They We're Planning It All Along

WASHINGTON — Democrats have seized on video of Rep. Chris Van Hollen angrily confronting Republicans on the House floor over changes to the chamber’s rules as proof Republicans purposefully pushed the nation into a government shutdown and crisis over extending the nation’s debt limit.

The Republicans’ decision to alter an obscure procedural rule has enraged Democrats and given them evidence that Republicans have purposefully throw the government into chaos with a shutdown.

Normally, any member of the House can force a vote on legislation which the Senate and House are unable to agree on. Although it is a rarely used mechanism, House Republicans were taking no chances in the days leading up to the shutdown.

Republican leaders were nervous about the possibility that the Senate’s clean spending extension bill would pass the chamber on the strength of Democratic votes — or worse, that it would fail, taking it off the table permanently as a solution.

That concern appears to have driven the decision to change the rules to allow only Majority Leader Eric Cantor to force a vote on the Senate plan.

Look, in this country if you want to change policy you win elections and then you pass laws.  You legislate.  If you don't understand that, you don't belong here.  It's dangerous to have you here.  It's destructive and expensive (this one apparently cost 24 billion just to start).  If that's you, you need to change your philosophy on this very important matter, or you need to get the fuck out of the country. 

March To The Sea

Think Progress:  Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA) offered a curious analogy this weekend, comparing the impending default to the American Revolution. 

Actually, it's more like the civil war.  And once again his side is trying to destroy the United States.  

Southern conservatives already betrayed the country once.  The confederacy lost.  Trying to re-fight that war by shutting down the government and destroying the full faith and credit of the United States is simply not acceptable.

There's never a General Sherman around when you need one. 

Deport The Republicans

Politico: A reality is beginning to dawn on — and eat away at — many House Republicans: They aren’t at all sure of their party's strategy to re-open government and lift the debt ceiling.

After forcing leadership to pick a fight it didn’t want to pick, sitting through hours of meetings with lots of internal hand-wringing and failing to force Democrats to negotiate, the path to avoid a prolonged government shutdown and the first debt default in American history is completely uncertain.

Attention Republicans:  Rather than burning down the country, why don't you do us all a favor and leave.  Just get the hell out.  Move to Somalia.  You'll love it.  No government, lots of guns, no regulation, no taxes. 

Of course they don't have any sewage treatment either, so go there and wallow is shit for a while.  Let's see what that does for your worldview. Hey, send a postcard when you get there (actually sorry, you won't be able to do that.  They don't have a postal service).

Destruction

WASHINGTON -- With the government shutdown in its fifth day, many Republicans have conceded the fight is no longer about Obamacare. Rep. Dennis Ross (R-Fla.) added his name to the list on Saturday, saying the matter now boils down to "pride."

Proverbs 16:18: Pride goeth before destruction.

And destruction is where we're heading with the GOP shutting down the government and causing us to default on our debt.  Look, we can't have people in our government who will threaten our future, our standard of living, our families - over pride, or holding out for billionaire "healthcare" executives or whatever.  We just can't have it.  These people have to got to respect the electoral process and work within our democratic system to change policy by majority rule.  Anything else is just political terrorism.

Honestly, what's going on here as much as anything else, is the Republicans are seeing things getting better and they don't like it.  Once again Democratic public policy is improving things.  The economy is improving, the housing market is improving, the job market is improving, and Obamacare is about to start working. And politically speaking, that's very bad for them.  So rather than allow things to continue on as they are they figure they don't have much to lose by burning it all down.

Boehner Threatens To Shoot The Hostage

TPM: Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) insisted Sunday on ABC's "This Week" that he won't bring up a "clean" debt limit increase under any circumstances, warning that the U.S. will default on its debt unless President Barack Obama agrees to make policy concessions.

(credit to Huffingtonpost for that title)  Attention America, you're the hostage.  Your 401k is the hostage.  Your ability to borrow money for a car, or a house, or a business is the hostage.  The value of your dollars is the hostage. Your standard of living is the hostage.  Your future is the hostage.  And the Republicans have just threatened all of it.  Whatever you do America, whatever ends up happening, don't ever forget this.  

