Beau of The Fifth Column
Let's talk about the GOP taking a holiday instead of paying troops....
11 Oct 2025
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Well, howdy there, Internet people. It's Belle again. So today, we're going to talk about the GOP taking a holiday instead of paying troops. Y'all aren't going to believe this. The logistics guys say the government has to be reopened by the 13th so they can process the checks to get the military paid on the 15th. So, what did Senate Majority Leader Thune do?
He sent the Senate home until the 14th. So, if you're getting one of those checks, at this point, either there has to be a dramatic shift in Congress or military payroll has to be wrong and something will take less time than they say to get you paid. Unless you're brand new, I think you already know nothing takes less time than initially estimated when it comes to your pay.
The fact that they did this after Johnson got embarrassed by a military wife on C-SPAN says it all. I got some comments that I was being too harsh on the Republican position on this. They're taking a long weekend and not coming back until after the deadline. Still think I'm being too harsh?
At this point, the only slim hope the troops have of getting paid is if Trump finds a way to shuffle existing funds somehow. The pay of the military is in the hands of a guy so good at math he totally knew he didn't need Democratic support to pass the continuing resolution.
Chapter 2: How does Congress's holiday impact military pay?
Beyond that, Republican rhetoric is getting to be a stretch, even by current standards. Johnson went on TV to try to blame Democrats, saying, quote, You know, I'm a very patient guy, but I've had it with these people. They're playing games with real people's lives. The theory we have right now, they have a hate America rally that's scheduled for October 18th on the National Mall.
He then suggested that merch sales by Democrats means they won't reopen until after the rally. I'm curious, which party has both houses of Congress on break? The Democratic Party can't do that.
They don't have the majority. The Republican Party chose to stop work, take a long weekend, and potentially miss the deadline to get troops paid. That was Republicans, not Democrats. There's no way to argue that. It's an objective statement of fact. Republicans control the houses of Congress. Republicans set the schedule. Republicans decided to take a break.
Chapter 3: What are the implications of the GOP's decision to take a break?
I guess doing nothing is incredibly stressful, and they needed to get away for a while. You know, as opposed to those wondering if they're going to get paid on time, or at all, or if they're going to get back pay, or if they're going to get laid off. That's not stressful.
It's the people who are saying, we did our job, while the government is shut down because they, in fact, did not do their job that really need a break. And are we really going to talk about politicians and merch sales right now? Because I'm still laughing over the Trump-endorsed Bible that's missing part of the Constitution. I'm not joking.
That Trump-endorsed Bible that reportedly wound up in some schools is apparently missing everything after the 10th Amendment. So it's missing about 2,600 words out of about 7,500. Much like Republicans in Congress.
Chapter 4: How does rhetoric affect public perception of military funding?
It just didn't finish the job. Anyway, it's just a thought. Y'all have a good day.