So why not pay the Coast Guard?

Politics & Elections
1

By now, we’ve all seen Sen. Bennet’s awesome takedown of Sen. Lyin’ Ted Cruz. If not, I encourage you to find it on YouTube. It’s about 25 minutes of full-throated harangue. It’s awesome. Here is the speech.

After all that, though, Lyin’ Ted gave a floor speech. Skipping all of the usual BS that effuses from his pie hole, Lyin’ Ted said that Sen. Kennedy introduced a bill to pay the Coast Guard. This bill, according to Cruz, addressed no other issues and had no other provisions. It was a yes/no bill to pay the Coast Guard. Cruz went on to say that the bill has stalled because Minority Leader Schumer raised an objection. Here is Cruz’s response, including the bit about the Coast Guard.

So, what’s the Straight Dope? I can’t find Schumer’s objection. When Ted Cruz starts to sound reasonable, I know I must be missing something. Why not consider and pass the bill to pay the Coast Guard?

2

I haven’t heard what Schumer’s objection is, but it’s a little offensive to say we’ll pay the Coast Guard to take some of the political heat off the Republicans, while Air Traffic Controllers, FBI agents, etc, etc., still have to work for free. It is designed to prolong the shutdown while reducing the political cost. Senator Kennedy is reprehensible, as in Cruz.

3

I think the issue is that fixing the Coast Guard pay issues does nothing for TSA, ATC, etc. and there’s little interest in taking a vote that results in only for one group getting paid, and telling the others that they aren’t as important.