Butchers are killing unborn children and selling their parts for money and your tax dollars are going to the company that employs them. Not to worry, though, John Cornyn is not going to let this interfere with the Senate calendar, and [mc_name name=’Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)’ chamber=’senate’ mcid=’M000355′ ] is not going to let it inconvenience the operation of optional government services:

Senate Majority Leader [mc_name name=’Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)’ chamber=’senate’ mcid=’M000355′ ] (R-Ky.) says he will not allow a government shutdown this fall and has pledged to begin talks “at some point.”

McConnell on Tuesday said he is willing to negotiate with Democrats to solve the funding impasse, after refusing for weeks to participate in the budget summit they have been calling for.

“Let me say it again, no more government shutdowns,” he told reporters.

He added that he would find a way forward “through negotiations.”

As we have said here for weeks, [mc_name name=’Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)’ chamber=’senate’ mcid=’M000355′ ] has never for a second planned to do anything that would actually stop your tax money from going to Planned Parenthood. That is why he did not allow even a roll call vote on the Cruz/Lee amendment to the Highway Bill. That is why he humored [mc_name name=’Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)’ chamber=’senate’ mcid=’P000603′ ] with a standalone bill that he knew good and well would fail. And that is why he has already declared that he will not allow a Planned Parenthood rider to the CR this fall.

His plan all along has been to fail, and to fundraise off his failure, as [mc_name name=’Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)’ chamber=’senate’ mcid=’C001056′ ] helpfully illustrated immediately after the standalone bill vote:

Defund planned parenthood vote 53-46; need 7 more. Can you help us get them?

— JohnCornyn (@JohnCornyn) August 4, 2015

To [mc_name name=’Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)’ chamber=’senate’ mcid=’M000355′ ], the Republicans are in power not so they can actually do anything, but rather so they can stay in power and be feted by the better lobbyists. Always he promises that he will fight the next fight, never does he actually deliver a fight right now. And he’s already declared before this fight has even begun that he will surrender at the end and work out a deal with the Democrats if necessary.

I will tell you what McConnell will do, if some miracle occurs and Cruz/Lee force a Planned Parenthood defunding rider onto a CR. He will allow the charade CR to continue and behind the scenes he will negotiate a clean CR without the Planned Parenthood rider and probably give the Democrats several concessions in the process in exchange for their votes. He will figure out how many Democrats he needs and get that many, and he will allow as many Republicans he can to defect in a fake show of rebellion against him.

Don’t be foolish enough to swallow this inevitable lie. This die was cast when McConnell won the leadership vote without a whimper of opposition. The GOP Senate caucus owned the result of his cowardly and self serving “leadership” when they gave him the position for another two years. If they cannot stop him from capitulating on this issue, they will all own it, even if they ultimately vote against a “clean” CR to curry favor with the base.

If Senators want to get on the record opposing Mitch’s pre-emptive surrender, the time to do so is now, in public, while the terms of the debate are being set. We will remember later who quietly went along with his capitulation.