THREE MARTINI LUNCH: DECEMBER 12, 2014

National Review's Jim Geraghty joins host Greg Corombos. Today's topics: Tom Coburn's farewell message to the U.S. Senate, GOP House leaders thumb their noses at conservatives on the "cromnibus" spending bill, and an MSNBC host asks Rick Perry if he's smart enough to be president.



With 'Cromnibus,' the Permanent Bipartisan Fusion Government Strikes Back

Ladies and gentlemen of the Right, you've been had. You thought you voted to stop Obama and the Democrats last month, but all you really did was make the Permanent Bipartisan Fusion Government angry. You poked the bear. And now the bear has crammed Cromnibus down your throats, just to prove it could. Here's how the AP reported the "Crompomise":

Republicans have muscled a $1.1 trillion bill financing government agencies through the House after President Barack Obama phoned Democratic lawmakers and urged them to back the measure.

The House approved the measure late Thursday by 219-206. The compromise bill keeps agencies funded through next September. Many conservatives opposed it because it did not block Obama's recent executive actions on immigration. A large majority of House Democrats opposed it because of provisions easing some restrictions on banks and allowing higher political contributions by big donors.

Obama backed the bill and called wavering Democratic lawmakers to persuade them to help it pass. The bill must now be approved by the Democratic-run Senate.

Did you ever think it would come to this? That Weepy John Boehner, a speaker of the House who makes Denny Hastert look like Sam Rayburn, would be an ally of Barack Obama? That he couldn't wait to hand the Democrats control of the nation's spending priorities while they were heading out the door and into the wilderness?

Let's face it: of course you did. Because, at root, both wings of the Permanent Bipartisan Fusion Party are playing the same game, but with different goals. For the hapless midwesterners of the GOP, it's about attending to process: writing bills, cutting deals, shuffling the offal through the sausage machine and then going back in triumph to their "home" districts (they're all Washingtonians now, but have to pretend to still care about East Jesus, Ohio, to get re-elected) and feeding this crap to the folks back home.

For Obama and the Democrats, it's about the long march through the institutions, about dismantling the structure of the Constitution by undermining it at every step. In short, it's about "fundamental transformation."

Which team would you rather be on?

Also read:

Cromnibus: Obama, GOP & Democrats Slouching Towards 2016

Spending Bill Fight Brings Out New, Surprising Alliances