Einstein's definition of "crazy" holds: doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result each time ~ GOP "leaders" now have 2 weeks to figure out how to control this monster they created ~ I'd be content to let it play out except for the fact of how many people [perhaps everywhere] will be deeply damaged ~ this is not a difference in ideology ~ this is a major political party in the midst of a self-serving, dangerous temper tantrum ~ ~ Sooz

Congress on 'crazy pills'
By Steve Benen - Fri Sep 13, 2013 10:57 AM EDT

BuzzFeed's Kate Nocera asked a Republican aide on Capitol Hill yesterday about the likelihood of Republicans shutting down the government at the end of the month. The congressional staffer responded by emailing Nocera this five-second clip.


For those who can't watch videos online, the clip shows Will Ferrell's character in Zoolander shouting, "Doesn't anyone notice this? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!"

Yes, we've reached the point at which madness has become so pervasive among congressional Republicans that their own staffers think of "crazy pills" when describing the current conditions on Capitol Hill. How encouraging.

At issue, in the short term, is the fact that the government will run out of money in 17 days. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and his leadership team thought they'd come up with a credible solution, but House Republicans and their allied activist groups promptly killed it, less than a day after GOP leaders unveiled it. Because Boehner is really only the Speaker In Name Only, he has no real influence or control what happens next, and he has no idea how to get out of the mess his own members created.

Indeed, the arithmetic is brutal. There are currently 233 House Republicans, which means Boehner can pass a conservative spending bill that keeps the government's lights on if he loses no more than 15 of his own members (that number goes up slightly if some Blue Dog Democrats break ranks). How many House GOP lawmakers oppose Boehner's plan because it doesn't fully defund "Obamacare"? As of last night, 43.

I emphasize this because we're not just talking about party leaders twisting a few arms to get something done. Dozens of House Republicans are ready to shut down the government unless Democrats agree to take health care benefits away from millions of Americans -- and these lawmakers' position is inflexible.

What do Boehner and GOP leaders intend to do? In a way, that's the funny part -- with very little time remaining, they haven't the foggiest idea.

Consider this amazing behind-the-scenes tidbit.


The one thing they want is the one thing they can't have.

Also, the public-private dichotomy is bordering on hilarious. When talking to reporters after bipartisan, bicameral talks yesterday morning, Boehner inexplicably said, "It's time for the president's party to show the courage to work with us to solve this problem," apparently working under the assumption that we're idiots. When talking to policymakers behind closed doors, though, Boehner is desperate, hoping someone will help him clean up his caucus' mess.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) conceded yesterday, "I like John Boehner. I do feel sorry for him."

Reid added, when asked about the likelihood of Republicans shutting down the government in two weeks, "I'm really frightened."

That's understandable. In fact, I imagine the vast majority of Americans aren't giving this much thought, but it's probably time they start. It's unpleasant, but radicalized Republican lawmakers really are prepared to deliberately shut down the government, force a debt-ceiling crisis, jeopardize the full faith and credit of the United States, and do untold damage to the economy -- and all of this is going to play out in the coming weeks, not months.

From where I sit, there are only four ways forward:

1. A paralyzed House does nothing: Boehner can't put together 218 votes for his stop-gap plan, won't work with Democrats on a more moderate compromise, so the process implodes and the government shuts down on Sept. 30 at midnight.

2. Boehner jettisons the extremists: GOP leaders may soon realize that the radicals can't be reasoned with, but Democrats can be. Boehner can scale back the needlessly stupid sequestration cuts, pick up plenty of Democratic votes, pass a continuing resolution, prevent a shutdown, and win broad praise for bipartisan governing.

3. Boehner caves to the radicals: Unwilling to strike a deal with Democrats, Boehner can pass a spending measure that defunds the Affordable Care Act for real. The Senate and the White House will balk, and the government will shut down.

4. Democrats cave: Boehner probably only needs about 20 to 30 House Democrats to vote for his conservative plan that includes the sequester, and if Dems go along, they'll save his butt and prevent a shutdown.

The one thing that I can say with confidence won't happen is that the right winning on health care defunding. There is simply no way Democrats will agree to the right-wing demands on this. As best as I can tell, for Dems, this isn't on the table; it's not open to discussion; and it's not negotiable at any level. Period. Full stop.

That said, what happens next is entirely unclear, though next week is bound to be interesting. I'd say the likelihood of a shutdown at this point is about 65% and climbing.

