MAGA Mike Panics and Cancels All Votes in House

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1:08Ben Meiselas:That right there was the United States Senate being unable to pass a resolution to fund the government. They needed 60 votes, as you saw right there. They were nowhere close as Donald Trump ordered the Republicans to have no discussions at all with Democrats, yet alone to actually negotiate with Democrats in good faith. So what does MAGA Mike Johnson do as we are approaching a government shutdown on October 1st. MAGA Mike Johnson canceled the two critical days of work, September 29th and September 30th, before the shutdown would take place on October 1st. This week, there's a Jewish holiday, so not a lot of activity in the House of Representatives.

1:48Ben Meiselas:So September 29th and September 30th would be very critical days. And MAGA Mike Johnson, the Republican Speaker of the House, said, do not show up to work, Republicans. Why? Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans want a shutdown. That's why MAGA Mike Johnson is having the Republicans quite literally go into hiding now, the same way they went into hiding and stopped working over the summer to hide the Epstein files. They're basically doing an encore performance of that right now as the House of Representatives led by some powerful Democrats like Robert Garcia and Ro Khanna and Eric Swalwell and Jasmine Crockett and others are getting closer to getting those Epstein files.

2:30Ben Meiselas:I think Trump wants a shutdown to try to stop the work of the House of Representatives. Also, Donald Trump and MAGA realizes that Trump is crashing the economy right now, and they want to blame the Democrats for it. And they're going to say, the Democrats did it by forcing a shutdown. No, Donald Trump ordered the MAGA Republicans to have no discussions with Democrats at all. Now, Democrats have a pretty simple ask in these funding negotiations. The Affordable Care Act tax credits are set to expire very soon, meaning your premiums for your Affordable Care Act plan, if you're on an Affordable Care Act plan, would skyrocket, perhaps be twice or three times as much money per month.

3:16Ben Meiselas:It would be a significant amount of money. So you may be paying$1 ,500 or$2 ,000 a month for your Affordable Care Act plan, potentially even more, which would bankrupt a lot of American families. So Democrats have said, we need to preserve and protect healthcare. This disastrous budget bill already has gutted Medicaid. It's hurt Medicare. And now the Affordable Care Act tax credits are about to expire. Can we have a discussion over this? Because the Democrats said, we don't want to fund this fascist regime that's going to gut people's health care. It's as simple as that. So I know that Donald Trump and MAGA would rather talk about the UFC fights at the White House.

3:58Ben Meiselas:And I know Donald Trump and Dana White, the head of UFC, they've been planning what it's going to look like, how our taxpayer dollars are going to be funding that. I know Donald Trump wants to talk about the 90 ,000 square foot golden ballroom at the White House where they're ripping to shreds trees and historical relics that are at the White House so that Donald Trump could build this grotesque ballroom. But you know, the American people would like to see their health care preserved and protected. People are already terrified. We're seeing rural hospitals shut down. But Megamike doesn't care.

4:33Ben Meiselas:He's canceled Congress. They literally are hiding and running away. Just, you know, if you want to take it from another reporter, John Bresnahan reports, the House has canceled votes September 29th and 30th. A government shutdown begins October 1, barring some major reversal. Democratic Senator Andy Kim says, completely irresponsible Speaker Johnson is deliberately walking away from the table, essentially running out the clock, holding America's health care and economic security in the crossfire. Come back and do your damn job for the American people. Now, let me just bring the receipts as we always do here on the Midas Touch Network.

5:10Ben Meiselas:I'll show you a video of Maga Mike Johnson running away. But first, I want to show you the order that Maga Mike Johnson and Republicans got from Donald Trump. So again, you don't have to say, oh, well, Ben, he's progressive and lefty and whatever, whatever you want to say I am. OK, let me just show you what Donald Trump said, where Donald Trump says, don't bother dealing with Democrats. A direct quote. don't even bother dealing with the Democrats we have to just get Republican votes that's all to which a foxhole said but don't you need Democrats to get to the 60 vote requirement in the Senate in order to get cloture Trump's like nah we don't need that don't bother talking to Democrats and this is unprecedented in American presidential history I mean to see the president of the United States order his party do not have discussions do not engage in good faith negotiations.

6:02Ben Meiselas:Look, our system is based on good faith negotiations, but Donald Trump has ripped that to shreds the way he's ripped to shreds contracts and good faith business dealings his entire life, where he's bankrupted things and he's turning the United States into that. It should be noted as well that that political rally that was masquerading as a memorial service for Donald Trump, where he said, I hate my political opponents. I hate them. I mean, literally spreading hate there. What a despicable individual he is for saying that and for his behavior here. Play this clip of him right here, though, saying don't deal with Democrats.

6:37Ben Meiselas:Let's play it. What at what is how does President Trump deal with the government? We have to get Republican votes. So if we do, we have the majority. So we have to get. But don't you have to get 60, don't you? No, we we're going to do a probably continuing resolution or we're going to do something. So we're going to do something that here's the problem the democrats have they're sick there's something wrong with them schumer is you know at the end of the rope he's he's going to be defeated in the next election uh if you gave them every dream right now every dream that they've you know they want to give away money to this and that destroy the country if you gave them every dream they would not vote for it.

