It is heartbreaking to see the news accounts of the murders and kidnappings terrorists are inflicting on the good people of Israel. We pray for humanity. We also pray that our leaders, especially President Biden, will have the strength and wisdom to stand with Israel and support them in every way possible and hopefully bring a quick end to this cowardly act of violence.
The sky is falling. Part 1,263
Lee Haywood
So, that happened.
Last Tuesday, after Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz filed a Motion to Vacate against House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the house convened to hear the charges against him. After a couple of hours of back and forth from the professional bloviators, Gaetz asked for a roll call vote. It appeared close for a while but in a stunning development McCarthy was voted out by his peers in the House of Representatives. When I say stunning, it is because there were eight Republicans who joined the House Democrats to fire him from his position. I’m not sure that even Gaetz thought that his motion would succeed. But therein lies the problem. I’ll get to that momentarily.
It seems he was upset with some of the broken promises McCarthy made in exchange for him getting out of the way of his bid for Speaker. Especially the habit of cramming all kinds of miscellaneous items into a budget and expecting everyone to be a good little soldier, hold their nose and vote for it. Gaetz is first and foremost a fiscal conservative and time and again, leadership waits to negotiate a budget until it must be delayed by a continuing resolution. These budget deals always, and I mean always, include pork projects from basically every single elected official in Washington. This is one of the primary reasons our country has found itself 33 trillion in debt. Yes, 33 trillion.
His point is that Representatives should be given time to study these budgets (God forbid) and most items should be separate and put on the floor for a standalone vote. I wholeheartedly agree.
OK. Anyone walking around with his hairstyle is obviously fearless when it comes to public opinion. And Gaetz had every right to do what he did. But where I disagree with him is the process and his lack of having a plan B. Even though McCarthy goaded him by saying “Lets get on with it” he should have had a plan in place should his scheme succeed or not have attempted it at all. The Democrats, always looking for a way to embarrass the Republicans were united in their votes. Gaetz’ gang of eight single handedly put the House in disarray for the foreseeable future.
Hopefully next week the leadership will start the process to choose a new, better speaker. The events in Israel will hopefully light a fire under their collective butts. Indeed, it appears Jim Jordan and Steve Scalise are front runners for the position. I like both. But if there is one piece of advice I would give them, it would be for them to do away with that stupid rule stating one person can call for a Motion to Vacate. Maybe it shows just how much McCarthy was willing to give up for the position and maybe it is good he is gone.
All week I have been asked my opinion on this situation. My answer is yes, it isn’t good but things happen for a reason and we have been through much, much worse. The sky is obviously not falling. It might be a little overcast with a pesky drizzle but it will be sunny with a slight breeze again before you know it. I promise.
Lee Haywood is a franchise owner for Winzer USA, an MRO supply company based in Plano, TX.
He services industrial and government accounts across NC. Lee and his wife Brenda reside in Summerfield, NC and have been married for 39 years. He considers himself to be quite the dude.