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/09/13/20477384-congress-on-crazy-pills?lite

Yawn.
Once again we'll get a bunch of political eedjits posturing for the media like soap opera primadonnas, the media will lap it up and it'll all fizzle out into oblivion as usual.

There's an old proverb about "He who ignores the cry of the poor will himself be found crying..."

I vaguely remember the 90s and the shutdown and people going without, crying for help....if the repugs/dems allow a shutdown to occur, there will be a definite backlash come election time--all elections....the blame won't be on just one party, but all incumbents...

this just worked so well for them in 2011/12, they HAVE to try it again.

The Masochists try it again, eh?

Looks like the GOP/TPers are moving right along with their kamikaze "dreams of greatness" ~ has anyone ever heard of any kamikaze act with a happy ending ... for the kamikazes? ~ ~ Sooz

Boehner Moves Closer To Threatening Government Shutdown Over Obamacare
Sahil Kapur- September 17, 2013, 6:15 PM 10538

In what would be a dramatic change of course, House Republican leaders are considering a strategy of risking a government shutdown at the end of this month if Obamacare isn’t defunded.

In the weekly conference meeting Wednesday morning, GOP leaders intend to propose a continuing resolution to keep the federal funded beyond Sept. 30 but strip out funding for Obamacare. The move was first reported by the conservative National Review.

Senior Republicans know the strategy is a nonstarter in the Democratic-led Senate, and for months have wanted to avoid a shutdown confrontation over Obamacare. The latest move is a tacit admission from leaders that they have, for the moment at least, been defeated by conservatives who are eager to eliminate the health care law at all costs. When the House bill fails in the Senate, as it is certain to do, House GOP leaders would then try to pass a “clean” continuing resolution that funds the government but leaves Obamacare alone. The prospects of a clean stopgap bill winning over most House Republicans are also remote.

“No decisions have been made, or will be made, until House Republican Members meet and talk tomorrow,” said House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-OH) spokesman Michael Steel.

Part of the strategy is to shift the legislative burden to Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Mike Lee (R-UT), who have been deriding House Republican leaders as weak on Obamacare, to their deep frustration.

“It’s a waste of time. No chance it passes the Senate,” said a Senate Democratic leadership aide. “The bottom line is the same in any event, the House is eventually going to have to pass a clean CR with no defunding or delaying the Affordable Care Act.”

The proposal, if House Republicans decide to run with it, would spur a standoff that significantly raises the prospects of a shutdown at the end of the month. If the bill fails in the Senate, anti-Obamacare conservatives aren’t likely to let up and embrace a “clean” continuing resolution; they’ll demand that House Republicans hold out until Democrats cave.

The White House has threatened to veto a continuing resolution that defunds Obamacare.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/09/boehner-gop-leaders-obamacare-shutdown.php?ref=fpa

What I'm finding so extraordinary is the open civil war amongst the GOP/TPers ~ this is not about ideology ~ this is about control ~ the GOP needed the TPers to "stay alive", but they've created an unethical, dishonest, power-hungry, self-serving, arrogant monster they canNOT control ~ many GOPers are publicly declaring this stunt self-defeating ~ it's kinda fun to watch the floundering ... until I remember the [literally] millions of people it is cruelly and intentionally hurting ~ ~ Sooz

House GOP beats Boehner into submission
By Steve Benen - Wed Sep 18, 2013 12:52 PM EDT

Following up on an earlier item, it's not official -- House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) told his members at their weekly conference meeting that he's prepared to abandon his own plans and try things their way. As such, with a government-shutdown deadline just 12 days away, the House will vote on a spending bill that defunds the Affordable Care Act, just like the far-right demands.

When reporters asked whether he had lost control of his conference, Boehner replied, "The key to any leadership job is to listen." That's a generous way of saying he's being told what to do by those he ostensibly leads.

What's more, the woefully weak Speaker seemed eager to punt the whole mess to the upper chamber, in the hopes that he won't take all of the blame for the fiasco he and his caucus created: "[W]e're going to send it over to the Senate, so our conservative allies over there can continue the fight. That's where the fight is..... The fight over here has been won. It's time for the Senate to have that fight."

And when Boehner said the fight in the House "has been won," the Speaker is referring to the victory of the extremists he hoped to lead in a more responsible direction, but who blew him off.

The Obama administration, meanwhile, doesn't have a lot of choices, and can't force congressional Republicans to be less foolish. It can, however, prepare for the worst.


