Action 167 - Stand Firm
Background: Recall that the Big Ugly Budget Bill passed the House and Senate with Vance casting the tiebreaking vote on July 3. Maine’s entire delegation voted against it. (1) But the Congressional budget and spending process is ridiculously complicated (2) and there still needs to be a vote on 13 separate spending plans to avoid a shutdown (total or partial) (3). In the House vote September 19, Jared Golden voted with the Republicans. He was the only Democrat to defect, and apparently his vote wasn’t needed anyway: he could have stood with his fellow Democrats. (4) Now the Republicans’ proposal goes to the Senate, where it is expected to fail. This means a probable shutdown on October 1, either total or partial. So what? Brookings outlines the effects – see (5). One has to wonder whether the perpetrators of Project 2025 aren’t secretly hoping for a shutdown. After all, they have already wreaked unimaginable havoc on the government, and they are undoubtedly looking forward to pinning the blame on the Democrats. But that is unfair. We members of the public need to stand on principle, that’s our job. We hire our legislators to perform the balancing act among competing interests. For a thoughtful discussion about “messaging the shutdown”, see (6).
Action: This is copied from an email sent today by Shelly, who writes: “Today’s action is to fight for a fair budget:
Contact Senator King and Senator Collins to reject any proposed budget that unfairly doesn't meet the needs of all Americans. If the government has run out of money, it's not the fault of poor and working people--the blame lies solely on political gamesmanship at the highest levels. Regular people don't deserve to be punished.
King: He needs to stay strong in his support of the demands Democrats are making for changes to the Republican proposed budget. A shutdown might be necessary at this point—even though it’s not a good thing for anyone—and King must help Democrats push the true story that if a shutdown happens, it was forced on the country by the Republican party whose members don’t have the balls to stand up to Trump.
Collins: She’s been saying the right thing (or whispering it), but we all know what she says has nothing to do with the way she votes. Some billionaire will give her bucketloads of money at the last minute, and she’ll cave. That is the wrong thing to do: unethical, immoral, and shows clear disinterest in the needs of her constituents. We need an economy that works for all of us—where poor and working people can live good lives and not struggle just to get by.
We need to flood their offices with calls and letters demanding:
✅ Fund Health Care: Restore Medicaid & Medicare and extend ACA tax credits.
✅ Fund Housing: Permanently affordable housing—not harassment of unhoused people.
✅ Invest in Clean Energy & Clean Water: Protect our environmental agencies that go after polluters, and invest in affordable clean energy and emergency response to climate disasters.
✅ Defund Fascism: Cut the military and ICE budgets.
✅ Tax the Rich: Make billionaires and corporations pay their fair share.”
Urgency: Apparently the Senate won’t be in town to vote until Monday, which gives them less than 48 hours to avoid a shutdown. (They’ve been on recess since Sept. 17th.) So call ASAP. You know how to do this by now!
Extra Credit:
(1)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Big_Beautiful_Bill_Act
(2)https://www.nvfc.org/the-federal-budget-process-fact-sheet/