Chuck Schumer Pounding his Fists Again

Schumer’s Tantrum: One Purple Crayon Away from a Shutdown

Chuck Schumer has 63 crayons. He’s got funding for Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Defense, Education, Infrastructure, Emergency Services, and half a dozen more he can barely keep track of. But you take one purple crayon away, say, $9.4 billion in spending from a $6 trillion government purse, and Chuck doesn’t reach for a reason. He goes for the matches.

The Senate majority leader is stomping around in diapered outrage, threatening a full-blown government shutdown because House Republicans dared to introduce a rescissions package that trims a fraction of a percent from the federal budget. Not 5%. Not 1%...

Less than two-tenths of one percent.

You wouldn’t burn down the house over a misplaced couch cushion. But Washington isn’t rational. It’s theatrical. And Chuck Schumer isn’t behaving like a leader. He’s throwing a tantrum in the toy aisle and daring anyone to stop him.

Schumer isn't signaling alarm at the math because he knows the formula and figures. Chuck knows how minor the cuts are: Those cuts are so small, they’re basically the government putting a dime in a tip jar and calling it fiscal discipline.

What bothers Chuck the most is the precedent: The Republicans asserting control over even a sliver of spending without his nod of approval equals the freedom he cannot grant. Schumer doesn't want just obedience; he wants to hold the entire federal government hostage.

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