It's tempting to think the White House would be scrambling to figure something out right now, but there's just not much President Obama and his team can do. They can't negotiate with Republican leaders because rank-and-file GOP lawmakers aren't listening to their leaders anyway, and they can't focus on common ground because Republican demands are too ridiculous.

So what happens now?

The House will almost certainly approve their stopgap spending measure this week, marking the 42nd time House Republicans have voted to gut the Affordable Care Act. The bill will then go to the Senate, which will swiftly reject it, before passing a bill of its own.

The House will then have to decide whether to approve the Senate bill or shut down the government. All of this will have to happen within the next 12 days.

Also keep in mind, the new House Republican strategy not only pushes Washington closer to a shutdown, but also raises the possibility that conservatives are acting against their own interests -- if the Senate spending measure is to the left of Boehner's original plan, the right may have to swallow a bill that's friendlier to Democrats than the one they could have had just a week ago.

It would have been quite easy to avoid this showdown, if only Boehner were a more effective Speaker and his members weren't so overwhelmed with madness.

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/09/18/20562674-house-gop-beats-boehner-into-submission?lite

It occurred to me that Republicans only call for shutting down government when there is a Democrat in the White House.

This was a foregone conclusion, but it still pisses me off! ~ there are "live links" in the original, which I'm going to use to track down the 2 Dems who voted FOR this bill ~ ~ Sooz

House passes spending bill, pushes U.S. closer to shutdown
By Steve Benen - Fri Sep 20, 2013 11:50 AM EDT


The outcome was never really in doubt, but there's still something amazing about watching far-right lawmakers come up with a ridiculous scheme and then follow through on it.


The final tally was 230 to 189, with one Republican voting against the measure and two Democrats voting for it. As advertised, the proposal, initially opposed by GOP leaders but demanded by the party's rank-and-file extremists, leaves in place the sequestration spending cuts that are undermining the economy by design and defunds the Affordable Care Act. [Update: Here's the roll call. The sole Republican to vote against the measure was Virginia's Scott Rigell.]

The temporary spending measure, known as a "continuing resolution" (or CR), will now go to the Democratic-led Senate, which, after it finishes laughing, will reject the House bill. Whether the Senate intends to simply accept the House version after restoring the health care funds, or will craft a new alternative of its own, is unclear, though we'll find out early next week.

There are lingering rumors that some of the more radical Senate Republicans -- led, of course, by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) -- may try to filibuster any legislative progress in the upper chamber, but the obstructionism would only delay the inevitable. A wide variety of GOP senators have said repeatedly in recent days that neither a shutdown nor defunding the health care law are realistic scenarios for senators to take seriously.

Expect the tensions between House Republicans and Senate Republicans to continue to escalate as this process unfolds.

Regardless, once the Senate passes its measure, the issue will return to the House for a final up-or-down decision: either the Republican-led chamber shuts down the government out of spite or they pass the Senate version. The smart money is on the latter, but time is short -- the deadline is Sept. 30 -- and there obviously no guarantees.

If the shutdown is averted, Congress will immediately turn its attention to the next unnecessary, self-imposed nightmare -- the Republicans' debt-ceiling crisis -- which will have to be resolved over the next three to four weeks before the government defaults and undermines the full faith and credit of the United States for the first time ever.

Update: Also note, this marks vote #42 in the tally of instances in which House Republicans have voted to gut the Affordable Care Act. Presumably, the far-right lawmakers believe votes 1 through 41 left too many unanswered questions about the GOP's true intentions.

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/09/20/20600530-house-passes-spending-bill-pushes-us-closer-to-shutdown?lite

WTF!

I wonder if historians will look back on this government and discuss how the breakdown of democracy caused whatever crisis or dictatorship is to come next...the way that historians look back on the republic in Germany that existed before the Nazi's rose to power. How long has it been, do you think, since the United States had a functional government?

Exactly, jab ~ I still need to look for which two Dems ~ I'm guessing they are red-staters ~

Sooz

Cruz needs to be medicated, as proven by this convoluted, circular, self-defeating "scheme" ~ but the GOP/TP intra-party war is suicide-by-choice ~ ~ there are "live links" to more/corroborating information in the original ~ Sooz

Ted Cruz's shutdown scheme takes shape
By Steve Benen - Mon Sep 23, 2013 8:34 AM EDT

Intra-party tensions among congressional Republicans boiled over last week when House Republicans, after embracing a far-right government-shutdown plan, heard Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) declare that the entire effort will almost certainly fail.

