12/23/2020

My Dear Friend & POTUS, DJT,

            I was just reminiscing about the Saturday mornings that I used to spend dozing in front of cartoons on the TV after my 6AM tennis workout. We practiced before the crack of dawn because that’s the time that the indoor facility would let us use the courts for free. We had a mean coach who scolded me for the way I wore my hair.

Anyway, I was reminded of Sat AM TV when I saw that you were threatening to VETO the budget bill. I wanted to refresh my memory about the law-making process so I watched the Schoolhouse Rock tune, that used to appear on the Sat. cartoons. “I am only a Bill” describes the long, long process for a bill to become a law which is NOT the process used to generate the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021. According to the song, bills are supposed to be debated extensively in committees, debated on the floors of the Congress & Senate and finally, sent to your office for signature.

We both know that the 5593-page document on your desk did not follow this process. AOC has complained that she did not have time to read the document before being asked to sign it. According to today’s NYT, it will make $120 billion flow up to the top 1% & $2.5 billion will go to racetracks. Sounds like a mess to me. AOC & her buddy, Rashida Tlaib, are excited about your veto & have the language for the $2000 stimulus checks ready to go. Rep Ro Khanna is ready to revise the military spending so we don’t add another $5 billion to that line item. I don’t think we need 24 new F/A-18E/F Super Hornet or 96 F-35 aircrafts. Lockheed-Martin does not need that much new business.

You might have chimed in about all of this a bit sooner. Some are saying the bill is veto proof, so you might think twice before you put yourself through the embarrassment of having your veto over-turned. The Congress folk just want to go home for the holidays, so you might have to compromise this time.

Hang in there,

RCA