Government Shuts Down As Congress Fails To Reach Spending Agreement

[Jack Davenport]

If you are going to be for a law Milano at least know how it is written. The law has changed far beyond the parameters of single payer. Instead of reading Grisham maybe you should read the legislation that affects your life. did you know that the law can be tweaked at any time if the director of HHS decides to? As for the 80 or so repubs holding out, that is in their best interest . guess who some of the fuckers are in those wealthy districts? Physicians that understand what a clusterfuck this law is. again you have no concept of this law except that you think it is healthcare for everyone which it is not. You are about as informed on this topic as the Jaywalkers on the Tonight Show.

 

[Mariahxxx]

i KNOW it isn't healthcare for all. I dont claim to know everything, I just KNOW its a step in a direction, ANY direction away from what we've had that is a miserable embarrassing failure. the right wants NOTHING for anyone which is as anti-christian as it gets and selfish and fucked. at least this will require companies to provide health care for their employees like they used to do once upon a time. and it has lowered my premium and I assume will do so for others who have a hard time affording health care.

hey haters, guess who is doing an interview for rolling stone tomorrow morning? yep, that worn out, fat pig has been loser pathetic porn whore.

 

[Jack Davenport]

I have never called you any of those names. Especially I have never attacked your physical appearance. Rolling Stone jumped the shark ever since they put the Boston marathon bomber and Miley Cyrus on the cover.

- - - Updated - - -

I have never called you any of those names. Especially I have never attacked your physical appearance. Rolling Stone jumped the shark ever since they put the Boston marathon bomber and Miley Cyrus on the cover.

 

[georges]

this thread gets interesting

 

[Mayhem]

"We're not going to be disrespected," Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.) told The Washington Examiner. "We have to get something out of this. And I don't know what that even is."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/03/marlin-stutzman-government-shutdown_n_4034123.html

 

[Mariahxxx]

wasn't directing the name calling aspect to you at all, more so to your buddy

 

[Mariahxxx]

if the democrats were the ones shutting down the government in order to block more military spending for example, which isn't a bad idea at all, you guys would be screaming bloody murder. I guess when you have such animosity for fellow Americans and such little regard for the people you represent, a conscience is wasted on republican politicians.

ANYONE who thinks this is a worthwhile stance or justified is getting EXACTLY what they deserve. the reality is no matter how long they shut things down, they will accomplish nothing other than to cause more harm to this country, the moral of the country and justify the American people's distrust and dislike of politicians.

 

[bobjustbob]

The democrats would never shut down the government. Here is a link to the list of what is closed.

http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2013/09/politics/government-shutdown-impact/


Now how much of that shit affects you or someone that you know?

 

[Mayhem]

The democrats would never shut down the government. Here is a link to the list of what is closed.

http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2013/09/politics/government-shutdown-impact/


Now how much of that shit affects you or someone that you know?

First fuckin' line -

Closed/Not able to function

Ability One

The independent agency's 30 employees, who work on behalf of the blind, would be prohibited from working during a shutdown.

At 3;47AM, I am going to go have a stiff blast of vodka and toast my supernova-like hatred of the GOP/TP. They really do eat the peanuts out of my 2 day old fecal matter.

 

[mikexmoran]

The time to curtail spending is before you spend it. Not when the credit card bill comes.

 

[Mariahxxx]

and the republicans think this is going to be good for them how???? it is very clear who is causing the shutdown and with a 10% approval rating you would think they would be doing more to become likeable, or at least tolerable. dept of energy, dept of education, dept of justice

I wish that more of the people who vote republican against their own best interest would wake the fuck up because if they did, it would be about 95% - 5% and the republicans would be a very lonely bunch.

 

[Rey C.]

The time to curtail spending is before you spend it. Not when the credit card bill comes.

If the system had prevented me from repping you for this post, I would have blown a gasket.

 

[mikexmoran]

If the system had prevented me from repping you for this post, I would have blown a gasket.