As of now, however, Cruz is moving forward anyway, pushing a shutdown scheme he expects to flop. The right-wing Texan made his case on Fox News yesterday morning, and fleshed out his plan further in an op-ed this morning on a conservative website.


I always worry that writing about legislative procedures is too boring for readers, but in this case, it's important -- and there's no other way to tell the story -- so stick with me for a minute.

Congress has a week to pass a spending bill before the government shuts down. The House GOP leadership originally wanted to make it easy for the Senate to fund the Affordable Care Act and avoid a crisis, but rank-and-file House Republicans refused to go along. On Friday, the House majority instead approved the exact measure the far-right wanted to see, including the "defund Obamacare" provision.

So what happens next? Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will try to bring the House bill to the Senate floor with a motion to proceed. Unhinged Republicans could filibuster this, but it would be bizarre -- they'd be blocking the House bill they support. From there, Reid would offer an amendment to scrap the House's anti-healthcare provision, before filing cloture on the bill itself and start the clock on a final up-or-down vote.

Could Cruz just filibuster Reid's amendment? No, the amendment would pass with a simple majority. Could he filibuster the final vote? No, that's majority-rule, too.

The bill would then return to the House, where Republicans would have to choose whether to pass the Senate version or shut down the government. Most of the folks I've talked to on Capitol Hill assume they'd choose the latter and focus their energies on creating a debt-ceiling crisis.

Cruz seems to realize all of this, but has an alternative scenario he wants the GOP to embrace.

From his op-ed this morning:


That would be the House bill that Cruz has already said publicly that he expects to fail.

So, as a procedural matter, Cruz wants Senate Republicans to get behind him and vote, in near-complete unanimity, to filibuster the House bill they want to pass. Cruz will tell Reid and Senate Democratic leaders, "We'll continue to block the bill we support until you agree to let us filibuster your amendments."

Why would Dems agree to this? They wouldn't.

But Cruz thinks he has some leverage. Indeed, when Harry Reid laughs in his face, Cruz will say, "Oh yeah? Either you agree to let us filibuster your amendments or we'll continue to block the bill we support until the government shuts down."

This plan could work if Senate Republicans were united around the idea. In fact, if nearly every GOP senator announced today, "We stand with Ted Cruz and we'll all oppose the bill we support until Harry Reid meets our demands," then the odds of a shutdown would increase dramatically.

But there's no evidence this is likely to happen. On the contrary, quite a few GOP senators -- none of whom actually likes Cruz -- consider the whole scheme kind of silly and want Cruz to just go away. (Over the weekend, Republicans even started sending opposition research to Fox News about the junior senator from Texas.)

Making matters worse, even if Senate Republicans felt overwhelming pressure from unhinged Tea Party activists and actually endorsed this scheme, they'd make it impossible to blame Democrats for the shutdown -- GOP senators have created the shutdown by filibustering their own bill.

Ten days ago, I predicted there was a 65% chance of a shutdown. Today, I'd put that number at 40%.

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/09/23/20658242-ted-cruzs-shutdown-scheme-takes-shape

Let the government shut down and let the Repugnants own it.
Enough is enough.

Credit where credit is due ~ John McCain surprises ... again ~ Sooz

McCain: 'The people spoke'
By Steve Benen - Wed Sep 25, 2013 4:21 PM EDT

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) heard Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) argue last night that his critics remind him of Nazi appeasers, and to his credit, the Arizona Republican criticized his right-wing colleague this afternoon, calling Cruz's comments "a great disservice."

But that's not all McCain said (thanks to my colleague Mike Yarvitz for the heads-up).


For those who can't watch clips online, here's a partial transcript of the senator's remarks:


If you listened to Cruz's lengthy tantrum, you heard some bizarre remarks about democratic principles and officials' responsibility to respond to the will of the electorate.

With this in mind, McCain's remarks weren't just a rebuke of Cruz, they were also effectively a call for the end to the Republican crusade. We had an election, Obama won, so it's time to accept the fact that elections have consequences -- and the consequences of 2012 include greater access to affordable health care for American families.

I'm not accustomed to seeing John McCain, of all people, echo a thesis of mine so completely, but it's been a strange week.

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/09/25/20695240-mccain-the-people-spoke?lite

From my Facebook feed ~ Jon Stewart is in hilarious form ~ ~ Sooz

Jon Stewart Rips Ted Cruz Over Obamacare Filibuster - 9/25/2013

i liked the Bore-Ax.

