Not A Done Deal, Speaking Of Votes, Booker vs. Bacon

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Not A Done Deal
 
Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC), chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, talked to Fox & Friends this morning about the border security deal that was announced late Monday night. 
 
While most reporting indicates that the president is likely to accept the deal, if only to avoid another government shutdown, Rep. Meadows expressed his frustration with the process and urged Trump to be very cautious. 
 
Here are some excerpts of his remarks:
 
"The amount of money that is here, it would take 20 years to complete the wall.  Are we going to wait 20 years to stop drug traffickers?  Are we going to wait 20 years to stop human trafficking? . . . I hope not.  We can do better than that.  We should do better than that."
 
"I'm not disappointed in the president.  I'm disappointed in Congress. . .  Let me stress this:  No one has seen the deal.  They were still negotiating last night.  Democrats were trying to add things to this deal last night.  Nobody has seen the text. . .  If we're going to vote on a 1,000-page bill, I want to read it before I vote on it."
 
House GOP leaders Kevin McCarthy and Steve Scalise are echoing Meadows' concerns.  "I haven't seen the language. I want to see the final deal," Scalise told reporters today. 
 
But Reuters suggests they may not get that chance:
 
"The Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives could vote as soon as Wednesday evening, a senior aide said, despite not yet having produced a written copy of the agreement reached by congressional negotiators on Monday night."
 
While a vote is likely to come sometime tomorrow, the president is well aware of just how eager the left is to handcuff him when it comes to building the wall.  Speaking to reporters this afternoon, Trump said, "We haven't gotten [the deal text] yet.  We'll be getting it, and we'll be looking for land mines." 
 
 
 
Speaking Of Votes. . .
 
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced yesterday that he is scheduling a vote on the Green New Deal.  "We'll give everybody a chance to go on record and see how they feel about the Green New Deal," McConnell said.
 
That is a great idea.  But instead of just one vote, I think McConnell should hold a series of votes on all the crazy ideas contained in the Green New Deal. 
 
Let's see which senators want to ban cars.  I wonder how auto union workers in Michigan and Ohio feel about that.
 
Let's see which senators want to ban cows.  I wonder how voters in dairy and ranching states feel about that.  Maybe Ben & Jerry's might think twice about the progressive agenda their ice cream is supporting. 
 
Let's find out which senators want to ban airplanes.  How many progressives in Chicago, where Boeing is headquartered, think that is a good idea?
 
Curiously, Senator Ed Markey (D-MA), the Senate sponsor of the Green New Deal, is terrified of a vote.  He accused McConnell of attempting to "sabotage the movement" and "silencing" progressive voices. 
 
 
 
Booker vs. Bacon
 
Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) is coming for your bacon.  You see, Sen. Booker is a vegan who believes that eating meat will destroy the planet. 
 
He recently explained to VegNews (no, I am not making this up!) that "food policy" is a key pillar of the left's radical green agenda:
 
"This planet simply can't sustain billions of people consuming . . . consuming meat the same way America does. . .  We will destroy our planet unless we start figuring out a better way forward when it comes to our climate change and our environment."
 
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) tweeted a picture yesterday of a delicious steak with the caption, "Hey @CoryBooker I support PETA - People Eating Tasty Animals."
 
Booker also said that eating eggs "was something that didn't align with my spirit."  I guess he's just a really sensitive guy.  But it's a strange spirit that is offended by eating eggs and not by the abortionist's knife. 
 
Again, it's remarkable the number of things the left wants to take away:  Your guns, your car, your frequent flyer miles, your private health insurance, your eggs and bacon.