On December 12th 2014 the Republican controlled House of Representatives passed a 1,600 page continuing resolution, an “omnibus” spending bill of over $2 trillion dollars.  Every one of President Obama’s policy and agenda items was fully funded; including Obama’s executive action on immigration called DACA (Deferred Action for Children of Americans).

Approximately two months later, February 2015, the key-note speaker for the CPAC conference was Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan.  The same Paul Ryan who just passed a $2+ trillion Omnibus and eliminated the debt ceiling. At the conclusion of his speech over 1,000 members of the CPAC audience gave Speaker Ryan a standing ovation.
During a discussion of the irony and hypocrisy someone coined the phrase “Battered Conservative Syndrome” to describe the audience.   What, exactly, did that CPAC audience see as “conservative” in the fiscal action of Paul Ryan in the preceding two months?

Fast forward two and a half years later.  Republicans are in control of the House of Representatives, Republicans are in control of the Senate, a Republican President is in the White House, and somehow there’s “negotiations” on how to fund the #1 campaign promise of President Donald Trump, the border wall.
Here’s the rub.
Here’s what pundits never discuss.
The Republican party doesn’t need a single Democrat to fund the border wall.
A single spending bill could come from the House of Representatives that fully funds 100% of the border wall.  The spending bill then goes to the senate, where again, it doesn’t need a single Democrat vote because spending legislation is specifically what “reconciliation” was designed to facilitate.  That House bill can pass the Senate with 51 votes and proceed directly to the President’s desk for signature.
So, ask yourself: why is this even a point of discussion?
The honest answer, for those who are no longer suffering from Battered Conservative Syndrome, is that Republicans don’t want to fund or build an actual physical barrier known as the Southern Border Wall.
It really is that simple.
To those who would claim this is too simplistic an overview, I would suggest they were probably part of that 2015 CPAC audience.
Yes, the UniParty is very real.

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