In one of those moments that informs us that the World is Not actually Ending (tomorrow) the Congressional baseball teams will gather late this afternoon for the annual bipartisan (but fiercely divided) baseball game. In one of the more poignant aspects of this amazing week, Rep. Steve Scalise will take the field despite having been shot in 2017. There is life and resilience on The Hill, even if the possibility of a government shut down remains on the table.
There is much to be decided before the end of fiscal year 2021 at midnight tomorrow. Those issues include the Budget Ceiling, the budget itself for 2022, two enormous and largely unread appropriations bills for infrastructure and perpetual entitlements in health, Pre-K and University education, a vast increase in the national debt, and the future of the Build Back Better agenda.
Will young women be required to register for the draft? Do we need tens of thousands of new IRS agents to examine all our bank accounts and impose taxes on the cash economy?
The Writer’s Section will not attempt to predict anything in this chaos. Two Senators hold the fate of the future. President Biden met with Senators Sinema (D-AZ) (“Don’t raise taxes!”) and Manchin (D-WV) (“Spending too much!”) yesterday. Speaker Pelosi is driving the train, but no one is quite sure what track it is on!
There is a plan going forward. Does it include shedding Mr. Biden? Could VP Harris’s citizenship status change the normal succession to include “President Pelosi?” The Speaker is #3 in line to the Oval Office. These are exciting and historic times in Washington. We may even get to know what our collective future ill be- tomorrow!
Oh, that China financial collapse? That might be something to consider as well. Whenever we get time… The Romans must have said stuff like that, back in a time when anyone cared….
Copyright 2021 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com