Wondering on Wednesday (v120)

It's Wednesday -- you know what that means, right?

Why, I wonder, is the president so fixated on having a nice little American Bastille Day. Or North Korea Day. Or Russia Day? I don't know that anyone knows for sure what exactly he's looking for - is it to show that his whatever is bigger than everybody's whatever? Or, to show that he likes out veterans so much he'd make them suffer through an hours-long parade? Or maybe in his cold war dreams, a parade's the only thing that makes sense to show American power? Or, is it just a play for attention?  Regardless, this is a great rendition of the classic "I Love a Parade" to get you in the mood.

What else is on mind tonight? My three nephews; two are Navy men, the third is a civilian Department of Defense employee.  All of them need their paychecks, thank you very much, and so we're all very focused on efforts to ensure the government stays open, even though the president would love a SHUTdown, we'll do a SHUTdown, we need a SHUTdown and together my husband and I said he needs to SHUT up already!

Meanwhile, 

On Wednesday, Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced a deal on budget caps that would increase investments in domestic programs and the military by roughly $300 billion over the next two years: the deal lifts funding for domestic programs by $128B and hikes defense budgets by $160B.

Also on Wednesday, Nancy Pelosi broke the record for the longest speech on the House floor since the House had a floor - or, at least since 1909.  Pelosi, of whom I am not a fan, was protesting that McSchumer's plan did not include anything about Dreamers, who are not a deportation priority, according to the Trump administration, and also don't appear to be a legislative priority, if Senators are willing to try and fund the government without ensuring protections for them.

I wonder about $300 billion in new spending in two years -- two years! -- no matter what it's for. I wonder why we can't just agree to address DACA and Dreamers without having to tie that to all of the 'bad' immigration - you know, the killers who come her to kill American teenagers; the chain migration that allows someone to come here and kill American adults, and the drug dealers that come here to kill everyone. THAT immigration, the Trump vision of immigration, is something I will also continue to wonder about, for reasons I've spoken of many times in these pages.

Now, we all have to wonder whether the House will approve what the Senate leaders worked out. As usual, I expect there are almost as many reasons to disapprove of the plan as their are House members, and likely fewer reasons to approve it.

And I'll continue to wonder why the people we send to Congress can't do their jobs - but will get paid anyway, in a shutdown - while my three nephews all can do theirs without any issues, and may not get paid at all.