Republicans Risk Shutdown Over Poison Pills in Budget Deal

Image from source, Think Progress

You know, with all of the talk about torture in the news, the old 24 ticking time bomb clock has been on my mind. But, instead of the no-win scenario that can only be stopped by illegally torturing a suspect, we've got a no-win scenario that can only be stopped by Republicans dropping their bizarre quest to undo financial system protections, or by Democrats giving into them. It's always something. Whenever there is a budged deadline, we are either right down to the wire, or we go past it, and get an expensive government shutdown.

Shutdown is--for reasons unknown to me--orgasmic for many base conservatives. Right wing talk radio, and even many (formerly extremists, now apparently mainstream) elected GOP officials wax rhapsodically about it. They rarely express exactly what it proves, what it accomplishes, or what it's supposed to lead to. It's a lustful, needful thing, that's all. A political fetish. But while they want it oh so bad, and don't care who knows it, they simultaneously want to blame it on Democrats.

Recently, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal clumsily tried to pre-emptively say the President would cause a shutdown!  And now, even after there was a deal seemingly reached, Republicans have thrown those poison pills in there, so that they can both get their delicious shutdown, and say it's the Democrats' fault. My question is, who is fooled by this? And what is accomplished?

Anyone know?

[Excerpt]

35 Hours Before Deadline, Agreement To Keep Government Open Breaks Down

Last night, Congressional negotiators reached an agreement that most assumed would keep the government open until September. But with just 35 hours before funding for the federal government runs out, that agreement is in serious Jeopardy. . .

Read more at: Think Progress

Oh, Good! MItch McConnell Promises Shutdown if GOP Takes Senate

You know, this isn't the first time Mitch McConnell warned us how awful he is. When he says shit like this, believe him.

[Excerpt

McConnell eyes more shutdowns following GOP gains
 
It’s tempting to think the 2014 midterms may not matter much. Assuming Republicans keep their House majority, which seems very likely, the legislative process in 2015 and 2016 will probably look an awful lot like the legislative process since 2011 – congressional inaction. GOP lawmakers will continue to reject compromises and negotiations no matter who controls the upper chamber. . .

Read more at: MSNBC 

Maddow: GOP Got Nothing on Debt Ceiling/Budget Deal

Is it "spiking the football" to lay out the facts? Even if it contains a measure of schadenboehner schadenfreude? I mean, this pointless, dangerous hostage taking by the GOP put the whole world economy in danger, and it has now been avoided (or at least postponed). Why wouldn't the perceived "winning" side feel a little energized by that? Screw the butt-hurt tea baggers. I couldn't care less if they're peeved at the reaction.
 

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Ted Cruz: Real, or Invented by Democrats?

Image from source, Washington Post

I love Ezra Klein, and have enjoyed his writing and his appearances on various programs. And I think this piece is a good one too (though I think he oversells the "disaster" that the ObamaCare rollout has been), except I can't imagine that a Democrat could invent a Ted Cruz. As with other right-wing heroes like Sarah Palin, Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh and Joe the freakin' Plumber, there is nothing appealing about Cruz to a Democrat. We can't fathom his popularity, even when imagining ourselves on the other side of the aisle. He's smarmy. He's creepy looking. He's a show-boater. He has no respect for the government, the President, the Senate or--apparently--much of anything beyond his own narrow views. As hard as Democrats try, I don't believe we could think up someone like Cruz, and that the ruse would be successful.

Part of the difficulty in thinking something like Cruz and his tactics, is that none of it makes a lick of sense. There was no end game. There was no logical connection between the Affordable Care Act law and the budget bill or the debt ceiling. It started as rather blatant extortion, and became. . .a muddled mess. Only a really bad writer or a drug-addled one could have come up with this storyline thinking it would go anywhere.

[Excerpt]

If Ted Cruz didn’t exist, Democrats would have to invent him

A true cynic about American politics would, at this point, be forced to one conclusion: Sen. Ted Cruz is a Democratic sleeper agent. . .

Read more at: Washington Post

Why The GOP Followed Ted Cruz to the Cliff

He can't be the Anti-Christ, he's not likable enough. But good LORD
this man takes a creepy picture. Image from ThinkProgress

Oh Papa Tooney. We've got a Looney. Ted Cruz and his followers are apocalyptic nuts. I mean, that's not entirely a surprise, but to see it all laid out like this. . .

[Excerpt]

Read This One Document If You Want To Understand Why Republicans Followed Ted Cruz Off A Cliff

“These are extraordinary times,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) told the Values Voters Summit on Friday morning, and “the challenges facing this country are unlike any we have every seen.” He was speaking to a relatively small group of religious conservatives, but he might as well have been speaking for the two dominant wings of the Republican Party base. Indeed, understanding the siege mentality that’s captured both of these wings of the GOP is the key to understanding Cruz’s success in shutting down the government. . .

Read more at: Think Progress

#GOPShutdown: Reign of the Morons

Image from source, Esquire

Oh, this is good.

I pondered what would happen with a red tide in 2010, right here on the blog. I was correct, when I said that 2012 would sweep away some of the damage, after the GOP showed its true colors, and the pendulum swung back. What I didn't know is that the pendulum didn't swing hard enough, and that the tea party--the rebranded crazy right-wing base--would become the GOP's Frankenstein Monster. That a bunch of ideologues who didn't work their way up through local office would find themselves elected Senators and Congress members. When the GOP allowed the newly christened Tea Party to become a force in their party, they really did open Pandora's Box.