Here we go ~ BUCKLE UP! ~ emphasis/bolding below is mine ~ there are "live links" to more/corroborating info in the original ~ Sooz

The House Republican tantrum that knows no end
By Steve Benen - Sun Sep 29, 2013 9:02 AM EDT

[Sooz says there is a video clip here in the original, accessible via the end link]

The New York Times published a helpful chart the other day, which highlighted a nine-step process Congress would have to follow this week to avoid a government shutdown. As it happens, steps one through eight were completed with relative ease.

It was that ninth step that gave lawmakers trouble.


By all appearances, House Republicans are now actively seeking a government shutdown, specifically aiming for their goal rather than making any effort to avoid it. Indeed, the unhinged House majority appears to have gone out of its way to craft a spending bill designed to fail.

The bill approved after midnight would deny health care benefits to millions of American families for a year, add to the deficit by repealing a medical-device tax industry lobbyists urged Republicans to scrap, and in a fascinating twist, make it harder for Americans to get birth control. As the New York Times report noted, "The delay included a provision favored by social conservatives that would allow employers and health care providers to opt out of mandatory contraception coverage."

Yes, in the midst of a budget crisis, the House GOP decided it was time to go after birth control again. Wow.

Senate leaders and the White House patiently tried to explain to radicalized House Republicans that voting for this would all but guarantee a government shutdown -- so House Republicans voted for it en masse.

In fact, take a look at the roll call. Jonathan Bernstein asked on Friday, "Where are the sane House Republicans?" That question was answered quite clearly last night: literally every GOP lawmaker in the chamber voted for their government-shutdown plan. There were zero defections.

This was not, in other words, an isolated tantrum thrown by an extremist faction of a once-great political party. This was rather an organized tantrum thrown by the entirety of the House Republican caucus.

Keep in mind, I use the word "tantrum" largely because Republicans told me to. Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), a close ally of House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said in July, "Shutting down the government to get your way over an unrelated piece of legislation is the political equivalent of throwing a temper tantrum. It is just not helpful."

Last night, Cole linked arms with his fellow conservatives and joined them as they jumped off the cliff together. Apparently, he discovered his affinity for tantrums over the last couple of months.

Also note, we know with certainty Speaker Boehner didn't want this scenario. It was just earlier this month that he presented a proposal that would have avoided all of this, precisely because he didn't want to end up where we are now. But the Speaker, who has little influence or control over what happens in his own chamber, simply lacked the courage and the strength to govern responsibly.

What happens now is less clear. The Senate could reconvene today, reject the House bill, and urge House Republicans to act like grown-ups tomorrow -- the last day before Monday night's shutdown deadline. Or more likely, the upper chamber will gather in the morning, try to pass the same bill senators passed on Friday, and leave the House with just hours to keep the government's lights on.

Either way, House Republicans continue to fail at completing even the most basic of tasks. The public doesn't expect much of Congress anymore, but most seem to believe lawmakers should be able to keep the government's doors open.

As things stand, that now appears unlikely.

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/09/29/20742297-the-house-republican-tantrum-that-knows-no-end?lite

you guys want to come stay with me for a couple of weeks until this nuttiness is over? I have a big basement, and i can probably feed you all.

in all seriousness---JESUS! how can this happen? am i the only one reacting emotionally to the government throwing the poor, children, the elderly and everyone else that relies on government under the bus because the leaders can't get along??

just because it's happened several times---doesn't make it normal or right. it feels like the public is being socialized to accept less and less from their leaders.

This is a game of musical chairs. Who ever is left standing at the moment the music stops gets the blame. Republican strategy is to try to make sure the Senate Dems and the President are the last ones to have said "No!" when the money runs out and the government runs down. Repubs are hoping the American public is also playing that same game, and blame will pass over them.

i think this will go better if the GOP gets their government shutdown, and worse if it waits for the debt ceiling to happen first. so my money is on the shutdown.

Perspective rocks! ~ for me, every GOP/TPer who is demanding action that will intentionally hurt all of us is violating her/his oath of office ~ emphasis/bolding below is mine ~ there are "live links" to more/corroborating information in the original ~ Sooz

Two chambers, 16 hours, and one deadline
By Steve Benen - Mon Sep 30, 2013 8:00 AM EDT

[Sooz says there's a video clip here in the original, accessible via the end link]

With the deadline for a government shutdown now just 16 hours away, there's a dirty little secret that hasn't received as much attention as it deserves: there's an obvious solution that enjoys the support of the White House, a majority of the Senate, and a majority of the House. It's not going anywhere, however, because House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is too afraid of the idea.

