It’s become an annual December ritual. Republicans act like Santa Claus and delivers the Christmas goods for the Left, while leaving their most dedicated voters with nothing but a lump of coal. It’s a ritual that Trump was supposed to change, but it shows no signs of changing.

President George H.W. Bush was an American hero, icon, and statesman to whom we owe the highest national honor. But his funeral and memorial services should not change the fact that Republicans and Trump owe us a budget this week in the House that will deal with the border loopholes and sanctuary cities and build the wall. Then Trump should demand that McConnell force one vote after another on the House budget until the opposition is compelled to hold the floor in an authentic talking filibuster. Forcing Democrats to defend the invasion at our border in front of the cameras for a sustained period of time is the only way to break this stalemate.

Sadly, President Bush’s passing provided Republicans with the perfect subterfuge with which to sell us out, even though they were already looking for an avenue to cave. They are planning to pass a two-week continuing resolution that will expire right before Christmas on December 21, knowing full well there will be no appetite for a border fight right before everyone leaves town for the holiday.

There is no reason we can’t deal with the ultimate government shutdown – the suspension of law and order at our border – while we hold a funeral for President Bush. Republicans know this as well as we do, but they never had any intention of fighting.

First they caved on Obamacare, now they are at peace with permanent funding of Planned Parenthood, and tomorrow they will formally drive a stake through border security.

With over 200 people being apprehended every day in just one border sector, there are thousands of aliens crossing every day, on pace to reach one million this year, factoring in the likely number of individuals who are not caught. The damage to this country in terms of crime, drugs, public charge, and even diseases is immeasurable. It is the ultimate job of the federal government to defend against this invasion and this is why we have a federal budget. Republicans think they are “avoiding a shutdown,” but they are in fact perpetuating the shutdown of a sovereign nation-state.

Illegals are being told they have the right to break into our country and steal our identity, and nothing is done about it.

They are counted in the Census and continue to vote in elections, and nothing is done about it.

They drain our resources, strain our schools, and create dead weight on the health care system, and nothing is done about it.

We have the worst gang and drug crisis in our history from this very Central American migration, yet courts are now empowered to block deportations of even the worst elements.

I’d call that a government shutdown, all right.

Yet when Mitch McConnell is asked about the budget question, he sounds like an apathetic and detached commentator rather than a leader of a right-of-center party speaking to the outrage of the public over stolen sovereignty. When asked about the prospect of a government shutdown, McConnell merely said, “I don’t think we’ll get to that point.” He went on to say the president needs to negotiate with Democrat leadership. Well, what about threatening to force a talking filibuster and making a list of demands on Democrats? What about showing some emotion for the terrible costs of this invasion? We need a leader, not a floor scheduler.

And where is the president himself? Why did the White House and all outside conservative groups spend the final weeks of full control promoting Soros’ jailbreak instead of fighting for national sovereignty, the most basic purpose of the federal government’s existence? Amazingly, many of these so-called social conservatives who didn’t utter a peep about defunding Planned Parenthood and the judicially mandated transgender agenda in the military spent their political capital trying to convince us that letting gangbangers out of prison is pro-family. To McConnell’s credit, he isn’t excited to take up the so-called ‘prison reform’ bill, but he’s not excited to act on anything – good or bad.

And speaking of priorities, while our immigration priorities are not in the bill, the priorities of cheap labor will eventually be in the omnibus. Congress plans to double the number of H-2B non-agricultural, unskilled seasonal workers that will continue to be a public charge on America. Also, even before legislators pass the omnibus prior to Christmas, they are slipping in extensions of the flood insurance programs and the Violence Against Woman Act (VAWA) even in the two-week stopgap bill.

Evidently, we can afford to go without border security but we can’t have any lapse in this broken flood insurance program or a special-interest program that uses an important issue to subvert due process.

There’s one other point many in the media are missing. The perfidy and betrayal of the past several months on the budget actually make it easier for Republicans to fight this week on the remainder of the budget. Republicans have already caved to Democrats on spending levels and enacted five of the annual appropriations bills for the entire fiscal year 2019, composing three-quarters of this year's discretionary spending. That includes Energy-Water, Military Construction-VA, Legislative Branch, Defense, and Labor-HHS-Education. They already capitulated on astronomical spending levels for HHS and Education. But either way, the military, Social Security, and health care programs are already funded for the remainder of the fiscal year. It’s only seven departments that remain subject to the stopgap funding bill or an omnibus. So there is literally minimal risk over a shutdown, even in the minds of timid Republicans. Why not use the budget to focus national attention on our border and all its vices for a week or two? Why not have Trump give a series of prime-time speeches making his case?

Sadly, it appears that the House will pass a new stopgap bill on Thursday without a recorded vote, so the public won’t even be treated to a debate. What a sad way to end an eight-year run of GOP House control.