[Excerpt]

The Reign Of Morons Is Here

In the year of our Lord 2010, the voters of the United States elected the worst Congress in the history of the Republic. There have been Congresses more dilatory. There have been Congresses more irresponsible, though not many of them. There have been lazier Congresses, more vicious Congresses, and Congresses less capable of seeing forests for trees. But there has never been in a single Congress -- or, more precisely, in a single House of the Congress -- a more lethal combination of political ambition, political stupidity, and political vainglory than exists in this one, which has arranged to shut down the federal government because it disapproves of a law passed by a previous Congress, signed by the president, and upheld by the Supreme Court, a law that does nothing more than extend the possibility of health insurance to the millions of Americans who do not presently have it, a law based on a proposal from a conservative think-tank and taken out on the test track in Massachusetts by a Republican governor who also happens to have been the party's 2012 nominee for president of the United States. That is why the government of the United States is, in large measure, closed this morning. . .

Read more at: Esquire

Shut Down (Rocky Mountain Mike Song Parody)

Gotta hand it to Mike, he's quick with these things! But I have to be honest, I'm not sure if this is a spoof of a Beach Boys or a Jan and Dean song. Catchy though! And points out the dumb-assery of the GOP government shutdown.
 

Daily News Declares Congress "House of Turds"

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Source: DailyKos

Jon Stewart Sums Up Republican Shutdown

As usual, The Daily Show distills an issue down to its crux, in a funny way.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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Maddow: Elect Republicans, and They'll Burn the Place Down

This is actually kind of epic.    NOTE: The video is from shortly before the shutdown.

[Excerpt]
 
Rachel Maddow blasts GOP intransigence: ‘Elect Republicans and they will burn the place down’

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MSNBC host Rachel Maddow outlined the Republican path toward grinding the government to a halt on Monday night, pointing out that on multiple occasions over the past few years, GOP lawmakers and candidates swore they would do just that. “There is nothing about the last few weeks of political back-and-forth that explains why this is happening. There’s nothing about health reform, specifically, that explains why this is happening. . .

Read more at: Raw Story

Here's What Republicans Were Demanding to Avert a Shutdown

Image from source, Think Progress

When you hear--and you will--that the government shutdown is the result of Democrats not accepting a Republican "compromise," you will be forearmed with this knowledge. Democrats wanted a clean spending bill, no add-ons, no demands. The Republicans wanted a lengthy list of conservative bullet points. This was essentially extortion, and Harry Reid didn't blink. I am often disappointed in my State's Senator, but not tonight.

And one more thing: if the shutdown is the Democrats' fault, why is it that Right Wing World is dancing a jig right now? They're thrilled they got a shutdown. Don't believe their spin for a minute.

[Excerpt]

21 Things Republicans Have Demanded In Exchange For Not Shutting Down The Government Or Tanking The Global Economy

1. A balanced budget amendment [Link]
2. Approving Keystone XL [Link]
3. Eliminating funding for Planned Parenthood [Link]
4. Medicare privatization [Link]
5. Tax reform, as outlined by Paul Ryan [Link]
6. The REINS Act, which would require Congress to approve significant federal regulations [Link]
7. Means-testing Social Security [Link] . . .

There's much more, read here: Think Progress

Shuttin' it Down

I really don't care for CNN's headline choice. It's not so much that Congress couldn't "agree," it's more like the House had ridiculous demands that the Senate had already told them weren't negotiable. So now, one of the worst Congresses in our history has shot the country in the foot again. If there is any silver lining here, I'm hoping it's that people remember what asshats the tea bagger members of Congress are.

[Excerpt]

U.S. government shuts down as Congress can't agree on spending bill



The U.S. government shutdown went into effect at 12:01 a.m. ET Tuesday after lawmakers in the House and the Senate could not agree on a spending bill to fund the government. The two sides bickered and blamed for more than a week over Obamacare, the president's signature health care law. House Republicans insisted the spending bill include anti-Obamacare amendments. Senate Democrats were just as insistent that it didn't. . .

Read more at: CNN

Ted Cruz, Translated for Sane People

Ugh. Image from source, Huffington Post

Yesterday, as I watched the Sunday political talk shows (remote at the ready for zapping through them), I was rolling my eyes so hard, I thought they'd pop out of my head. Republican after Republican bent and twisted their responses to questions to make the "defund Obamacare" portion of the budget bill to be a "compromise," and to make it out that it was President Obama and Harry Reid who want the government to shut down. It's extortion by the GOP, and they're honestly trying to sell it as a reasonable request, and that Democrats are the reckless ones.

Worse than them all though, was Sen. Ted Cruz on Meet the Press. Though David Gregory was uncharacteristically semi-aggressive with his questioning, there remains the problem of Gregory giving Cruz the plum spot on the show, right at the top, with no sparring partner. And then Cruz was the absolute picture of your typical "dance a little sidestep" bob-and-weave politician, that is oh-so-typical on these Sunday shows. Wasn't Cruz supposed to be different, tea baggers?

Mercifully, someone at HuffPo has condensed and translated Cruz's responses into something much easier to follow.

[Excerpt]

Ted Cruz Was On Meet The Press And Struggled With Brevity, So Here's The Short Version

As Cruz has demonstrated troubles with prolixity -- and because these troubles make everyone's life a little harder -- I am going to boil his answers in a Sunday "Meet the Press" interview down into their simplest form so that for once, Ted Cruz doesn't have to be such a long-winded pain in the ass of John Boehner or anyone else. . .

It's good, read more at: Huffington Post