Kevin McCarthy’s nonexistent leadership skills are catching up with him already

| 7:00 pm EDT April 19, 2023
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In case you don’t already know about Kevin McCarthy’s (lack of) leadership skills, just wait. He’s pushing his Republican colleagues to vote on his debt plan. The problem? He doesn’t have a plan. He has never had a plan and neither do any of the rest of them. According to Politico, he previewed his so-called plan in a Wall Street speech Monday. Just like with his speakership bid, McCarthy is being outmaneuvered by members of his party who don’t want to go along with him. Some leader.

Politico quoted Nancy Mace (R-SC), who said she isn’t “there yet.” She went on to say: “We have to have a plan. You’re going to walk into the debt ceiling vote without a plan? That’s not going to bode well for the outcome.” Apparently, McCarthy thinks that if he tells his comrades to vote a certain way, they will, like lemming, jump off the cliff with him. You would think he learned something from his 15 tries to become speaker. They are still divided among their hard right cohorts and the more moderate members of their party. Apparently, someone has posed an extreme bill involving the border that moderate Republicans want no part of. Some are from states that have turned from red to purple, and their constituents are not going to want money spent on a border wall.

Further, according to Politico, McCarthy isn’t getting along too well with his budget chiefs, and the introduction of Garret Graves didn’t help things. McCarthy is not seeing eye-to-eye with his House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-TX), and that has been the source of some issues. According to Politico, before the meeting even started, Arrington said: “I hope we’re focused on our mission. We don’t need distractions. We need to unify.” Unity is something that has been foreign to the group from the beginning, but it is also a necessity, as McCarthy is four votes away from mass chaos on the Republican side.

Republicans, of course, want to cut spending to agree to raising the debt ceiling. That would be fine if they cut “pork” projects that need to be cut. The first thing they think of is cutting Medicaid and other aid that benefits the babies they want to force women to birth. Another thing McCarthy has in mind to cut is the tax, climate, and health care measure passed by Democrats last year, which includes additional funding to the IRS for enforcement. Oh, no, we don’t want to make rich people pay their fair share, so let’s get rid of that, even as we take food from the mouths of children. The sad thing is that even their own budget experts believe these cuts will do little, if anything, to save costs. In other words, these cuts would be yet another effort in futility.

Republicans continue to show that they have no idea how to make meaningful legislation. Even more damning, McCarthy is the worst person they could have chosen to lead. He couldn’t even get them to agree on his speakership, which should have given him an idea of what he’s up against. Unfortunately, his ego lied to him, and the rest of us must deal with that.

Dear Palmer Report readers, we all understand the difficult era we're heading into. Major media outlets are caving to Trump already. Even the internet itself and publishing platforms may be at risk. But Palmer Report is nonetheless going to lead the fight. We're funding our 2025 operating expenses now, so we can keep publishing no matter what happens. I'm asking you to contribute if you can, because the stakes are just so high. You can donate here.