By Tim Meads. Media: DailyWire.
Eighteen Republicans just looked their GOP colleagues and voters in the eye and told them to eat dirt.
On Thursday, the McConnell-Schumer $1.66 trillion omnibus spending bill passed by a vote of 68 – 29 with 18 Republicans supporting the measure. In doing so, these so-called conservatives not only increased wasteful spending, but cut off leverage from the incoming Congress.
Who were these men and women who just handed Democrats a major victory? We’ve got the names in alphabetical order:
Roy Blunt (MO), John Boozman (AR), Shelley Moore Capito (WV), Susan Collins (ME), John Cornyn (TX), Tom Cotton (AR), Lindsey Graham (SC), Jim Inhofe (OK), Mitch McConnell (KY), Jerry Moran (KS), Lisa Murkowski (AK), Rob Portman (OH), Mitt Romney (UT), Mike Rounds (SD), Richard Shelby (AL), John Thune (SD), Roger Wicker (MS), and Todd Young (IN).
Republicans voting yes (18): Senators Blunt Boozman Capito Collins Cornyn Cotton Graham Inhofe McConnell Moran Murkowski Portman Romney Rounds Shelby Thune Wicker & Young
Not voting: Barrasso, Burr & Cramer https://t.co/QG1mDxl20f
— Senate Press Gallery (@SenatePress) December 22, 2022
McConnell, the leader of the GOP Senate, claimed that this bill was a huge victory for the Republican Party.
He also implied that if you didn’t vote for the measure, then you didn’t support the U.S. troops and were assisting the Chinese Communist Party in obtaining military supremacy.
“There are literally two options before us,” the Senate minority leader said of the bill earlier in the week. “Number one, we can pass this bill, give our service members and commanders the resources they need, flip the president’s broken budget request on its head, and actually cut baseline, non-defense, non-veteran spending in real dollars while we’re at it. Or we can fail to pass this bill and give our armed forces confusion and uncertainty while the Chinese Communist Party continues to help their military commanders pour money into new research and new weapons.”
Mitch McConnell “There are literally two options before us. Number one, we can pass this bill, give our service members and commanders the resources they need. Or we can fail to pass this bill and give our armed forces confusion and uncertainty.” pic.twitter.com/L1N6CZbfJ0
— Public News DC (@PublicNewsDC) December 21, 2022
Yet those weren’t the only available choices.
A third avenue was passing a short-term spending bill, which would have allowed the incoming Congress to pass the omnibus bill in the new year.
With a GOP-controlled House, Republicans could have used their political might to pass a more favorable bill or secure wins in other areas. That omnibus bill could have done more to protect Americans against illegal aliens, secure our border, and fight the opioid epidemic. It could have ensured that aid to Ukraine was being spent wisely and it could have held the FBI and other agencies to task.
Instead, the bill supported by McConnell and his gang of 17 beefs up security for other country’s borders, sponsors gender studies in Pakistan, and keeps the gravy train flowing to other progressive pet causes, as well as The Uniparty’s decision to essentially enter the endless war in Ukraine.
It should be noted that McConnell, and others who voted for the bill, have a certain sense of glee about their bipartisan solution. The GOP leader claimed that the bill achieved “essentially all” of his party’s “priorities.”
Of course, as previously observed, that statement makes a lot more sense once you remember he is talking about Washington Republicans — and not those out there suffering through inflation, wide open borders, relentless attacks on childhood a la radical gender theory, and social degradation en masse with the threat of World War III hanging over our heads.
Now the bill heads to the House where outgoing Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has promised a quick vote where it will likely pass.
Readers should remember, McConnell didn’t act alone. He was aided and abetted by 17 other Republicans who just screwed over the country
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.