THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

Because when talking about the Republican Party, there is no end to what those pricks will do to advance their agenda. The latest example of their moral and ethical deficiency is the new attempt to get their long term spending bill passed by tying CHIP renewal to it.

With little hope of an immigration agreement this week, Republicans in Congress are looking to head off a government shutdown this weekend by pairing another stopgap spending measure with long-term funding for the popular Children’s Health Insurance Program, daring Democrats to vote no.

The bill would leave in limbo hundreds of thousands of young immigrants brought to the country illegally as children. But Democrats would still be left with a difficult political decision: withhold their votes unless the plight of such immigrants, known as Dreamers, is addressed and risk a government shutdown, or vote to keep the government open and fund the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which provides coverage for nearly nine million children.

The bill would set up another possible showdown in mid-February, with government funding set to expire Feb. 16. But it would give lawmakers time to continue negotiations on immigration and long-term government funding levels.

“With no imminent deadline on immigration and with bipartisan talks well underway, there is no reason why Congress should hold government funding hostage over the issue of illegal immigration,” Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, said on Tuesday.

The plan, put forth by House Republicans on Tuesday, does not extinguish the suspense on Capitol Hill this week. House Republican leaders may be unable to secure passage of the bill with solely Republican votes, since Republicans eager to increase military spending have been frustrated with stopgap spending measures.

“This is just buying time,” said Representative Mark Sanford, Republican of South Carolina. “I think it’s the best of the available bad choices.”

House Democrats, most of whom voted against the last stopgap measure in December, are not likely to embrace this bill either, given the impasse on immigration — especially after President Trump was said to have made vulgar remarks in a meeting on immigration last week.

So if they can't get Democrats to vote for a shitty spending bill with endangered immigrants then maybe sick kids will do the trick. Gotta love the cynicism of the current Republican Party.