All this chaos couldn't be happening to a more deserving guy.
So, House Speaker John Boehner has 13 days to figure out how in the hell to be a leader before government shuts down. He's
failing. As he flounders, the division among House Republicans is just getting deeper between the camp that wants defund Obamacare by shutting down the government on Oct. 1 and his own camp which says they should wait until they can inflict real damage on the global economy by throwing the nation into default when they refuse to raise the debt limit. Somehow, this latter plan is considered the moderate one by Republicans.
Dozens of Republicans are pushing their leadership to make a firm demand on defunding the law in the next two weeks as part of must-pass legislation to avoid a government shutdown after Sept. 30.
But with the backing of leadership, others are more comfortable waiting until a subsequent debate over lifting the debt limit, which is likely to occur in mid-October. [...]
Citing Obama’s stance [to refuse to negotiate on the debt ceiling], conservative Rep. Raúl Labrador (R-Idaho) questioned why GOP leaders believed they could extract more in a debt-ceiling fight than in a battle over a short-term spending bill.
“I’m not really clear why they believe that,” he said. “I think [focusing] on the [continuing resolution] is the best way for us to approach this.”
Labrador blamed Boehner for saying that he would not allow the U.S. to default on its debt.
Labrador and his tea party cronies aren't even pretending to respect Boehner's leadership, instead
gleefully following Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) as he wreaks havoc (and raises money and his stature with the faithful tea party base for 2016).
Meanwhile, no one in the Republican Party seems to be paying attention to the fact that President Obama and Senate Democrats are not going to defund Obamacare. Period. If Republicans can't get their shit together, all the blame for whatever disaster occurs is going to fall squarely on the GOP, a reality that just hasn't seemed to sink in. Of course, they're operating under the theory that Obamacare is going to end because of Syria, so reality is something your rank-and-file GOP House member has less than a passing acquaintance with.
Stand with Daily Kos and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in denouncing Republicans who would completely shut down the government just to destroy Obamacare.
2:58 PM PT: Well, this will be an exercise in continuing not to govern.
Having tried and failed to sell restive conservatives on plans to keep the government open without picking a fight over Obamacare, it appears that House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is moving on to Plan C: Giving in to people like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) who are insisting that any bill to keep the government open after Sept. 30 must defund Obamacare.
This idea is to give into the crazies in the caucus, pass a continuing resolution that defunds Obamacare, and then lands in Cruz's lap, making it his job to get through the Senate. Which of course it can't. It's postponing the inevitable option for Boehner, cutting the tea baggers loose and making a deal with Nancy Pelosi to get enough Democratic support to pass something.