"We had to do this" was a refrain often uttered in response to why this ridiculous, self-inflicted dual crisis has overtaken everything in the last three weeks. It's a shitty answer. Because, beyond the desire to shut down the government, and the desire to refuse to raise the debt ceiling, I've yet to hear a coherent envisioned end-game to all of this from the GOP.
We know that a) they despise the President, in a white-hot, irrational way; b) Democrats are a proxy for the President, and thus compromise with them is tantamount to making a deal with the Devil; and c) because of a and b, they despise "ObamaCare." That's just a taste of their motivations of course, and already there are multiple problems with their so-called reasoning. Chief among them was the fact that the Affordable Care Act is already law, passed by Congress, affirmed by the Supreme Court and vindicated by Obama's re-election. It doesn't have a blessed thing to do with the continuing budget resolution or the debt ceiling. It was also a non-starter, non-negotiable to both the President and the Senate.
So, the reasoning for why the government was shut down, and the debt ceiling default imminent, kept shifting. The demands kept changing, and like Bette Midler in Ruthless People the ransom kept going down. All along, the votes have been there in the House for a clean budget bill and debt ceiling raise. JohnBoner Boehner was just unwilling to do so. I have to wonder what he's worried about. Who would want to lead these people?
[Excerpt]
ALL ABOARD: CONGRESS PASSES BILL TO REOPEN GOVERNMENT
After weeks of stalemate that shuttered the government for 16 days and brought the nation within hours of a key deadline to renew its borrowing authority, the standoff is finally over.
The House passed a bill 285-144 late Wednesday night to re-open the government and extend the debt ceiling until Feb. 7. That vote came hours after the Senate approved the measure 81-18. . .
Read more at: NBC News
We know that a) they despise the President, in a white-hot, irrational way; b) Democrats are a proxy for the President, and thus compromise with them is tantamount to making a deal with the Devil; and c) because of a and b, they despise "ObamaCare." That's just a taste of their motivations of course, and already there are multiple problems with their so-called reasoning. Chief among them was the fact that the Affordable Care Act is already law, passed by Congress, affirmed by the Supreme Court and vindicated by Obama's re-election. It doesn't have a blessed thing to do with the continuing budget resolution or the debt ceiling. It was also a non-starter, non-negotiable to both the President and the Senate.
So, the reasoning for why the government was shut down, and the debt ceiling default imminent, kept shifting. The demands kept changing, and like Bette Midler in Ruthless People the ransom kept going down. All along, the votes have been there in the House for a clean budget bill and debt ceiling raise. John
[Excerpt]
ALL ABOARD: CONGRESS PASSES BILL TO REOPEN GOVERNMENT
After weeks of stalemate that shuttered the government for 16 days and brought the nation within hours of a key deadline to renew its borrowing authority, the standoff is finally over.
The House passed a bill 285-144 late Wednesday night to re-open the government and extend the debt ceiling until Feb. 7. That vote came hours after the Senate approved the measure 81-18. . .
Read more at: NBC News