7:18That's a bit. I told don't even bother. Don't even bother dealing with them. We will get it through because the Republicans are sticking together for the first time in a long time. Look, we got the big I caught the big, the great, big, beautiful.

7:31Ben Meiselas:And again, just so you hear it in MAGA Mike Johnson's own words. So, you know, I'm not like giving you talking points. Just here's MAGA Mike Johnson saying that he will not address Affordable Care Act tax credits in this continuing resolution. In other words, he goes, we may deal with it in December. Well, guess what? That's when it's going to expire. So Americans are going to go bankrupt and lose their health care and die in mass. Maybe we should be dealing with it now, MAGA Mike. Or MAGA Mike, maybe we should have been dealing with in the summer when you shut down Congress again to run away from the fact that you didn't want to talk about Donald Trump's involvement in the Epstein files.

8:17Ben Meiselas:And we're not forgetting about the Epstein files here on the Midas Touch Network. Here's Maga Mike saying, oh, we're not going to address the Affordable Care Act tax credits. Why not? Republicans rely on them. I mean, here's the thing that's so frustrating to me. Republicans rely on this. Y 'all are on Medicaid. Y 'all need health care to live. All the libs, they all want health care. No, you need it too. What are you doing? You're literally voting to kill yourself sometimes. This is what Maggie Mike says. Play this clip. That's what's happening here. What they're trying to argue for, not to get too deep in the weeds, is they're trying to insist that the Obamacare premium subsidies be continued.

8:55That's a December policy debate and decision, not a September funding matter. So they're trying to insert unrelated matters into the middle of a clean government extension.

9:05Ben Meiselas:The smugness on that guy, too. What a frickin' phony. And here was MAGA Mike Johnson, again, trying to blame a government shutdown on Democrats when you all heard for yourself Donald Trump's order, do not deal with Democrats. But here's the ultimate in gaslighting by MAGA Mike Johnson. Play this clip. House Republicans continue to work through regular order to fund the government for FY26 for the next fiscal year. We're working closely with the White House and the Senate to ensure we meet our deadlines. And Chairman Cole, Tom Cole, the appropriators, continues to diligently work towards getting all 12 bills out of committee.

9:40And they're almost done with that. And as we get closer to the funding deadline, though, we recognize the shutdown chatter from the left is growing louder. Some of these people seem to enjoy this. It seems Democrats may take the path of maximum resistance and try to shut the government down. It's not surprising because they're struggling because they don't really have a message or a leader or their party registration is falling. Their approval ratings are in the low 20s, and they're about to elect a Marxist to be the mayor of New York City. They are desperately searching for a solution, and some in the party apparently think a government shutdown would be some sort of political advantage to them.

10:13It'd be what we all know is dangerous and harmful to millions of Americans, and that is not the answer. So I'm going to say this again, and I'm going to say it in good faith. I've shared this with the Democrat leader in the House and other colleagues. Democrats are willing to work with us. We have our sleeves rolled up, and we want to do this in good faith. We just have to think responsibly how to spend less money than we did last year. And if they're willing to do that, and it's incumbent upon all of us to do it with the high national debt, we're open to that. But the ultimate question of whether there's going to be a government shutdown at the end of the month is going to be up to congressional Democrats.

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12:10Ben Meiselas:You know, and as you start looking at like Republicans as well, They're even having to acknowledge that they're having real issues back at home in their districts when they're not in their MAGA bubble where people are suffering. Farmers are being screwed. Prices are going up. People can't afford things. I know the billionaires are doing well. I understand that Donald Trump is making billions of dollars, you know, trading America's future for his own personal net worth and wealth of his family. But here's a MAGA Republican, Don Bacon, who's not running for reelection. Here's what he has to say what's going down in Nebraska.

12:46Ben Meiselas:Let's play it. Do you think he's overreaching on tariffs? I think he is by far. Article 1 of the Constitution clearly gives this to Congress. Granted, we passed three laws in the last century, nothing recently, but the last century that gives the president emergency powers. But most people will tell you this is not emergency powers, what he's doing. And is it hurting your constituents? Yes. We heard just yesterday we have a company that makes combines. They're moving all of their manufacturing that makes combines for Canada to Europe. Because of the tariffs from going to the U.S. to Canada are too high, they can't compete.

13:21So they're going to move all the manufacturing for Canadian combines to Europe. That's hundreds of jobs right there. Iowa and Nebraska are really struggling right now with our farm economy. We're not growing markets for corn and soybeans. The president's making trade deals, but not a single country that I can see has bought more corn or soybeans. That's what we really need right now. And here's Bacon talking about tariffs right here. Let's play it.

14:10Ben Meiselas:All right, now let's show you Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen. I think he does an excellent job here explaining why, like what happened, and how Republicans blocked the common sense plan to keep the government open and protect Americans' health care. Let's play it. Republicans just voted to push the country toward a government shutdown. Let me explain. Just a little while ago, I cast two votes in the United States Senate. One was against the one-way, completely partisan Republican budget. The other was a proposal that we have made to Republicans in the Senate. I voted for that proposal to keep the government open.