Thanks Rey. Far from an original thought. I just thought that people may be forgetting it.

 

[Mayhem]

Congressman Castigates Park Ranger For The Memorial Closure He Voted For

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/03/congressman-park-ranger-memorial_n_4037524.html

Day two of Government Shutdown 2013 offered America plenty of surreal moments, from the brief and ridiculous re-emergence of the Grand Bargain, to the sight of multiple members of a universally reviled governing body offering to give up their paychecks as if they thought it was a move worthy of a medal. But nowhere did Salvador Dali's clocks warp and melt under the heat of sustained stupidity as badly as they did down at the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Yesterday, it became pretty obvious that if you wanted to catch the eye of any Beltway reporter to discuss what you were enduring during the shutdown, you had to go on down to this memorial to make your case. Unfortunately, that's where many members of Congress decided to while away their day as well. As Ryan Reilly reported, heroic members of Congress turned out to boldly grandstand at the memorial, pretending just as hard as they could that its temporary closure was the most dire effect of the shutdown ... for which ... they voted. Yes, that was by far the most surreal thing about it. Gawker's Tom Scocca turned the best phrase about the whole mess, describing those lawmakers as committing "an act of civil disobedience against themselves."

But Mark Segraves, reporting for NBC News' Washington affiliate, managed to capture the howler highlight of the Great World War II Memorial Bleat-n-Repeat -- Rep. Randy Neugebauer's (R-Tex.) Wednesday confrontation of a poor park ranger on the scene -- who was doing nothing more than her job -- blaming her for the closure he voted for and telling her that she should be ashamed of herself.

Seriously, this actually happened. Per Segraves:

"How do you look at them and ... deny them access?" said Neugebauer. He, with most House Republicans, had voted early Sunday morning to pass a funding measure that would delay the Affordable Care Act, a vote that set up a showdown with the Senate and President Barack Obama. With the parties unable to agree on how to fund the federal government, non-essential government functions shut down Tuesday.
"It's difficult," responded the Park Service employee.

"Well, it should be difficult," replied the congressman, who was carrying a small American flag in his breast pocket.

"It is difficult," responded the Park Service employee. "I'm sorry, sir."

"The Park Service should be ashamed of themselves," the congressman said.

"I'm not ashamed," replied the ranger.

From there, Segraves reports, "a crowd of onlookers got involved," and began loudly demanding that Neugebauer lay off the park ranger, pointing out again and again that the reason everyone was in the position they were in was due to the fact that Congress very specifically put them there. Neugebauer countered that it was all really Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) fault, but that failed to impress anyone.

What's really ghastly about this is that the whole "Harry Reid shut down the government" line is a talking point. It's "messaging" -- the mostly disingenuous bilge that politicos spit in order to gain some phantom upper hand in a war of rhetoric that plays itself out in the press. It's not intended to be sincere, it's all posturing -- throwing sub-standard witticisms at a wall in the hopes that something will stick and convince people.

This is all stuff intended for an audience of reporters -- and in that setting, all is fair. But you're not actually supposed to extend "messaging" out into the world of ordinary human Americans in this fashion, and victimize park rangers with it.

What's also inane about this is that, as Segraves takes pains to point out, the park rangers deployed to the World War II Memorial, while enforcing the closure of the memorial to the general public, are also there to make sure that the Honor Flight veterans who come to the memorial get access to the site. So, by impeding her from doing her job, all Neugebauer was doing was impeding access for the Honor Flight veterans. And telling the ranger that she should be ashamed? Man, that's not a good look, and the gathered crowd made sure Neugebauer learned that the hard way.

Got to give credit to the ranger for standing her ground and doing her job with professionalism, in the face of an idiot who really needs to learn his place.

 

[Mariahxxx]

of course he's from Texas. Im sure that butt fuck who posts here from Texas loves this pencil neck and may have even voted for him. someone should have busted him in the face. how awesome of a video would that have been! the ranger even!

