Interesting times on the democrat government shut down:

 So now we find ourselves in the midst of yet another government shut down.

The main question is one we typically see when the GOP in the past when there've been these shutdowns: Will the GOP cave?

What it boils down to is this:

Under the Biden Administration, the then democrat-controlled Congress passed a law TEMPORARILLY adding additional government subsidies to Obamacare, where these subsidies were available at some level to families of 4 with as much as $600,000 in yearly income.

Here is the law they passed and Biden signed:

Law passed by democrat congress.

 

Now, with the sunsetting clause the DEMOCRATS implemented coming due, this is the amendment they've shut down government over:

Lie's by Sen. Schumer, et all, notwithstanding, that illegals receive no federal funding; Schumer and his Winged Monkeys are refusing to acknowledge that this claim is merely numbers juggling, that they provide funding to the states, so the states can redirect their own money towards, you guessed it, illegal alien medical care.

As Schumer has proved, figures don't lie... but liars figure.

Trump, for his part, cannot cave on this issue. If he does?

Then the left will engage in this extortion on a regular basis because, why wouldn't they when thy get what they want most every time?

House GOP Leadership flipped the needed "no" vote to keep Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" alive.

EARLY this morning, one of the GOP no votes on Trump's BBBA flipped. the bill then passed when that one vote was enough to push it past the tie threshold that would have defeated the bill and enabled passage with a vote of 219 to 213.

When it pushed past the tie vote threshold, all of the GOP no votes then flipped to yes, save for one GOP hold out who likely ended his career yesterday with a surprise "no" vote, (Caucuses, by tradition, are typically supposed to lock up on what's called "procedural votes.") and who then fled the Capitol and failed to return any of Speaker Johnson's phone calls, leaving leadership hanging.

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), the surprise "no" vote, immediately left the Capitol while the vote was ongoing. The political equivalent of a "dine and dash" moment, Fitzpatrick was in no mood to defend his vote nor to take the heat for it. He remained the only GOP no vote.

MAGA is, of course, furious. That said, Johnson likely needs to tread lightly based on the reality that Fitzpatrick, now considered a full-blown RINO, could switch parties, reducing the number of votes required to derail any GOP bill to what would then be effectively a 3-vote majority. (There is no tie-breaking mechanism in the House, unlike the Senate.)

I had declared the bill dead with the 4.... then 5... "no" votes and 8 GOP reps not voting to that point. That may also have been done strategically, as anyone voting on the prevailing side of any vote can then request immediate reconsideration.... and the House leadership (GOP) could then determine exactly what "immediate" means, which would have resulted in more time for GOP Leadership to do, what ultimately was done regardless-get more time for leadership to do what they did: flip the "no" votes.

Now the bill moves on to final passage.

Will the GOP continue to hold the needed votes? That's the question. They can count on Fitzpatrick to continue to be a no, and others like Rep. Tom Massie (R-KY) who has been claiming to be a rather militant "no" on this bill but who, in the end, voted yes on the procedural vote, may once again vote "no."

This is riveting drama for political junkies. Otto von Bismarck is credited with a saying that applies here: "There are two things people don't want to see being made: sausage and legislation," or words to that effect.

As I'm writing this, the democrat leader is engaging in the House version of a filibuster by whining on the House floor. As a caucus leader, by tradition, he's allowed to speak as long as he wants... aka "the Magic Minute."

He's been at it for 3 hours or so.

Isn't politics "fun?" (Polymarket, a renown political betting site, indicates an 84% chance the bill will now pass and pass today.)