14:54Here's the problem. Senate Republicans say they want a bipartisan budget agreement, but they're not calling the shots. Donald Trump is calling all the shots because Republicans in the House and the Senate, at the end of the day, they have contracted out their votes and their responsibilities to Donald Trump. I am not going to write a blank check to a lawless president. We need guardrails. We need safeguards, because right now the president is refusing to spend funds that we've invested in Americans' health care, NIH and other places. And he's refusing to spend monies for public safety through FEMA.

15:40So that's why the Democratic proposal that I voted for includes those guardrails, but it also includes something else. It addresses some of the big critical health care issues we're facing in this country. Because Republicans have left a ticking time bomb on important health care for America. Specifically, at the end of this year, the premium tax credits for people on the Affordable Care Act will go away. That will immediately mean millions of Americans will lose access to health insurance. But it actually will impact everybody in a harmful way because insurance rates and premiums are going to go up across the board.

16:23So we want to turn off this ticking time bomb so it doesn't blow up access to health care for America. That's the proposal we put forward. But Donald Trump, he's taken the position that he's king and it's his way or nothing. And sadly, Republicans are going along. They are clearly heading toward a government shutdown for this country. and there's a way to avoid it through bipartisanship, but that requires people to come together for the good of the country.

16:58Ben Meiselas:Now, here is Senator Patty Murray explaining what went down. Play this clip. President Trump made his marching orders plain as day saying, quote, don't even bother dealing with them. Don't even bother. That's what he said. In other words, Trump does not want a deal. He doesn't want legislation. He doesn't want negotiation. He doesn't care if a shutdown hurts people. And Republican leadership is once again following his orders. Well, I've got some news for Republicans. If you follow Trump's orders and don't even bother dealing with Democrats and you suddenly find you don't have the votes you need to fund the government, that is a Republican shutdown.

17:40Ben Meiselas:And folks, I just had on the Midas Touch podcast Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, and he explained to me, Republicans were not even negotiating with Democrats. Let's play it. Well, I mean, there's no negotiation happening because Donald Trump has told Republicans don't talk to Democrats. So, you know, right now we are less than two weeks away from the government running out of money and Republicans are refusing to speak to Democrats. It looks as if, you know, they're gunning for a shutdown. And, you know, what are we asking to talk about in these negotiations? We are not asking for the moon, right?

18:17We're not asking for some big new health care program. We're simply saying, like, don't raise premiums by 10, 20 percent on everybody who has an Affordable Care Act plan. Like, let's just not make the situation worse. What are we saying about the budget writ large? We're saying, listen, we would just like Donald Trump to behave legally. Right. If we write a budget, we want Donald Trump to actually implement the budget and not view himself as a king who can spend the money he wants when it rewards his political friends. And he can not spend the money as a means to try to punish his political enemies.

18:52Right. Spend the money in the red states, not spend the money in the blue states. So we're literally just saying, don't raise people's premiums by 75 percent. Don't behave illegally. And you might be able to get our votes, but they won't even talk to us because I think they like the chaos. They like the idea of a shutdown. And that's where they're driving us, which would be a catastrophe for the country if we end up in a shutdown simply because Republicans refuse to even talk to Democrats.

19:20Ben Meiselas:But see, that doesn't stop the MAGA Republicans from lying. I showed you before MAGA Mike Johnson, but here I'm going to show you a press conference with MAGA Republican Senator Jim Thune, majority leader, and here's Senator Barroso. And here he's like, the Democrats are to blame. It's the Democrats who are doing that. It's you. It's you. And Americans, what's the, you know, in every other country, like health care is a, like an absolute right, except in the United States where y 'all are playing games with people's lives. You know, it is, this is an issue that impacts everybody, okay? Healthcare, I mean, I understand maybe the billionaires don't care, but healthcare, Affordable Care Act, Medicaid, Medicare, and Republicans are like, we're not going to deal with that.

20:09Ben Meiselas:Then what are you doing? You think we prefer UFC matches at the White House and 90 ,000 square foot ballrooms and y 'all destroying the Rose Garden and replacing it with Club Rose Garden, some club for billionaires in the White House. No, we just want freaking health care. We want to afford homes and afford rent and afford groceries. And we want what Donald Trump promised, which was to end these wars abroad. That's what Americans want. Oh, now Donald Trump's like, we're going into Afghanistan again. We're going to get Bagram Air Force Base. We built Bagram. No, the Russians built Bagram, Donald.

20:42Ben Meiselas:You may want to ask your buddy Putin about it. And we don't want our troops back in Afghanistan. I don't want America killing people on fishing boats and not understanding what the hell is really going on there. And I certainly don't want the atrocities happening in Gaza right now. Anyway, here, play this clip of Barrasso. Let's play it. Republicans want to keep the government open. And the Democrats, based on what I believe is the Schumer strategy, is a shutdown strategy. It is their goal to shut down the government. The left wing of their party is demanding it. And Chuck Schumer is snakebit.

21:16He's afraid to do anything that they won't want him to do.

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