Monday, November 06, 2023

WTF? DEFUND WHAT?!

An appropriation bill is up for consideration in the Republican-led House this week. The Washington Post reports:
Republicans will ... try to pass the financial services and general government appropriations bill. Members have proposed more than 250 amendments to the measure, including multiple Republican amendments to defund Biden’s office of gun violence prevention and one from Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) to defund the vice president’s office.
Wait, what? What was that last proposed amendment?
... one from Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) to defund the vice president’s office.
That's not a joke. Here's the list of amendments, and here's the Collins amendment:


America is supposed to have a vice president. It's in the Constitution and everything. At times in the nation's past, we didn't have a vice president, because the president had died and the VP who ascended to the presidency wasn't replaced, but that changed with the ratification of the 25th Amendment in 1967, which requires a VP who becomes president to pick a new VP. Collins doesn't care. As far as he's concerned, Congress can defund the vice presidency into non-existence.

What's his beef with Harris? It appears to have something to do with guns:


You may not even have been aware of the fact that the vice president heads the White House's office of gun violence prevention, but gun extremists know. I assume Collins doesn't want that office funded -- but he apparently doesn't want any other aspect of Harris's work to be funded either. What's up with that? Racism? Sexism?

Sexism, for sure. Notice how many times Collins mentions Nancy Pelosi's name in this 2021 campaign ad (and also notices how many guns he waves and shoots, when he's not driving a truck -- how macho! -- or praying over a diner sandwich):


The Collins amendment will never become law, because we have a Democratic Senate and president -- but maybe it will help Collins become a senator or governor someday. GOP voters love this kind of performative bullshit. I'm sure he'll brag about the amendment in future campaigns.

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