 

[Straight Shooter]

A quote from Rep. Marlin Stutzman(R), "“We’re not going to be disrespected. We have to get something out of this. And I don’t know what that even is.”
http://washingtonexaminer.com/gop-s...ll-link-to-debt-ceiling-fight/article/2536750

What a fucking moron!

 

[Mayhem]

The Shutdown is a Republican Civil War

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/10/05/the-shutdown-is-a-republican-civil-war/

We’re used to brinkmanship in Washington resulting from conflict between Democrats and Republicans. But this shutdown is different. It’s a fight between Republicans and Republicans -- or, more specifically, Republicans and the Tea Party.

In 1995 and 1996, Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich proudly led Republicans into their shutdown fight with President Bill Clinton. In 2011, Speaker John Boehner was enthusiastic about using a possible shutdown and default as leverage for Republicans to make good on the promises they'd made in the last election.

But Boehner didn’t want this week’s shutdown. He didn’t want to sign onto Ted Cruz’s doomed effort to defund Obamacare. Boehner’s strategy was to pass a clean bill to fund the government at or near current sequestration levels - - a major victory for Republicans, by the way -- and then secure additional spending cuts in negotiations over the debt ceiling.

The dysfunctions of the House Republican Conference are often blamed on the so-called Hastert rule. The Hastert rule, which isn’t an actual rule, is named after former House speaker Dennis Hastert, who famously tried to bring to the floor only bills that had the support of a majority of House Republicans. Boehner has generally followed it, which is why he won’t allow the Senate’s immigration bill on the floor; it may have the support of a majority of the House, but it doesn’t have support from a majority of House Republicans.

What’s strange and fascinating about the shutdown debacle, however, is that a majority of House Republicans were with Boehner: They didn’t want a shutdown. “Two-thirds want a clean CR,” Rep. Peter King told the National Review, using the acronym for a “continuing resolution” to fund the government. “Including some of the people who got elected as tea party candidates from the South. You talk to them, they think this is crazy.”

The White House thinks it’s crazy, too. “One faction of one party, in one house of Congress, in one branch of government doesn’t get to shut down the entire government just to refight the results of an election,” President Obama said this week.

The question that’s puzzling Washington is how a minority of the majority is managing to dominate the House of Representatives.

Robert Costa, Washington bureau chief for the National Review, estimates that there are only “30 to 40 true hardliners” among House Republicans. He says more than 100 House Republicans are solidly behind Boehner. But Boehner’s troops are scared. “Could they stand firm when pressured by the 30 or 40 hardliners and the outside groups?” he asked.

You’d think they could. Or, at the least, you’d think Boehner could. Typically, party leaders protect the mainstream members from the demands of the fringe. They control fundraising and committee assignments and the floor schedule, which gives them substantial power over individual members. And if outside groups want a seat at the table, they need to stay on leadership’s good side, which tends to keep them from going too far off the reservation. But the Republican leadership no longer has the strength to play that role. “What we’re seeing is the collapse of institutional Republican power,” Costa said.

Having previously failed to rally tea party adherents behind him in negotiations over the fiscal cliff, Boehner can no longer serve that function in the House. “Ever since Plan B failed on the fiscal cliff in January and you saw Boehner in near tears in front of his conference, he’s been crippled,” Costa said.

Boehner faces no plausible threat from traditional conservatives in his conference. They believe he’s one of them, they’re comforted that he’s speaker, and they’re generally terrified that a tea partier might replace him if he retires or is pushed out. The threat to Boehner comes from the right of his conference. Consequently, he panders to the fringe; as long as they’re happy, he’s safe.

Members of the Republican establishment are agog. Cruz “pushed House Republicans into traffic and wandered away,” said conservative stalwart Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform. But the real problem is that House Republican leaders didn’t push back.