Shooters

Daily Kos:  Is there some damn law that says congressional Republicans have to be assholes? Is "not being a gigantic prick to anyone you meet" one of the now-countless things that will get you kicked out of the party? Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-TX, because of course he is), come on down. Show the little people how being a grandstanding self-important ass is done.

In an astounding confrontation that took place yesterday at the World War II Memorial in DC, a Tea Party congressman from Texas appeared to blame the Park Service for denying veterans access to the facility — and then made a Park Ranger apologize for the shutdown. "How do you look at them and ... deny them access?" Rep. Randy Neugebauer asked the unidentified Ranger in an incredible exchange that was caught on camera by NBC Washington.

So they shut down the government, then run down to yell at the park ranger because the government is shut down.  We suppose that's rather like shooting somebody in the back and then berating them for bleeding on the carpet. 

Liars Preaching To Idiots

Daily Kos: From Ted Cruz's statement on House passage of his defund Obamacare scheme:

Today, the House of Representatives did what Washington pundits only a few weeks ago said was impossible: a strong bipartisan majority voted to defund Obamacare. This is a victory for House conservatives, and it is a victory for Speaker Boehner and Republican leadership.

Amen! And it's also a victory for whatever math/civics professor taught Ted Cruz that when 2 Democrats join 228 Republicans to cast a vote opposed by 47% of the House and 94% of Democrats that you've attained not just a bipartisan majority, but a strong bipartisan majority. (Worth noting: One Republican voted against the Cruz plan, so that means there was significant bipartisan opposition to it, by his logic.) 

Two Dems out 200 voted for this bill.  Anybody who calls that bipartisan is a liar.  Anybody who calls it a strong bipartisan majority is fucking joke who should never again be taken seriously.  How stupid does he think his base is to believe that crap?  Wait, don't answer that.  It's the Republican base.  We answered our own question.

As for the GOP threats to shut down the government over Obamacare, like the president says, that's extortion.  Like the president says, he just beat the guy who promised to get rid of the Obamacare in a national election.  Badly.  If they shut down the government and throw the country and the economy into chaos because they're not getting their way on this, they should forever be punished by the electorate.  

Threat

American Prospect: Cuts to the Mental Health Block Grant program would leave 373,000 mentally ill people without services. Nearly 8,900 homeless people with mental illness would also lose treatment, outreach, housing, and support with cuts to the Projects for assistance in Transition from Homelessness program.

This along with our wonderful Republican/NRA gun laws poses a serious threat to public safety.  It's but one of the many dangerous things that are about to happen because the Republicans refuse to close the tax loopholes that allow Mitt Romney and Exxon to pay little or no federal income tax.

Party Like It's 1995

Daily Kos:  With draconian sequester cuts just around the corner and with the Republican leadership refusing to do a damn thing to stop them, it's time to start looking at the impact these cuts will have on individual states, starting with John "I got 98 percent of what I wanted" Boehner's own Buckeye State.

As he says later on down his post, congress appropriates money, not the President.  This is on the Republicans in the house.  And we need to make sure they wear it every day until November 2014.  Hopefully after that we can be rid of their constant efforts to trample the poor and disabled underfoot in favor of billionaires and transnational corporations.  Either way, let this be a lesson: let Republicans serve in government and they will do everything they can to make sure it doesn't work, at least not for the 99%.   

All Part Of The Plan

Politico via Huffington Post:  House Republicans are seriously entertaining dramatic steps, including default or shutting down the government, to force President Barack Obama to finally cut spending by the end of March.

Neither shutting down the government or defaulting on the debt would turn out good for the country.  Neither would the GOP's stated goal of killing Medicare and Social Security.  In fact, there's not a single piece of identifiable GOP public policy that has turned out good for the country.  There's a simple reason for this:  Republican public policy isn't designed to turn out good for the country.  These people run for office to implement policy that turns out good for themselves their monied constituencies and nearly always at the expense of the country.  The sooner we loose this pretense that the GOP wants America to do well, the sooner we can go about the business of making sure they don't get to make policy.