It came up briefly yesterday on "Meet the Press" when Dee Dee Myers asked Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho) a good question. "So what's the endgame, though, congressman?" Myers said. "Are you willing to vote for a continued resolution that comes back [to the House] that does not delay or defund Obamacare?"

"I am not, but I think there's enough people in the Republican Party who are willing to do that," the far-right congressman responded.

And there it is: the obvious resolution. A temporary budget bill (or "continuing resolution") that keeps current spending levels in place, and leaves the federal health care system alone, has already been approved by the Senate. The White House has said President Obama would sign it. And if it came to the House floor for a vote, it'd probably get a majority there, too, ending the threat of a shutdown.

Indeed, Labrador isn't the only one who thinks so. Reps. Peter King (R-N.Y.), Charlie Dent (R-Pa.), and Steve Womack (R-Ark.) have all made similar comments in recent days.

So why doesn't the House GOP leadership just take the obvious step and allow the House to vote on the Senate bill? Boehner may yet do exactly that -- like I said, there are still 16 hours to go -- but he's balked up until now because he insists on placating his far-right members.

We're on the brink of another shutdown, in other words, because Boehner is a weak Speaker who has allowed extremists to push him around -- and push us to another Republican-imposed crisis.

There was also this from the Hill yesterday:


Ah yes, a "compromise." The House GOP unanimously approved a measure that would strip millions of Americans of their health care benefits for a year, while blocking access to contraception for much of the public. Republicans then told the Senate to pass this or they'd shut down the government -- and this is, in their strange minds, a "compromise."

As for what to expect over the next few hours, this paragraph also jumped out at me.


We can get into the particulars of this later, but for now, put aside the trees and look at the forest: Republicans are saying they're prepared to shut down the government unless Democrats agree to undermine the health care law in some way. Even if it's just a small change, GOP lawmakers want to chip off something from "Obamacare."

It doesn't matter if the concession achieves no policy goals. It doesn't matter if it helps or hurts anyone. It doesn't matter if it solves or exacerbates an existing problem. They just want to say they took something away from the Affordable Care Act.

And why, pray tell, would they be so obsessed? Because House Republicans are spoiled children who no longer feel the need to maintain the pretense that they care about policy or governing.

As CNBC's John Harwood noted this morning, the House GOP position is "disconnected from any rational policy goal." Harwood accurately characterized it as a "primal scream."

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/09/30/20756030-two-chambers-16-hours-and-one-deadline

“The American people don’t want a government shutdown, and they don’t want Obamacare,” House Republican leaders said in a statement over the weekend. “We will do our job and send this bill over, and then it’s up to the Senate to pass it and stop a government showdown.” Wrong. The only settled way we know what the American people want is through the democratic process. And the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) is the law of the land. A majority of the House and Senate voted for it, the President signed it into law, its constitutionality has been upheld by the Supreme Court, and a majority of Americans reelected the President after an election battle in which the Affordable Care Act was a central issue. Moreover, we don’t repeal laws in this country by holding hostage the entire government of the United States.

The showdown over the budget and the debt ceiling is a prelude to 2016, when the Tea Partiers plan to run Texas Senator Ted Cruz for President. (Cruz, if you haven’t noticed, is busily establishing his creds as the biggest flamer in Washington – orchestrating not only the current extortion but also the purge of reasonable Republicans from the GOP.) We mustn't give in to extortionists.

Robert Reich




The issue we are about to face as a nation has nothing to do with the Affordable Care Act or any of the other of the demands Republicans are making. It has to do with political extortion: Republicans' threats to close the government or default on the nation's debts if they don't get their way. The President and the Democrats must not negotiate. Once you start negotiating with extortionists, there is no end to it. Extortionists will hold the nation hostage again and again. Any law on the books they don't like, any tax their wealthy patrons detest, any regulation their corporate bank-rollers would like to do away with, any subsidy or bailout their Wall Street underwriters desire, will be fair game.

Let Republicans carry out their threats. Let America see them do it and experience the consequences. And then let us send the Republican Party into the dust bin of history.

Robert Reich
https://www.facebook.com/RBReich?hc_location=stream