans have called on their colleagues to renew the federal extension of unemployment insurance (UI), just enough Senate Republicans stood in line to block UI extension. Why? Apparently, they believe it's
"immoral" to help the 1.6 million Americans who desperately need this lifeline and undo the $1.76 billion worth of economic activity states have lost since the UI extension lapsed.

Instead, G-O-TEA disciples on Capitol Hill have been yearning for yet another manufactured crisis. This time, they wanted to try to skip the bill that they themselves agreed to late last year & again early this year. And since they either didn't remember or weren't bothered by the final result of their last manufactured crisis, they started hunting for the "sweet spot" of painful & unnecessary drama.

But now, that's all changed. Why? Someone must have encountered that pesky thing otherwise known as reality. And all of a sudden, House Republican "leaders" will allow a clean debt ceiling floor vote.

This week, the G-O-TEA has to surrender to reality. Republicans simply didn't have the votes for any ransom demand, and they didn't want to face another Shutdown Sh**fest like backlash. So now, the debt ceiling will be taken care of and the government will remain open. But then what?

That's a good question, yet we probably already know the answer. Since Republican "leaders" will likely face a "TEA" fueled rebellion over this debt ceiling surrender, they will then try to win the 'baggers back by vowing to block any & all other attempts at sane & rational governance. And that may very well mean they'll aim to kill the federal UI extension for good.

Here's why that would be an epic mistake. They already proved that the 'baggers aren't needed to pass legislation. So why not just pass the UI extension already and give our economy the boost it needs?

The federal budget deficit continues to fall, but economic inequality has yet to. And the few Members of Congress who have investigated for themselves know that poverty is still a serious problem in this nation.

So why hold up such a modest effort to curb extreme poverty? What's there to gain from letting millions of Americans needlessly suffer? We now know Congressional Republicans will surrender when they know they're guaranteed to lose another fight over unnecessary & ridiculous drama. So why not surrender this so that these Americans will no longer have to suffer?