The reason the establishment has such trouble with the tea party is that the tea party really, truly means it. They don’t want to cut a deal. They don’t want to get the most that they reasonably can. Most represent extremely safe Republican districts and don’t care about positioning the party as a whole for the next election. Traditional politicians such as Boehner have no playbook for dealing with a powerful faction that’s completely uninterested in strategic or pragmatic concerns.

Back in 2011, the Republican establishment was sufficiently in sync with the tea party to harness their recklessness against the Obama administration. Boehner argued that his new members were just wild enough to crash through the debt ceiling and harm the economy, which gave him crucial leverage in his negotiations with the White House.

But then Mitt Romney lost the 2012 election, and the Republican establishment began to alter its approach. The tea party, however, didn’t. Now Boehner and other mainstream Republicans dealing with tea party legislators face the same problem Democrats faced in 2011: It’s hard to negotiate with people who don’t care about, or even really believe in, the consequences of burning the place down.

Boehner’s problems aren’t such a surprise to Christopher Parker, a political scientist at the University of Washington and co-author of “Change They Can’t Believe In: The Tea Party and Reactionary Politics in America.” In 2011, Parker began running massive surveys of self-described conservatives in 13 states. He controlled for every demographic characteristic and political opinion he could think of. Tea partiers, he found, were simply different from other conservatives. In one telling example, 71 percent of tea party conservatives agreed Obama was “destroying the country” -- an opinion shared by only 6 percent of conservatives who didn’t identify with the tea party.

On measure after measure, tea party members expressed fear that the country was changing in fundamental ways. They were much likelier to view Obama as a literal threat to the nation. They were more conspiratorial in their interpretation of politics. They viewed politics as less like a negotiation among stakeholders and more like a struggle for survival.

“You’ve got about 52 members of the Republican conference who are affiliated with the Tea Party in some official way,” Parker said. “That’s a bit less than a quarter of all House Republicans. That’s enough in the House. They refuse to compromise because, to them, compromise is capitulation. If you go back to Richard Hofstadter’s work when he’s talking about when the John Birch Society rode high, he talks about how conservatives would see people who disagree as political opponents, but reactionary conservatives saw them as evil. You can’t capitulate to evil.”

The problem for Boehner and the rest of the Republican establishment is that the tea party ethos is now being turned against them. After all, mainstream conservatives will compromise with “evil” (or, if you prefer, “Democrats”). For tea partiers, that makes them suspect, too. In fact, one way tea party Republicans can prove they haven’t sold out to Washington’s ways is by opposing any compromise Boehner proposes.

The conventional wisdom in American politics used to be that Republicans followed their leaders while Democrats were barely unified enough to be considered an organized political party. Today, the reverse is true. Democrats largely follow their leaders while Republicans have splintered into two distinct political groups that uneasily share a single party.

That’s the real challenge complicating the shutdown and the debt ceiling. The problem isn’t that Boehner and Obama can’t reach an agreement. It’s that Boehner and Obama and the tea party can’t.

 

[Mariahxxx]

the Tea Party was once a very noble and great idea. now it has just become another whored out division of a political party its supposed to be grass roots but it's funded by special interest billionaires and is filled with fucking loonies like Christine McDonnell & Michelle Bachman & Rick Santorum. Fucking embarrassing.

 

[Chopper3000]

the Tea Party was once a very noble and great idea. now it has just become another whored out division of a political party its supposed to be grass roots but it's funded by special interest billionaires and is filled with fucking loonies like Christine McDonnell & Michelle Bachman & Rick Santorum. Fucking embarrassing.

This Tea Party thing.......Bollocks, you threw perfectly good tea in to Boston harbour. Criminal.

 

[Jack Davenport]

Oh yeah blame the Tea Party yet there was zero bitching and moaning when the dem senators were playing the role of obstructionists under GWB. And while we are discussing politicians not doing their job, isn't about time the dem controlled senate pass a budget after 5 years? It has only been a week with this shutdown and they will start funding things piece mill right away yet the senate has been playing nickle and dime us to death since Obama took office.