You may recall that during the tax reform debate, part-time comedian Jimmy Kimmel tearfully ripped into Republicans, accusing them of prioritizing rich donors over sick children. To emphasize this point, he held his young son -- fresh off of heart surgery -- in his arms as he delivered his emotional diatribe. How could these Republicans put "a tax cut that mostly goes to rich people ahead of the lives of children?" It was the sort of demagogic and misleading question that likely warmed Chuck Schumer's heart as he wrote it for Kimmel. Of course, as fate would have it, the tax bill passed in spite of the Kimmel-aided left-wing propaganda machine's best efforts. It is succeeding immensely, has experienced a dramatic rebound in public support, and stands to benefit 91 percent of middle income Americans -- whose interests Kimmel purports to defend in his increasingly synthetic and unconvincing "average Joe" schtick.
Aside from those developments, Kimmel also badly mangled the facts regarding CHIP, the federal healthcare program for kids about which the late night host was so agitated. The Washington Post's in-house fact-checker methodically flayed Kimmel's inaccurate, emotive lecture, noting (a) that CHIP was not imminently in danger of running out of money, (b) that House Republicans had passed a four-year extension of the program, opposed by most Democrats due to a disagreement over funding mechanisms, and (c) that just a few days prior, Congress had specifically protected the program in its stopgap spending bill, which was signed into law by the president.
Put charitably, the elementary-level evidence did not support Pope Kimmel's hysterical sermon. Nevertheless, the partisan applause-addicted television host wanted to signal to everyone how very passionate he is about the status of CHIP. Which brings us to this week's news. A majority of both houses of Congress voted in favor of legislation that would have kept the government open and extended CHIP's funding for another six years. Republicans even abandoned their preferred offsets that had caused strife over pay-fors. Stability and support for sick kids, for years to come? Kimmel must have been thrilled about this development, and furious at Senate Democrats for blocking it with a filibuster, right? Over to you, Jim:
Kimmel hits GOP for attaching children's healthcare to "horseshit" government funding bill https://t.co/R4xAiM67D6 pic.twitter.com/qiKew3tcqa
— The Hill (@thehill) January 20, 2018
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Ah, yes. Republicans must not only pass the policies Minority Leader Kimmel supports; they must also do so in precisely the manner that he demands. In this case, helping the children is "horsesh*t" because the GOP isn't simultaneously assenting to Democratic demands on the entirely separate issue of immigration. It's outrageous to use DREAMers and sick children as "bargaining chips," you see:
Shame on you for making CHIP a bargaining chip, shame on you for tying our children's lives to immigration and shame on you and @SpeakerRyan for doing ANYTHING other than funding CHIP cleanly and IMMEDIATELY.
— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) January 17, 2018
Shame, shame, shame. Except...Democrats have been using military spending as a bargaining chip throughout this debate. Why does Pope Kimmel hate our troops? See how obnoxious and tedious these arguments can get? Also, compromising on complex issues necessarily involves bargaining. As Allahpundit wrote last week, the only way to get Democrats to agree to basic border security and immigration enforcement measures (don't tell me our system is working well, or that the border is secure) is to attach those provisions to something else they really want. Theoretically, Democrats could have their "clean" DREAM Act after Republicans (the elected majority, I must point out) get their "clean" up-or-down vote on completing the border wall. Since that isn't going to happen, merging the two priorities is the obvious path forward on a compromise. And that would-be compromise, incidentally, has nothing to do with government funding. It's an ancillary issue, with the DACA deadline well over a month away, as bipartisan talks continue.
In case you missed it yesterday, I'll leave you with none other than Kimmel's head writer, Shutdown Chuck, excoriating Republicans in 2013 for holding all government funding 'hostage' to a policy outcome on an outside issue. Pay special attention to the specific example he gave at the time of an issue about which his party feels very strongly, yet would never be so reckless as to exploit as an excuse to shut down the government. Perfect:
Well this is awkward. Chuck Schumer in 2013. #Chuckdown pic.twitter.com/3todBxmgj0
— Sweetened Beverage Recovery Fee (@jasonelevation) January 20, 2018
"Governmental chaos." By the way, some lefties (including a former Obama speechwriter) are feigning shock and exasperation over the GOP's stance of not negotiating with Democrats to end their gratuitous and unpopular Schumer Shutdown. Yes, how unprecedented and astonishing. Oops:
NPR 10/4/13: "President Obama says he's willing to talk with Republican lawmakers about adjustments to the health care law and other issues, but only after they re-open the government" https://t.co/9ha3t6oV7q
— Matt Mackowiak (@MattMackowiak) January 20, 2018
UPDATE - Enjoy:
Man, @jimmykimmel’s angry descent into half-baked political preening is really taking a toll on his physical appearance. pic.twitter.com/vPdDpsoRqJ
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) January 21, 2018
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